Remember where dots light up, and in what order, while you judge whether patterns are symmetrical in between. Then tap the dots back in sequence.
Prep providers list Aon's gridChallenge among the online tests for NATS Stage 1. Aon describes it as a working-memory game: one dot on a grid is highlighted, then you answer a quick “Is it symmetrical?” question, and this repeats before you are asked where on the grid, and in which order, the dots appeared.
Prep providers report about 9 minutes, three rounds and nine recall tasks, with roughly 2–5 dots per sequence and a few seconds per question. Some employer versions swap the symmetry question for a rotation or shape-combination judgement. Aon does not publish its exact timings or scoring.
This is original practice modelled on that format, not Aon's test.
Watch the dot
One dot in the 5 × 5 grid lights up for 1.5 seconds. Remember where it was and that it came first, second, third…
Is it symmetrical?
An 8 × 8 pattern appears. Answer yes if the right half is an exact mirror image of the left half across the centre line. You have 5 seconds; no answer counts as wrong.
Repeat, then recall
Dot, pattern, dot, pattern… After the last pattern, tap the dots in the order they lit up and press Submit. Tap your last dot again to undo it.
✓ Symmetrical — answer yes
✗ Not symmetrical — one square has no partner (outlined)
The demo is one round of 3 recall tasks. The full test is 3 rounds of 3. Sequences start at 3 dots and adapt: recall one perfectly and the next is one dot longer (up to 6); get fewer than half right and it is one shorter (down to 2). Later rounds use harder symmetry patterns, where a square is nudged rather than added or removed.
You score a point for every dot selected in the right place at the right step. Your score is 75% memory points (out of what a perfect run would earn) and 25% symmetry accuracy, so ignoring the patterns to focus on the dots costs you.
Controls
Tap or click. On a keyboard: Y / ← yes, N / → no; in the dot grid use arrow keys and Enter, Backspace to undo.
Your assessment
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