Thinking Skills OC Selective

Welcome to Thinking Skills — a focused practice book designed to help students succeed in OC and Selective School Thinking Skills assessments. 

In competitive exams, it’s not enough to simply know content. Students also need to think clearly under time pressure, spot patterns, test ideas quickly, and choose the most logical option even when a question feels unfamiliar. These skills can be learned — and improved — through the right kind of practice.

This book provides targeted preparation by developing the key reasoning skills commonly tested in selection exams, including conditional logic, evaluative argument reasoning, ordering and matching, and multi-step word problem solving. With clear explanations, exam-style questions, and worked solutions, students will build accuracy, efficiency, and confidence.

How to use this book

• Read the explanation first so you understand the strategy (not just the answer).
• Practise with a goal: focus on getting it right first, then work on speed.
• Show your working (even for multiple-choice) so you can see exactly what you were thinking.
• Learn from mistakes: redo tricky questions a few days later to make the method stick.
• Use the worked solutions to spot useful patterns, then try a similar question on your own.

At the end of the book, there are two practice tests to help you apply what you’ve learned and check your progress. Approach each test like a mini-exam: stay focused, manage your time, and trust the process — the more you practise, the sharper your thinking becomes.

Contents

• Part I: Conditional Logic
• Part II: Evaluative Argument Reasoning
• Part III: Relational Reasoning: Ordering & Matching
• Part IV: Quantitative & Word-Problem Reasoning
• Test 1 (20 questions, 25 minutes)
• Test 2 (20 questions, 25 minutes)
• Answers