GATE Abstract Reasoning: what it tests, with a worked question
Abstract Reasoning on ASET asks students to find the rule governing a set of shapes and apply it, with no words and no arithmetic. It is the component almost no primary school teaches, which is why it moves fastest under instruction. Everest Tutoring gives it 30 minutes of every weekly GATE class.
Written by Hari Ravichandran, Founder and Principal Tutor. Updated 13 September 2026
4.8 from 404 Google reviews across 4 centresFirst class free · no entry test
What the component tests
A question shows figures that change according to one or two rules at once: a shape rotates while a count increases, or a shading pattern alternates while the position shifts. The student has to isolate each rule and then apply all of them to pick the next figure.
Because there is no reading and no calculation, a student's school marks predict very little here. What predicts performance is whether anybody has ever shown them the small set of rules that appear again and again: rotation, reflection, count, size, shading, position and addition or removal of an element.
A worked example
Question, described in words: each figure in the sequence is a square containing small dots and one arrow. Figure 1 has two dots and the arrow pointing up. Figure 2 has three dots and the arrow pointing right. Figure 3 has four dots and the arrow pointing down. What is figure 4?
Working: separate the two rules. Rule one, the dot count rises by one each step, so figure 4 has five dots. Rule two, the arrow turns 90 degrees clockwise each step, so after down it points left. Figure 4 is five dots with the arrow pointing left.
The reason students get this wrong is not the reasoning but the bundling: they try to see the whole figure change at once, spot the dots, and pick the option with five dots without checking the arrow. Two rules means two checks.
When an option matches on one rule and fails the other, it is there on purpose.
Common mistakes and the fix
Abstract Reasoning rewards a written method more than any other component, even though nothing is written in the answer.
| Mistake | What it looks like | The fix we teach |
|---|---|---|
| Finding one rule only | Correct on count, wrong on rotation or shading | Name every changing feature before choosing |
| Guessing from the look | Picking the option that feels like it belongs | Check the chosen option against each rule in turn |
| Going clockwise by habit | Assuming rotation direction without testing it | Test the direction on the first two figures only |
| Spending too long on one item | Four minutes on the hardest question, three easy ones missed | Mark it, move on, return with the time left |
The video walkthrough
The full walkthrough video for this component sits on the Everest Tutoring YouTube channel, where a tutor works through a real paper question by question. It is linked in the sources below rather than embedded here so the page stays fast on a phone.
Sources: WA Department of Education, gifted and talented programs · Everest Tutoring on YouTube
Try a class free
No payment details, no entry test, no lock-in. Come to one class and decide afterwards.