Marks follow habits. These are the habits Prism sets out to build, subject by subject, with a question beside the ones that are easiest to show. None of them is a trick for one test; each is a way of thinking a child keeps.
Maths
Works a problem backwards
Undoes a chain of operations to find where it started, instead of guessing and checking.
Maths
Question 12Aim for about 60 seconds
I think of a number, multiply it by 3, add 4, then divide by 2. The answer is 5. What was my number?
A (3): One more than the number; check the final division.
C (10): This stops after undoing the division by 2.
D (5): This adds 4 when undoing instead of taking it away.
E (1): This undoes the steps in the wrong order: the last step must be undone first.
Tells must from could
Tests a statement against every case before calling it true.
Finds the error in a working
Checks each line on its own and names the one that is wrong.
Checks with the inverse
Knows that multiplying back is how you check a division, and does it without being told.
Maths
Question 13Aim for about 60 seconds
Jonah works out 639 ÷ 9 = 71. Which calculation checks the answer using the inverse?
Show the worked answer
Answer: D, 71 × 9
How to work it out
The inverse undoes the operation: 71 × 9 should give back 639.
Why the other options are wrong
A (71 ÷ 9): Dividing the answer again does not undo a division.
B (639 − 71): Subtraction does not undo division.
C (9 ÷ 71): This divides the small number by the answer, which checks nothing.
E (639 × 9): This multiplies the number being divided; the check multiplies the answer by the divisor.
Knows which calculation a story needs
Reads a word problem and chooses the operation before touching the numbers.
Reads a scale, a map and a best buy
Takes real measures and prices and turns them into a decision.
English
Reads a report, a letter, an advert or a poem with the same care
Comprehension on 96 texts across 44 kinds of writing, so no paper looks strange.
Finds the line that proves it
Answers with evidence from the text, not with a feeling about it.
Tells what must, could and cannot be true from a text
Separates what the writer said from what the reader assumed.
Weighs how far to trust a source
Notices who is speaking, what they could see, and what they want you to think.
Spots the slant
Sees a loaded word or a one-sided case for what it is.
Uses a word as it is used
Works out meaning from the sentence around it, not from a list.
Verbal Reasoning
Discovers a code rule and applies it
Works out the rule from examples, then uses it on a new word or finds where it was broken.
Verbal
Question 14Aim for about 45 seconds
Two words are written in the same code. Find the rule, then write MILK in the code.
HILL → SROO GOLD → TLOW MILK → ?
Show the worked answer
Answer: B, NROP
How to work it out
Both examples fit one rule: the alphabet is mirrored (A is Z, B is Y).
Apply it to MILK: NROP.
Why the other options are wrong
A (NJML): This is MILK with each letter moves 1 forward, which does not fit the two examples: HILL would become IJMM.
C (LHKJ): This is MILK with each letter moves 1 back, which does not fit the two examples: HILL would become GHKK.
D (PLON): This is MILK with each letter moves 3 forward, which does not fit the two examples: HILL would become KLOO.
E (KGJI): This is MILK with each letter moves 2 back, which does not fit the two examples: HILL would become FGJJ.
Deduces who did what from clues
Holds several clues at once and rules out what cannot be.
Verbal
Question 15Aim for about 60 seconds
Hal, Cara, Isla, Ben and Finn each chose a different sport: football, hockey, netball, rounders and cricket. Read the clues. Who chose cricket?
Isla did not choose cricket.
Finn chose either cricket or hockey.
Hal chose either football or netball.
Ben chose neither cricket nor netball.
Cara chose either hockey or netball.
Show the worked answer
Answer: A, Finn
How to work it out
Rule people out one clue at a time: Hal chose football or netball, so not cricket; Cara chose hockey or netball, so not cricket; the clue says Isla did not choose cricket; Ben chose neither cricket nor netball.
That leaves Finn, who chose cricket.
Why the other options are wrong
B (Hal): Hal chose football or netball, so not cricket, so Hal cannot be the one who chose cricket.
C (Isla): The clue says Isla did not choose cricket, so Isla cannot be the one who chose cricket.
D (Ben): Ben chose neither cricket nor netball, so Ben cannot be the one who chose cricket.
E (Cara): Cara chose hockey or netball, so not cricket, so Cara cannot be the one who chose cricket.
Knows when there is not enough information
Says so, instead of guessing, and says what would settle it.
Verbal
Question 16Aim for about 60 seconds
Is Hal older than Isla? Decide which statements are enough to answer the question.
Statement 1: Dev is older than Isla.
Statement 2: Hal is older than Isla.
Show the worked answer
Answer: E, Statement 2 alone is enough
How to work it out
Ask of each statement on its own: does it fix the order of Hal and Isla?
Statement 1 does not.
Statement 2 does.
Why the other options are wrong
A (Either statement alone is enough): Statement 2 alone does answer it, but statement 1 alone does not.
B (Statement 1 alone is enough): Statement 1 (Dev is older than Isla.) leaves orders where Hal is older than Isla and orders where Isla is older, so on its own it does not answer the question.
C (Both statements together are needed): You do not need both: statement 2 answers the question by itself.
D (Even both together are not enough): Putting the two statements together does fix whether Hal is older than Isla, so they are enough.
Finds the flaw in an argument
Names the weak step rather than the conclusion they disagree with.
Verbal
Question 17Aim for about 60 seconds
Aisha says: “The last three times it rained, the match was cancelled. It is raining now, so the match will certainly be cancelled.” What is wrong with Aisha's reasoning?
Show the worked answer
Answer: C, Three past cases make a cancellation likely, not certain; the decision could go the other way this time.
How to work it out
Three past cases make a cancellation likely, not certain; the decision could go the other way this time.
An argument needs true statements and a conclusion that really follows from them; here one of those fails.
Why the other options are wrong
A (Three is an unlucky number.): Luck has nothing to do with the reasoning.
B (Matches are never cancelled for rain.): They were, three times; that is not the flaw.
D (Aisha should check the forecast.): The forecast would not change the step from likely to certain.
E (It is not raining now.): The rain is taken as given; the slip is the word certainly.
Sees relationships, not just pairs
Part to whole, cause to effect, tool to job: the link, not the words.
Verbal
Question 18Aim for about 45 seconds
Complete the analogy.
brush is to painter as oven is to ?
Show the worked answer
Answer: A, baker
How to work it out
The first pair is tool to its user.
The same link from oven gives baker.
Why the other options are wrong
B (loaf): “loaf” is not its user for oven; the link in the first pair is tool to its user.
C (wool): “wool” is not its user for oven; the link in the first pair is tool to its user.
D (oven): “oven” is the first word of the pair, not the word that stands to it as painter stands to brush.
E (wax): “wax” is not its user for oven; the link in the first pair is tool to its user.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Finds the rule, not just the next shape
Says what changed and why before choosing an answer.
Non-verbal
Question 19Aim for about 45 seconds
The first figure changes into the second, and the third into the fourth, by the same rule. What is the rule?
A
B
C
D
Show the worked answer
Answer: E, The figure gains one dot, then becomes striped
How to work it out
Compare A with B, then check the idea on C and D.
The figure gains one dot, then becomes striped.
Why the other options are wrong
A (The figure gains one dot, then turns 90° clockwise): If the figure gains one dot, then turns 90° clockwise, the first figure would not become the second one shown.
B (The figure gains one dot, then is reflected in a vertical mirror): If the figure gains one dot, then is reflected in a vertical mirror, the first figure would not become the second one shown.
C (The figure gains one dot, then gains one dot): If the figure gains one dot, then gains one dot, the first figure would not become the second one shown.
D (The figure gains one dot, then shrinks): If the figure gains one dot, then shrinks, the first figure would not become the second one shown.
Works a change backwards
Given the result, says what the figure was before.
Knows the order of two changes matters
Turn then reflect is not reflect then turn, and can show why.
Non-verbal
Question 20Aim for about 60 seconds
The figure turns 90° clockwise, and then is reflected in a vertical mirror. Which option shows the result?
Show the worked answer
Answer: C
How to work it out
Do the changes one at a time in the order given.
Doing them the other way round gives a different figure, which is one of the wrong answers.
Why the other options are wrong
A: Only the second change (is reflected in a vertical mirror) has been made.
B: Only the first change (turns 90° clockwise) has been made.
D: This is the figure unchanged.
E: This is the other order: is reflected in a vertical mirror first, then turns 90° clockwise. The order matters here.
Folds a net and finds the opposite face
Does it in their head, without a model.
Reasons about the cubes they cannot see
From two views, works out the fewest and the most that could be there.
Non-verbal
Question 21Aim for about 60 seconds
A stack of cubes is seen from the front and from above. Every cube rests on the ground or on another cube. What is the most cubes the stack could have?
From the front
From above
Show the worked answer
Answer: C, 17
How to work it out
Take each column of the front view in turn: it shows the tallest stack in that column, and the view from above shows how many squares the column uses.
Most: every used square is built to the full height.
Adding the columns gives 17.
Why the other options are wrong
A (7): 7 is the number of squares in the front view; cubes hidden behind the front ones do not show there.
B (16): One short of the most: every used square can be built to the full height.
D (11): 11 is the fewest cubes the views allow, with one tall stack in each column and the other used squares one cube high.
E (18): One more than the views allow: a column cannot be taller than its front view shows.
Reads a code of shape, shading and size
Three features, three letters, no confusion between them.
Non-verbal
Question 22Aim for about 45 seconds
Each figure has a three-letter code: one letter for its shape, one for its shading and one for its size. Which code belongs to the last figure?
BPY
CPZ
BRZ
CRY
?
Show the worked answer
Answer: D, BPZ
How to work it out
B/C are the shapes (star, hexagon), P/R the shadings (grey, white), Y/Z the sizes (large, small).
The last figure is a small grey star: BPZ.
Why the other options are wrong
A (BPY): The third letter is the size: this figure is small, which is Z.
B (BRZ): The second letter is the shading: this figure is grey, which is P.
C (CPZ): The first letter is the shape: this figure is a star, which is B.
E (CPY): The shape letter and the size letter are both wrong; take one feature at a time.
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