Matrigma test: format, scoring and practice

Matrigma is a logic test from Assessio that employers send out when they hire. Each task shows a pattern in a grid with one piece missing, and you pick the piece that completes it. The tasks look simple, but the clock is tight and the test gets harder as you get answers right. This page covers how the Matrigma test works, what your score means and how to prepare without wasting time.

What Matrigma measures

Matrigma measures general mental ability, often shortened to GMA: how quickly you spot the rules in a pattern and apply them to something new. Assessio bases the test on Spearman’s g factor and Cattell’s idea of fluid intelligence. The tasks are non-verbal, so there is no reading and no arithmetic. What gets tested is logical and spatial thinking.

The instructions come in many languages, English included, and the tasks themselves are shapes. Assessio says language skills do not affect the result, which matters if English or Swedish is your second language.

Adaptive or classic Matrigma

There are two versions, and it helps to know which one you have before you start.

• Adaptive Matrigma is the standard version. It takes 12 minutes and gives you one minute per task. Get a task right and the next one is harder; get it wrong and the next one is easier.
• Classic Matrigma takes 40 minutes, with tasks that get harder as you go. Assessio says it is used less often and that the instructions tell you if you have it. It is often said to have 35 tasks.

Assessio does not say how many tasks the adaptive version has. Practice sites quote numbers like 35 or 40, but those figures are unconfirmed. What you can plan around is the pace: one minute per task.

Because the test adapts, you will sooner or later reach tasks that feel too hard. The test keeps raising the difficulty until you start missing, so this happens to strong candidates too. Many people find adaptive Matrigma stressful for exactly that reason, since you can’t tell how it’s going. If you expect it, it is easier to stay calm and move on.

What the tasks look like

Each task is a 3×3 matrix with one cell missing. You choose the piece that completes the pattern from a set of answer options. The rules usually come from a small set: how many shapes there are, how they move, how they rotate and what happens when two shapes are laid on top of each other.

A typical example: in each row the number of dots goes up by one from left to right, while the shape changes color down each column. You have to hold both rules in your head at once and find the piece that satisfies them. Harder tasks add a third rule or hide one in the way the shapes overlap.

Your result: a c-score from 0 to 10

Matrigma reports your result as a c-score from 0 to 10. You are compared with a norm group drawn from the working-age population, so the other people applying for the same job don’t affect your score. About 68 percent of test takers land in the average range, which makes a score in the middle the most common result of all.

Candidates usually see their result on screen right after the test, and Assessio suggests saving it. The employer sees your result as well, since that is the reason they sent the test. How much feedback you get is up to the organization running it.

The organization that invited you is responsible for your data, and results are not shared between companies. If you apply somewhere else, you may be asked to take the test again. How long a result stays valid with the same employer varies. Assessio says two years is the usual retention period. The Administrative Court of Appeal in Gothenburg, for example, accepts a result for two years and lets it be reused within the Swedish courts for one year.

How to practice for Matrigma

Assessio says general problem-solving ability is largely stable in adults, and that practice makes you more confident with the format so you get closer to your own best level. Research points the same way. A meta-analysis of 50 studies found that scores rose by an average of 0.26 standard deviations on a second attempt, most of all when the same test form came back. TRR, a Swedish career transition organization, found that candidates who practiced for three hours improved their results by up to 20 percent, with little extra gain after that.

A few hours of focused practice goes a long way. Here is how to spend them:

• Learn the rule types: number, movement, rotation and overlap. Once you recognize them, you can test a guess much faster.
• Practice against the clock at one minute per task, like the adaptive test. The pace is what surprises most people.
• Read the explanation every time you miss a task. Seeing the right answer on its own teaches you very little.
• Do a full practice run a few days before the real test so that 12 minutes feels familiar. Our adaptive Matrigma practice test is free and uses the same setup, and there is a classic version with 35 tasks in 40 minutes.
• Take the test when you are rested. Tiredness shows in the score, and you don’t always get a second chance.

If you are looking for an official Matrigma practice test or answer key from Assessio, we haven’t found one. Our tasks are our own and imitate the task type. They are not Assessio’s.

Who uses Matrigma

Matrigma is often sent together with MAP, Assessio’s personality test. Nacka Municipality, next to Stockholm, has used Matrigma and MAP in its recruitment since February 2026, and the Administrative Court of Appeal in Gothenburg uses the same pair. The Swedish Transport Administration also uses MAP and Matrigma, and KTH Royal Institute of Technology uses Assessio’s tests for some roles.

You can read more about the company and the personality part on our page about Assessio and in the guide to personality tests. If you have been sent a different matrix test, the Alva Labs logic test uses a similar format with its own rules for time and scoring.

Want to see where you stand today? Take the free logic test: 12 matrix tasks with one minute each, your result and an explanation for every task, no account needed.