- Verify G+ is a 30-question, 36-minute adaptive cognitive assessment from SHL, not a certification.
- It measures three domains: Deductive Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, and Inductive Reasoning.
- You cannot go back to previous questions once you submit an answer, so pacing matters.
- Wrong answers don't subtract points, but each employer sets its own passing threshold.
What Is A Verify G+?
The Verify G+ (formally the SHL Verify G+ General Ability Test) is a pre-employment cognitive ability assessment that companies use during hiring to evaluate how quickly and accurately candidates reason through logical, numerical, and pattern-based problems. It's delivered online through SHL's assessment platform, typically as part of an application workflow after a resume screen and before interviews.
Unlike a professional certification you study for over months and renew periodically, Verify G+ is a single-sitting, employer-administered test. There's no credential to display afterward, no renewal cycle, and no governing body issuing a license. If you're wondering what is Verify G+ in plain terms, think of it as a standardized reasoning checkpoint that hiring teams use to compare candidates on a level playing field, rather than a qualification you add to a resume.
Because the name gets used loosely online, it's worth being precise here: this article covers the SHL-branded General Ability Test only, including its exact format, domains, and scoring mechanics as SHL has built them. If you've seen conflicting details elsewhere about fees, pass thresholds, or content areas, treat this page and the linked resources on this site as the accurate baseline for the SHL version specifically.
Who Uses the Verify G+ Assessment
Employers deploy Verify G+ when they want a fast, standardized read on general cognitive ability rather than role-specific knowledge. Because the test measures reasoning patterns instead of memorized facts, it's used across a wide range of hiring pipelines - graduate programs, analyst tracks, operations roles, and other positions where quick, accurate problem-solving under time pressure is valued. If you're researching which employers request this test as part of their process, our roundup on Verify G+ jobs looks at the kinds of roles where this assessment commonly appears.
Recruiters like it because it's short, adaptive, and produces a consistent set of scores they can compare across a large applicant pool. Candidates often encounter it without much warning, which is why understanding the format ahead of time - rather than walking in cold - makes a meaningful difference in how comfortable the experience feels.
Test Format and Timing
Verify G+ consists of 30 multiple-choice questions delivered in 36 minutes. The test is adaptive, meaning the difficulty of each question adjusts based on your previous answers - a correct response tends to bring a slightly harder item next, while a miss shifts the difficulty down. This adaptive design is part of why cramming random practice questions without structure tends to underperform compared to targeted preparation by domain.
Two format details trip up unprepared candidates:
- No going back. Once you submit an answer, you cannot return to a previous question to change it. There's no reviewing your work at the end.
- No penalty for wrong answers. Incorrect responses do not reduce your score, so leaving a question blank is never advantageous compared to making your best attempt.
Calculator access, when relevant to numerical items, follows whatever is specified in your assessment invitation and the on-screen instructions at test time - this can vary by administration, so read the instructions carefully rather than assuming a policy from a previous test you've taken.
Key Takeaway
Because you can't revisit earlier questions, decide on a per-question time budget before you start and stick to it - spending too long deliberating on one item can't be recovered later in the test.
The Three Verify G+ Domains
All Verify G+ questions fall into one of three reasoning domains. Each domain has a distinct question style, and recognizing which style you're looking at quickly is a real skill worth building before test day. For a deeper breakdown of question types and worked examples within each area, see the Verify G+ exam domains guide.
Domain 1: Deductive Reasoning
These questions present a set of statements or rules and ask you to determine what must logically follow. There's no ambiguity in a well-formed deductive item - the correct answer is the one that is guaranteed true given the premises, not merely the one that seems plausible.
- Practice separating what's stated from what's merely implied
- Watch for conditional logic ("if... then") and negation traps
- Avoid importing outside assumptions not given in the prompt
Domain 2: Numerical Reasoning
These items test your ability to interpret numerical data - often presented as tables, charts, or short data sets - and calculate or compare values accurately under time pressure.
- Get fast at reading tables and charts without re-reading unnecessary rows
- Practice percentage change, ratios, and basic proportional reasoning
- Know the calculator rules for your specific invitation before you sit the test
Domain 3: Inductive Reasoning
Inductive items ask you to identify patterns or rules within a sequence of shapes, figures, or abstract elements, then apply that rule to select what comes next or what's missing.
- Scan for changes in shape, rotation, shading, and position systematically
- Test more than one hypothesis before committing to an answer
- Practice under time pressure since pattern-spotting speed improves with repetition
Your overall General Ability score combines performance across all three domains, and component scores for each domain are also reported separately. This means a strong showing in Numerical Reasoning can't fully mask a weak Inductive Reasoning performance in the detailed report an employer sees - balanced preparation across all three areas matters more than specializing in just one.
How Verify G+ Is Scored
Verify G+ results include an overall General Ability score along with individual component scores for each domain. These scores are norm-referenced, meaning your raw performance is converted into comparative measures such as percentile, T-score, and sten against an employer-selected comparison group. In practice, this means your result isn't judged against a fixed universal cutoff - it's judged relative to how a defined group of other test-takers performed.
Critically, SHL does not set a universal passing score. The hiring organization decides where to draw its own selection threshold based on the role and its own norm group choice. This is a common point of confusion, and it's worth reading in full if you want to understand exactly how thresholds work - see Verify G+ passing score for a closer look at what "passing" actually means in this context, and Verify G+ pass rate for how outcomes get discussed more broadly.
| Aspect | Verify G+ Detail |
|---|---|
| Question count | 30 adaptive multiple-choice questions |
| Time limit | 36 minutes |
| Domains measured | Deductive Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning |
| Scoring output | Overall General Ability score + component scores (percentile, T-score, sten) |
| Passing threshold | Set independently by each hiring employer |
| Answer review | Not allowed once an answer is submitted |
| Wrong-answer penalty | None |
| Renewal requirement | None - it's an assessment, not a credential |
Registration and Administration Mechanics
You don't register for Verify G+ independently the way you would for a professional certification exam. Instead, it's assigned to you by an employer as part of their hiring pipeline, typically arriving as an invitation link tied to your application. The invitation specifies the testing window, platform access details, and any tool permissions (like calculator use) for that specific administration.
Because scheduling is controlled by the hiring organization rather than a public exam calendar, there isn't a fixed public "testing season" the way some certification exams operate. If you're trying to understand how timing typically works once you receive an invitation, our guide on Verify G+ exam dates walks through the practical scheduling considerations candidates run into.
A related point of confusion: because this is an employer-administered assessment rather than a paid certification exam you register for yourself, cost structures work very differently than with traditional credentialing exams. If cost questions come up in your research, our breakdown at Verify G+ certification cost addresses this directly rather than leaving you to guess.
Assessment, Not Certification: Why It Matters
It's worth being explicit about something the CERT FACTS make clear: Verify G+ is an employer-administered assessment, not a certification. That distinction has real consequences for how you should think about it:
- No renewal cycle. You don't retake it periodically to maintain a credential - there's nothing to maintain.
- No universal certificate. Your result belongs to the hiring process you took it for; it isn't a portable badge you list on LinkedIn the way you might a technical certification.
- No governing exam body to "pass" in the traditional sense. Each employer interprets your scores against its own norm group and threshold.
If you've seen the phrase "Verify G+ certification" used elsewhere, it's typically shorthand for "the Verify G+ assessment process," not a formal credentialing program. Our explainer on what is Verify G+ certification untangles this terminology more fully, and if you're specifically weighing whether preparing for this test is a worthwhile use of your time given what it actually is, is Verify G+ certification worth it covers that question directly.
A Domain-Aware Preparation Approach
Because Verify G+ is adaptive and time-boxed at 36 minutes for 30 questions, generic "study more" advice doesn't map well onto it. What does help is treating each of the three domains as its own skill to sharpen, then rehearsing the format under real time pressure so the 36-minute window stops feeling unfamiliar.
Deductive Reasoning Fundamentals
- Drill conditional logic statements and practice isolating only what's guaranteed true
- Time yourself on short sets to build a baseline pace
Numerical Reasoning Fluency
- Practice reading charts and tables quickly, focusing on ratios and percentage change
- Confirm what calculator access you'll actually have based on your invitation
Inductive Reasoning Pattern Recognition
- Work through sequence and matrix-style pattern sets daily in short bursts
- Practice testing multiple hypotheses before locking in an answer
Full-Length Timed Rehearsal
- Simulate the full 30-question, 36-minute format without pausing or reviewing past answers
- Review mistakes by domain to see which area still needs the most attention
For a more detailed, step-by-step walkthrough of this kind of preparation - including how to sequence practice across the three domains and what a realistic weekly plan looks like - see the Verify G+ study guide. And if you want a candid assessment of how difficult the test tends to feel relative to other reasoning assessments, how hard is the Verify G+ exam breaks that down by domain rather than giving a vague overall difficulty rating.
Whatever preparation path you choose, the highest-leverage activity is rehearsing under the actual constraints: no answer review, an adaptive difficulty curve, and a hard 36-minute ceiling. You can build domain knowledge from books or articles, but only timed practice on a realistic practice test platform teaches you how those constraints actually feel in the moment.
Key Takeaway
Spend early prep weeks building domain-specific accuracy, then shift to full-length timed runs so the no-review, adaptive format stops being a surprise on test day.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Verify G+ is an employer-administered pre-employment assessment, not a certification. There's no renewal requirement and no governing body issuing a credential - your results are used by the specific employer who invited you to take it.
The standard Verify G+ consists of 30 adaptive multiple-choice questions to be completed within 36 minutes.
It measures general cognitive ability across three domains: Deductive Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, and Inductive Reasoning, producing an overall General Ability score plus separate component scores.
No. Once you submit an answer on Verify G+, you cannot return to that question. Plan your pacing accordingly since there's no opportunity to review or revise earlier responses.
No universal passing score exists. Results are reported using norm-referenced measures like percentile, T-score, and sten against an employer-selected comparison group, and each hiring organization sets its own selection threshold.