Goldman Sachs — Aptitude Test: Pattern, Syllabus & Mock Test
Goldman Sachs — Aptitude Test pattern: 42 questions in 55 minutes across 4 sections, with negative marking.
- Pattern: Goldman Sachs
- Duration: 55 minutes
- Questions: 42
- Timing: Free — move between sections until the paper's clock ends
- Negative marking: 0.4 marks per wrong answer
The one paper that punishes a guess. Five marks for a right answer, two off for a wrong one.
- Negative marking
- One shared clock
- ~75% cut-off
Sections
| Section | Questions | Time | Kind | Marks each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numerical Computation | 8 | 9 min | Multiple choice | 1 |
| Numerical Reasoning | 12 | 16 min | Multiple choice | 1 |
| Logical Reasoning | 12 | 16 min | Multiple choice | 1 |
| Verbal Reasoning | 10 | 14 min | Multiple choice | 1 |
Goldman Sachs — Aptitude Test syllabus
Numerical Computation
- Number System
- Percentages
- Profit & Loss
- Ratio & Proportion
- Averages
- Problems on Ages
- Time & Work
- Time, Speed & Distance
- Simple & Compound Interest
- Permutations & Combinations
- Probability
- Mixtures & Alligation
- Mensuration
Numerical Reasoning
Logical Reasoning
- Number & Letter Series
- Coding & Decoding
- Blood Relations
- Direction Sense
- Syllogisms
- Seating & Puzzles
- Analogies & Classification
- Mathematical Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning
Instructions
Goldman Sachs runs the heaviest aptitude round of any firm hiring engineers in India, and the only one where guessing is a losing strategy.
- Marking is +5 for a correct answer and −2 for a wrong one. A blank scores zero. Answer only when you can eliminate at least two options.
- One shared clock across every section, and you may move between them freely.
- The reported cut-off is around 75 per cent.
The real Round 1 also carries an Abstract Reasoning and a Diagrammatic Reasoning section, twelve questions each, built entirely from figures and flowcharts. Those are not multiple-choice text questions and are not covered here, so this paper runs four sections rather than six.
How to prepare for this pattern
A guide to the Goldman Sachs aptitude test pattern, the one paper in this catalogue where a careless guess is a losing strategy.
What the paper looks like
Four sections: Numerical Computation, 8 questions; Numerical Reasoning, 12 questions; Logical Reasoning, 12 questions; and Verbal Reasoning, 10 questions. That is 42 questions on one shared 55-minute clock, budgeted at 9, 16, 16 and 14 minutes, and you may move between sections freely and return to any of them. Marking follows the real test's +5 for a correct answer and −2 for a wrong one, scaled here to one mark and minus 0.4; a blank scores zero. The paper is not adaptive. The reported cut-off is around 75 per cent. The real Round 1 has 66 questions in 90 minutes across six sections, including Abstract Reasoning and Diagrammatic Reasoning, twelve questions each, built entirely from figures and flowcharts. Those two are not text multiple choice, so this mock leaves them out and reduces the time in proportion.
How to prepare, section by section
- Numerical Computation is arithmetic under time: percentages, averages, probability and counting. Drill Percentages, Averages, Probability and Permutations & Combinations until the calculations are quick and exact.
- Numerical Reasoning is data interpretation from tables and charts, plus number series. Practise Tables & Charts and Caselets, estimating before you calculate, and Number & Letter Series.
- Logical Reasoning draws from the whole logical syllabus: Syllogisms, Seating & Puzzles, Blood Relations, Direction Sense, Coding & Decoding, Analogies & Classification and Mathematical Reasoning.
- Verbal Reasoning is Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction, Fill in the Blanks & Para Jumbles and Synonyms & Antonyms.
On the day
The marking decides the strategy. With +5 for a right answer and −2 for a wrong one, a guess breaks even at about two-in-seven confidence. A blind pick among four options falls below that and loses marks on average; ruling out one option puts a guess just ahead, and ruling out two, as the instructions advise, makes it clearly worth taking. Otherwise leave the question blank. Use the shared clock: make a first pass through all four sections answering what you are sure of, then return to the questions where you can eliminate options. A high cut-off and a penalty together reward accuracy, so work each question properly rather than skimming for coverage.
This mock is modelled on the published Goldman Sachs pattern, the best documented in this catalogue, less its two figure-based sections; CodeKairo is not affiliated with Goldman Sachs.
Practice questions for the Goldman Sachs — Aptitude Test test
Product 48, difference 2
The product of the ages of two sisters is 48 and the difference is 2. What is the sum of their ages?
- 12
- 14
- 16
- 18
Show the answer
B. 14 Worked solution
Two classes together
A class of 30 students averages 40 marks and another of 50 students averages 60 marks. What is the combined average?
- 50
- 52.5
- 54
- 55
Show the answer
B. 52.5 Worked solution
15, 31, 63, 127, 255, ?
Find the next term:
15, 31, 63, 127, 255, ?
- 383
- 479
- 511
- 512
Show the answer
C. 511 Worked solution
6, 12, 21, 33, ?
Find the next term:
6, 12, 21, 33, ?
- 45
- 48
- 51
- 54
Show the answer
B. 48 Worked solution
1, 5, 14, 30, 55, ?
Find the next term:
1, 5, 14, 30, 55, ?
- 80
- 85
- 91
- 95
Show the answer
C. 91 Worked solution
Guitar is to strings
Guitar : Strings :: Piano : ?
- Keys
- Music
- Wood
- Pedals
Show the answer
A. Keys Worked solution
Bindu and Mahipal
Neena says, 'Anita's father Raman is the only son of my father-in-law Mahipal.' How is Bindu, who is Anita's sister, related to Mahipal?
- Daughter
- Granddaughter
- Niece
- Sister-in-law
Show the answer
B. Granddaughter Worked solution
Position within the alphabet
Which letter is the eighth to the left of the twentieth letter from the left of the alphabet?
- J
- K
- L
- M
Show the answer
C. L Worked solution
The main idea of the passage
Remote work was once treated as a perk for a favoured few. The pandemic turned it into ordinary practice almost overnight, and companies discovered that output did not collapse. What did suffer was the informal exchange that happens in corridors: the overheard question, the quick correction, the unplanned introduction. Firms are now experimenting with hybrid schedules, less because productivity demands it than because the social fabric of work does.
What is the main idea of the passage?
- The pandemic proved that offices are unnecessary.
- Corridor conversations are the most productive part of any workday.
- Remote work reduces productivity and should be abandoned.
- Hybrid schedules are being adopted mainly to restore informal interaction, not to fix output.
Show the answer
D. Hybrid schedules are being adopted mainly to restore informal interaction, not to fix output. Worked solution
Describing a discovery
Fill in the blank:
The discovery was ______: it overturned assumptions that had stood for a century.
- trivial
- momentous
- expected
- routine
Show the answer
B. momentous Worked solution
Subject–verb agreement
Choose the correct sentence:
- The list of items were on the desk.
- The list of items have been on the desk.
- The list of items are on the desk.
- The list of items is on the desk.
Show the answer
D. The list of items is on the desk. Worked solution
About this pattern
The best-documented pattern in this catalogue: PrepInsta, placementpreparation.io and GraduatesFirst agree on 66 questions, 90 minutes, six sections and the +5/−2 marking. The two figure-based sections are omitted and the time reduced in proportion.
Modelled on the published pattern; not affiliated with Goldman Sachs. Every sitting draws a fresh paper from the aptitude bank.
The Goldman Sachs interview process, round by round · Goldman Sachs coding questions