Employer preparation guide
Preparing for the Linklaters Watson-Glaser test
Start with the instructions for your application, not a generic stopwatch target. Linklaters' current early-careers guidance describes its Watson-Glaser test as untimed.
Read Linklaters' application guidanceBuild your preparation plan
VRP is independent and not affiliated with Linklaters, Pearson or TalentLens. This is a preparation guide, not a Linklaters mock test.
Is the Linklaters Watson-Glaser test timed?
The official application page's Watson Glaser section states that it is untimed, checked on 8 September 2026. It also recommends practice and supplies examples. This is employer-specific guidance, not a rule for every Watson-Glaser administration. Your invitation and any agreed adjustments take precedence if they differ.
For your preparation, that makes accuracy a more useful first target than trying to finish an unrelated mock in 30 minutes. Take enough time to explain the deciding rule. If you later track your pace, use it as a learning aid, not as an alleged Linklaters time limit.
A five-skill preparation plan
Begin with the official examples to learn the response instructions. Then use the linked VRP guides to work on the distinction you find hardest. These are our suggested learning steps, not an employer scoring formula or a prescribed study duration.
- Inference: write down why the evidence supports certainty, probability or insufficient information. Do not substitute the three-choice TFC rule.
- Assumptions: identify what the statement takes for granted, separately from what you personally believe.
- Deduction: look for a case in which the premises hold but the proposed conclusion fails.
- Interpretation: distinguish a conclusion supported beyond reasonable doubt from one that is only possible.
- Argument evaluation: practise identifying importance and direct relevance. Our generic evaluation drills use a different response task, so they are not a Strong/Weak replica.
Keep a short error log: the question type, the rule you missed and the evidence you overlooked. Before another attempt, explain the correction without looking at the answer. Separate fresh questions from repeats when comparing your accuracy.
Which practice should you use?
Linklaters links to a Pearson UK practice booklet. Its 2002 copyright date matters: it illustrates the five tasks, but does not establish your current test's length or norms. Read the instructions rather than memorising its answers.
VRP's Watson-Glaser learning page has a free deduction example and the current full-rehearsal availability notice. The free mixed diagnostic explores broader verbal skills. Neither is a Linklaters readiness score or a guarantee of passing.
Before your actual assessment
Check the assessment name, completion deadline and support contact in your invitation. A submission deadline is different from an in-test timer. If you need adjustments, ask the recruitment team before beginning. We do not infer a current recruitment calendar from old programme dates or publish an unverified Linklaters pass mark.