OLSAT Level C study guide
OLSAT Level C · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
OLSAT Level C is the Level C form of the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, Eighth Edition (OLSAT-8), a school ability test published by Pearson. This page is an independent study resource for candidates and families preparing for Level C; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Pearson, and it does not reproduce any official test materials. The OLSAT Level C study guide has 4 sections and about 1,388 words.
01Verbal Comprehension: Exact Word Meaning and Careful Reading
Verbal Comprehension on OLSAT Level C checks whether a young reader can hold a word's exact meaning in mind and use it inside a sentence. Three task types carry most of the weight: antonyms (pick the word most nearly opposite), sentence completion (choose the word or word pair that makes the sentence both logical and grammatical), and following directions (apply a short set of written instructions to a row of shapes or pictures).
355 words, about 2 min02Verbal Reasoning: Word Problems, Logic, and Analogies
Verbal Reasoning is where OLSAT Level C asks a child to reason with language and numbers together: arithmetic reasoning (short word problems), logical selection (choose the statement that must be true), verbal analogies , and letter patterns such as how far apart two letters sit in the alphabet. Translate the sentence into operations before computing.
344 words, about 2 min03Pictorial Reasoning: Analogies, Classification, Series, Paper Folding
Pictorial Reasoning uses drawings rather than words: picture analogies (A is to B as C is to ?), picture classification (which picture does not belong), picture series (what comes next), and paper folding (how many holes appear when a folded sheet is punched and reopened). Never choose by what "looks nice." State the rule in a sentence first - "the arrow turns a quarter turn to the right each time" - then eliminate any choice that breaks it.
344 words, about 2 min04Figural Reasoning: Shapes, Series, and Number Patterns
Figural Reasoning is the abstract, non-verbal side of Level C: figural analogies , figural classification , figural series , number series , and numeric inference (number matrices and number analogies). Little reading is required, but the same rule-finding discipline applies.
345 words, about 2 min