What does a child have to do to complete a visual analogy in the 11+?

Transfer the visual relationship from one figure pair to complete a second pair. It is one of 22 named non-verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the pattern strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.

What is the trap in an 11+ complete a visual analogy question?

Moving the foot but leaving the dot where it was is the commonest slip - both parts turn together. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.

What can I say if my child is stuck on complete a visual analogy?

Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Follow the foot first to find the move, then check the dot has travelled the same way.

What is not part of complete a visual analogy in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: Uses an A to B as C to unknown structure. It excludes row or column matrix completion. A question past that line is testing a different named non-verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.

Which other 11+ skills should we practise alongside complete a visual analogy?

The pattern strand holds 5 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to complete a visual analogy are identify a visual odd one out, compare visual attributes and complete a visual matrix. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.

How can my child practise complete a visual analogy for free?

Use Analogy Bridge, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to complete a visual analogy, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Non-verbal Reasoning · Pattern

Complete a visual analogy

Transfer the visual relationship from one figure pair to complete a second pair.

Watch the worked example

Open the video page

Crack the Whole Picture Rule

This video shows how to find the relationship between two figures and use it to complete a second pair. Watch an 11+ non-verbal reasoning question solved step by step.

0:00 / 2:39

Turn on captions with the CC button. Jump to any part with the chapter buttons.

Read the transcript

Keep practising with Trace Learn. Find topics to practise next

Quick quiz: Complete a visual analogy

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz

Question 1
Which figure completes the analogy?
A
B
C
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Question 2
Which figure completes the analogy?
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B
C
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Question 3
Which figure completes the analogy?
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B
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Question 4
Which figure completes the analogy?
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B
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Question 5
Which figure completes the analogy?
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Question 6
Which figure completes the analogy?
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Question 7
Which figure completes the analogy?
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Question 8
Which figure completes the analogy?
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Question 9
Which figure completes the analogy?
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Question 10
Which figure completes the analogy?
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B
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Practise it now

A becomes B. Watch how - then do the very same thing to C.

Loading the interactive exercise. Nothing you do here is saved or scored.

A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

One move, applied twice

Track the foot and the dot separately as the first figure moves.

foot up, dot bottom
foot left, dot right
foot right, dot left
foot down, dot top

Answer: foot right, dot left

How you get there

Going from the first figure to the second is a quarter turn anticlockwise, which means the same move takes foot down, dot top to foot right, dot left - the foot and the dot both travel together.

Why the other answers tempt

Moving the foot but leaving the dot where it was is the commonest slip - both parts turn together.

If they are stuck, say this

Follow the foot first to find the move, then check the dot has travelled the same way.

Now do it live in Analogy Bridge

Kitchen-table script for parents

Try this together

A friendly mini script for the breakfast table, school run or a quiet two minutes. Read it aloud as written, or make it your own.

Ready? Let's have a go at Complete a visual analogy together. Take a look at the picture. Here is what matters: foot right, dot top is to foot up, dot left as foot down, dot top is to what? Here comes the question: Track the foot and the dot separately as the first figure moves. Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Follow the foot first to find the move, then check the dot has travelled the same way. Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: Going from the first figure to the second is a quarter turn anticlockwise, which means the same move takes foot down, dot top to foot right, dot left - the foot and the dot both travel together. So our answer is: foot right, dot left. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: Moving the foot but leaving the dot where it was is the commonest slip - both parts turn together. Can you show me that first move again in your own words? Brilliant. No rush; we are practising a method you can reuse, not trying to win a speed contest.

What this exercise is doing

Analogy Bridge

A becomes B. Watch how - then do the very same thing to C.

The bridge from A to B says: take 1 away. A visual analogy asks you to carry the very same change across to C - so compare A and B attribute by attribute (shape, shading, how many, which way up), name the one that moved, and leave everything else alone.

What to say if they get stuck

Press and hold WATCH to see A turn into B. What changed, and what stayed the same?
Only one thing matters here: take 1 away. Everything else stays as it was.

Open Analogy Bridge on its own page to share it

How complete a visual analogy differs from the skills beside it

The same exercise practises one other skill, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: transfer the visual relationship from one figure pair to complete a second pair, and it stops where uses an A to B as C to unknown structure. It excludes row or column matrix completion.

Compare visual attributes
Compare shape, position, angle, number, size, or shading across figures. One named or inferable attribute change.

Related non-verbal reasoning skills

Complete a visual matrixCombine row or column rules to select one missing figure.
Complete a visual seriesApply a repeated visual change to select the next figure.
Identify a visual odd one outSelect the figure that violates the shared visual rule.

All non-verbal reasoning 11+ skills

Questions parents ask about complete a visual analogy

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

: Transfer the visual relationship from one figure pair to complete a second pair. It is one of 22 named non-verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the pattern strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
: Moving the foot but leaving the dot where it was is the commonest slip - both parts turn together. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
: Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Follow the foot first to find the move, then check the dot has travelled the same way.
: The skill map draws the line here: Uses an A to B as C to unknown structure. It excludes row or column matrix completion. A question past that line is testing a different named non-verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
: The pattern strand holds 5 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to complete a visual analogy are identify a visual odd one out, compare visual attributes and complete a visual matrix. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
: Use Analogy Bridge, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to complete a visual analogy, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Non-verbal reasoning is the paper families most often leave until last

A free diagnostic covers matrices, series, odd one out, rotation, reflection and the 3D questions, and shows where the time is worth spending.