Pattern Recognition for OC Thinking Skills

What this guide covers

Pattern recognition questions show a sequence of shapes or numbers and ask the student to find what comes next. They appear regularly in the Thinking Skills section of the NSW Opportunity Class (OC) test, and the same skill supports the mathematical reasoning section.

Most children can solve the first few terms of a sequence easily, then race past the point where the rule changes. A simple habit — describe the change, test the change, then apply the change — removes most of the guesswork. Writing the working down, especially for number patterns, prevents small arithmetic slips from costing marks.

How to prepare, step by step

1. Look at the first two terms and name exactly what changes between them; if you can think of more than one rule, write both down.
2. Test your rule against the second and third terms, then against the third and fourth, until one rule survives.
3. For shape patterns, check every feature separately: colour, size, position, direction, number of sides and shading.
4. For number patterns, test addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and watch for rules that alternate, such as +2, +4, +2, +4.
5. Apply the rule to the final term to predict the next, then check the answer options for a match.

Example question

Answer and reasoning

Option C, 22, is correct. The differences between consecutive terms are 2, 3, 4 and 5: 4 − 2 = 2, 7 − 4 = 3, 11 − 7 = 4 and 16 − 11 = 5. Each difference increases by one, so the next difference must be 6, and 16 + 6 = 22. This is called a second-level pattern: instead of adding the same number each time, the sequence adds numbers that themselves form a pattern. Encouraging your child to write the differences underneath the sequence often reveals the rule instantly. Option A skips the pattern altogether, option B repeats the last difference instead of increasing it, and option D adds one extra too many.