Verbal Reasoning Reading Information

A Reading Information question gives you a few facts about people or things. Then it asks one of two things: work out the one answer the facts lead to, or decide which statement must be true.

Those are two different jobs. Our bank has seventy of these, split half and half. The method that solves one does not solve the other. So do not just "read carefully".

These are the longest questions on the paper, at about 60 to 75 seconds each. This is the one type where you should slow down on purpose. The time comes back out of the word questions, which take 20 to 25 seconds.

The method

Five beats: read it once and name the job, set out what you know, start from the fixed fact, test against every fact, answer the question that was asked.

Read it once, right through, then name the job. All of it, before you write anything down. "How many…" or "Who…" means work it out. "Which sentence must be true" means cross the others out. Say which one you have before you touch a pencil.
Set out what you know. On the working-out job this takes five seconds and decides how long the rest takes. There are four shapes, and our thirty-five split like this.
- A line, for people in order — tallest, fastest, first in the queue, which floor. Dev — Alfie — Megan — Rosie. Eighteen of ours.
- A table, for each person getting a different thing — a drum, a pet, a day. Names down the side, things across the top. Seven of ours.
- A circle, for sitting round something. Mark the right number of places, like a clock face. Two of ours.
- Nothing at all, for counting things. Eight of ours.
On the must-be-true job there is nothing to draw. Go straight to the statements.
Start from the fixed fact. The one fact that is already a number, or already puts someone somewhere. Emma = 12. Rosie is last. The facts are almost never printed in the order they can be solved. Being stuck on fact two is not being stuck on the question.
Test against every fact. On the working-out job, take each fact in turn and check your numbers fit it. On the other job, take each statement and ask: must this be true, or could it just be true?
Answer the question that was asked. Which person, and which thing about them. This is where the marks go.

💡 Worked example

Emma has 12 pencils. Jack has 5 fewer pencils than Mia. Mia has 3 more pencils than Emma. How many pencils does Jack have?

How to answer

The must-be-true job

Everyone in the school chess club is in Year 5 or Year 6. Sam is in the chess club. Sam is not in Year 6. Which statement below must be true?

A. Everyone in the chess club is in Year 5. B. At least one member is in Year 6. C. Sam is in Year 4. D. The other members are in Year 6. E. Sam is in Year 5.

Beats 1 and 5 are the same. Beats 2 to 4 become one job: take each statement and ask must, or could?

C is out at once. Sam is in the club, so Sam is in Year 5 or Year 6.
A, B and D might happen. The other members could be in either year, and nothing forces any of these. Sounding sensible is not proof.
E survives. Sam is a member, so Year 5 or Year 6. Sam is not in Year 6. There is no way round it.

If two statements survive, you have brought in something the facts did not say. Go back and find it.

Rules to watch

A left-over fact is normal. Extra facts are put in on purpose, and nearly every question has one. Ending with a fact unused is not a sign you went wrong.
Words like all and never are not a tell. All, every, only, never, at least. You may have been taught to distrust a statement carrying one. Do not. In our bank, 20 of the 35 right answers contain one. Read what the word claims, then check it.
The small words carry the puzzle. Or, some, not, every, only. "Some children bring cameras" means at least one. It does not secretly mean most of them.
Write everything down. A chain three or four steps deep will not survive being carried in your head. One slip loses a question you had actually solved. Emma 12, Mia 15, Jack 10.

Watch for these traps

We looked at every wrong option in our seventy questions.

Could be true, taken as must be true. By far the biggest: 85 of the 140 wrong statements in the must-be-true half, three out of five. They are all perfectly possible, and possible feels close enough when the clock is running. Can you picture even one case where every fact holds and the statement is still false? Then it is out.
Answering about the wrong person. In the working-out half, 65 of the 127 wrong options are simply another name lifted straight out of the facts. These puzzles name three or four people on purpose. After a minute with all of them, whichever one you finished on feels like the answer. Underline who the question asks about before you start.
A statement the facts go against. 34 of the 140. These are the free ones. Kill them first and the choice shrinks to two or three.
Muddling more and fewer, faster and slower. "Jack has 5 fewer than Mia" is not "Mia has 5 fewer than Jack". And in a race, "faster" means a smaller number of seconds. Say it out loud the other way round before you add or take away.
A sum gone wrong. 10 of the 140 wrong statements are the right idea with the wrong number. A timetable read off by five minutes, or a price band picked one row out. Redo the sum on your survivor.

Try these yourself

Now have a go yourself — tap the answer that is correct.

✏️ Question 1

Four children ran a sprint race. Dev finished before Alfie. Alfie finished before Megan. Rosie finished last. Who finished second?

✏️ Question 2

Five friends sit round a circular table: Ava, Billy, Chen, Dora and Ed. Chen sits next to Dora. Ed does not sit next to Billy. Which pair must sit next to each other?

✏️ Question 3

Read this information carefully. Five children from Class 5 visit the museum. Every child brings a packed lunch. Some of the children bring cameras. All of the information above is true. Exactly one sentence below must be true as well — which one?

✏️ Question 4

Read this information carefully. At the school bake sale, every cake costs 50p and every biscuit costs 20p. Jack buys three cakes and one biscuit. All of the information above is true. Exactly one sentence below must be true as well — which one?

The complete 11+ question-type guide
VR: Number Series — spot the pattern and continue it
VR: Odd One Out — find the word that breaks the rule