Verbal and numerical reasoning (EPSO computer-based tests)
What this domain tests
The EPSO computer-based tests assess reasoning under time pressure, not legal knowledge. Verbal reasoning asks whether a statement is true, false or cannot say on the basis of a short passage. Numerical reasoning asks you to interpret tables, graphs and percentages. Both reward evidence discipline.
Verbal method
- Read the question stem first, then locate the sentence or sentences that decide it.
- Answer only from the passage. Outside knowledge - even correct EU law - is a trap.
- Distinguish “true” (the passage states it), “false” (the passage contradicts it) and “cannot say” (the passage neither states nor contradicts it).
- Watch quantifiers: “all”, “only”, “must”, “may”. A passage saying “may” does not support a statement saying “will”.
Numerical method
- Identify the base before calculating a percentage change. An increase from 48 to 60 is 12/48 = 25%, not 12/60 = 20%.
- Check units and scale: millions versus billions, per year versus per month, percentage versus percentage points.
- Estimate first, then compute, so a misplaced decimal is obvious.
- Use the on-screen calculator if provided, but write down intermediate values.
Worked example (verbal)
Passage: “The Agency may grant a derogation only where the applicant shows that compliance would impose a disproportionate burden. A derogation is valid for two years and is not renewable.” Statement: “An applicant who shows a disproportionate burden will receive a derogation.” Answer: cannot say. The passage says the Agency “may grant” a derogation - a discretion - not that it “will” grant one. The condition is necessary, not sufficient. “False” would require the passage to deny the possibility; it does not.
Worked example (numerical)
A budget rises from EUR 48 million to EUR 60 million. What is the percentage increase? Difference = EUR 12 million. Base = the original EUR 48 million. 12/48 = 0.25 = 25%. Choosing 60 as the base gives 20%, the classic distractor.
Traps
- Bringing real-world facts, especially EU law, into verbal items.
- Treating “cannot say” as “probably false”.
- Confusing percentage increase with percentage points.
- Rounding early and then selecting an answer that differs by a rounding unit.
- Misreading “increase to” as “increase by”.
- Comparing figures with different units or time bases.