NATA study plan
NATA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Cognitive skills & Logical reasoning
Map the four exam domains against your current strengths and rank your weakest sub-skills
Solve 40 cognitive-skills practice items covering pattern completion, figure series, and spatial folding, timing each set
Write out a step-by-step method for syllogism and seating-arrangement puzzles and apply it to 15 items
Start an error log that records the reasoning flaw behind each miss rather than just the correct answer
Your checkpoint
A one-page diagnostic sheet listing your accuracy percentage and top three error patterns per domain
Cognitive skills & Logical reasoning
Drill 60 spatial-reasoning items (rotation, mirror images, paper folding, net-to-cube) and cut average time per item by 20 percent
Practice 20 deductive-reasoning sets using truth tables and contrapositive checks
Build a formula card for blood relations, direction sense, and ranking-order problems
Review every logged error from week 1 and re-solve each without notes
Your checkpoint
A timed 30-item mixed cognitive-and-logical quiz scored at or above 70 percent accuracy
Cognitive skills & Logical reasoning
Complete 20 full-length cognitive sets under strict time pressure and record per-section timings
Apply elimination and approximation shortcuts to 30 numerical and sequence items
Solve 25 analytical-reasoning puzzles with multi-condition constraints and diagram each before answering
Identify the three item types where your accuracy is still below 60 percent and list targeted drills for each
Your checkpoint
A timing report showing per-section split times and accuracy trends across the week's sets
Visual perception and aesthetic sensitivity
Memorize the elements and principles of design (balance, rhythm, proportion, contrast, harmony) and identify each in 20 described compositions
Analyze color theory: complementary, analogous, and triadic schemes, plus warm-cool contrast, across 15 written scenarios
Practice 30 visual-perception items on symmetry, figure-ground separation, and perceptual grouping
Sketch 10 quick thumbnail compositions and label the design principle each one uses
Your checkpoint
A 25-item visual-perception and aesthetics self-test with a written justification for every answer
Visual perception and aesthetic sensitivity & Critical thinking ability
Evaluate 15 architectural or design case descriptions and argue which aesthetic principles succeed or fail and why
Practice 20 critical-thinking items that require distinguishing evidence from assumption in a passage
Compare pairs of described images or layouts and write a two-sentence judgment citing specific visual criteria
Build a vocabulary list of 40 aesthetic and design terms with one concrete usage example each
Your checkpoint
A portfolio of 10 written aesthetic judgments, each 80 to 120 words, citing named principles and color theory
Critical thinking ability & Visual perception and aesthetic sensitivity
Work through 30 assumption, inference, and conclusion-identification items and annotate the argument structure of each
Analyze 10 visual case studies for how composition and color choices steer viewer interpretation
Practice 15 evaluate-the-argument items and rank the strength of each option before checking the answer
Review the error log and rewrite every flawed reasoning chain in your own words
Your checkpoint
An annotated set of 15 argument analyses showing premises, assumptions, and conclusions mapped out
Critical thinking ability & Cognitive skills
Complete two full-length mock exams under real timing and score each domain separately
Diagnose the weakest domain from the mocks and run 30 targeted items on its hardest sub-skills
Practice 20 critical-thinking items on paradox, cause-effect, and strengthen-weaken questions
Refine your personal time-allocation plan for each domain based on mock results
Your checkpoint
Two scored mock exams with a written gap analysis and a revised per-domain time-allocation plan
Cognitive skills & Visual perception and aesthetic sensitivity & Logical reasoning & Critical thinking ability
Take two more full-length mocks and aim to beat your week-7 scores in every domain
Re-solve every item in the error log and confirm each is now correct without hints
Run 15-minute speed drills on spatial reasoning, visual perception, and argument analysis on alternating days
Consolidate formula cards, aesthetic vocabulary, and reasoning checklists into a single one-page review sheet
Your checkpoint
A final mock-exam scorecard showing improvement in all four domains plus a completed one-page review sheet
Milestones
Week 2: Score at least 65 percent on a timed 30-item mixed cognitive-and-logical quiz and show a 20 percent reduction in average spatial-reasoning item time versus week 1
Week 4: Score at least 70 percent on the 25-item visual-perception self-test and correctly name the design principle in at least 8 of 10 labeled thumbnails
Week 6: Score at least 70 percent on critical-thinking practice and submit all 15 annotated argument analyses with premises and conclusions correctly identified
Week 8: Reach at least 75 percent overall on the final mock exams with no domain below 65 percent, and clear the entire error log