Learn by Novus · Open practice pack v1

Clerical accuracy: full practice bank: open practice pack: worked explanations

100 untimed questions across 10 authored sections.

This is untimed educational practice for one cognitive skill. It is not a clinical, diagnostic, employment, or professionally recognized assessment, and it does not produce an IQ score or credential.

Worked explanations

clerical-accuracy-s01-q01

Read the two spellings letter by letter: the original has a single t in the middle and the copy has two. An inserted character is one of the four classic transcription faults, alongside omission, substitution, and transposition.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q02

Both entries contain the same eight digits and the same block lengths, but the second block reads 3271 in one and 3721 in the other. When the digits are the same and only their order changes, the fault is a transposition.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q03

Check a hyphenated reference one block at a time rather than reading it as a whole: the letter prefix, then the digits, then the suffix. Only one copy keeps all three blocks unchanged.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q04

The letter S in the original has become the digit 5 in the copy. Look-alike pairs such as S and 5, O and 0, and I and 1 cause a large share of keying errors, so check them deliberately in mixed letter-and-digit fields.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q05

The first two blocks agree, so the check narrows to the last four digits: 0283 against 0823. Both blocks hold four digits and the same set of values, with the middle two in reversed order.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q06

The day and month blocks are unchanged, so only the year needs comparing: 1994 against 1949. The first two digits hold, and the final pair appears in reversed order.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q07

Split an email address at the @ symbol and check the local part, the domain, and the ending separately. Only one copy survives all three checks unchanged.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q08

The pence are .50 in both entries, so the difference sits in the pounds: 1,340 against 1,304. The same four digits appear in both, with two of them in reversed order.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q09

Both spellings contain the same nine letters in the same order, but the internal capital in the original is lower case in the copy. Treat case as part of the data when checking names, because search and matching routines often do.

clerical-accuracy-s01-q10

Count the characters in each block before reading the values: the middle block holds four digits in the original and three in the copy. A leading zero is easy to lose and easy to miss, so count first and read second.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q01

All four surnames begin with Ha, so the decision moves to the third letter: l comes before n, and n before r. Compare letter by letter and stop at the first position where the entries differ.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q02

Compare the number of digits first: the three-digit value is smallest. Among the four-digit values, compare place by place from the left, where 4107 exceeds both 4071 and 4017.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q03

Both surnames beginning Ad are decided at the third letter, where a comes before e, so Adams belongs before Adeyemi rather than after it. Checking each neighbouring pair in turn finds the single break in the run.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q04

With the apostrophe removed the entry reads Obrien, which shares Ob with Obara. The third letter decides: a comes before r, and Ochoa begins with Oc, so the entry sits between the two.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q05

All four entries have five digits, so compare them position by position from the left. Two share the opening 00, and the third digit then separates 8 from 9.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q06

Sort dates by year first, then month, then day: never by the day number that catches the eye. The two 2024 entries come after both 2023 entries, and within March 2024 the thirteenth follows the third.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q07

The surnames are identical, so the first name becomes the deciding key. Among the first names, the second letter separates Am from An, and the third letter then places Amara before Amit.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q08

All four names share the opening Fair, so the fifth letter decides the order: b, then c, then f, then l. That places Fairfax after Fairbairn and Fairclough but before Fairley.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q09

Apply the primary key before the secondary one: every A file precedes every B file. Within the B group the numbers are compared as values, so 12 follows 7.

clerical-accuracy-s02-q10

The department is the primary key, so both Estates records precede both Finance records however early the surname looks. The surname only breaks ties within the same department, placing Naylor before Whitfield.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q01

Check the shape in two steps: count the characters, then confirm each position holds the right type. One entry has only five digits, one begins with a letter and a digit, and one carries a third letter where a digit belongs.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q02

The rule fixes both the order of the parts and the number of digits in each. Only one entry gives two digits for the day, two for the month, and four for the year in that sequence.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q03

Count the characters in each block before reading them. Three entries give three digits ahead of the hyphen; the remaining one gives only two, which is easy to miss because the letter block looks correct.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q04

Scan for forbidden characters before checking the digits themselves. Brackets, hyphens, and a stray letter each disqualify an entry regardless of whether the number is otherwise right.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q05

Count each word and add one for every space: the shortest entry here runs to eleven characters, while the others reach fourteen, sixteen, and sixteen. Spaces count towards a field limit unless the rule says otherwise.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q06

Test the two conditions separately: count the @ symbols, then look for a full stop to the right of it. A full stop before the @ does not satisfy the second condition.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q07

The rule bans the symbol and fixes two digits after the decimal point. A single decimal digit, a comma used as a decimal separator, and a leading symbol each fail one part of it.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q08

A separator can be a comma or a space, and both are excluded here, as is any decimal part. Only the bare string of digits satisfies every condition.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q09

The rule sets two conditions: capitals, and a full stop after every initial. One entry drops the stops entirely, one drops the final stop, and one uses lower case.

clerical-accuracy-s03-q10

Build the reference part by part in the order the rule gives: full year, separator, then the sequence number padded to two digits. A single-digit sequence number and a reversed order both break the pattern.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q01

Turn the wording into arithmetic before judging it: ten days after the twelfth is the twenty-second, which is the date on the receipt. June has thirty days, so no month boundary is crossed.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q02

Count the days one at a time across the month boundary: the first day lands on 29 February because 2024 is a leap year, and the second lands on 1 March. Assuming February always ends on the twenty-eighth is the usual slip here.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q03

Convert both entries to one format before comparing them: subtracting twelve from a 24-hour time above 12:00 gives the afternoon clock time. Both records point to the same moment.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q04

Add the whole hour first and the minutes second: 09:50 plus one hour is 10:50, and thirty-five minutes more carries past the hour to 11:25. Splitting the addition avoids miscounting the sixty-minute boundary.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q05

Check the day number against the length of the month named. September, April, June, and November each run to thirty days, so a thirty-first in any of them is impossible rather than merely unusual.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q06

Break an overnight span at midnight: 22:30 to midnight is 1 hour 30 minutes, and midnight to 06:15 is 6 hours 15 minutes. Adding the two parts gives 7 hours 45 minutes.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q07

Count the days to the end of the month first: 15 days remain in April, leaving 15 more to run into May, so the due date is 15 May. A payment on 20 May therefore arrives five days after it.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q08

A weekly series always advances by exactly seven days, so check the gaps rather than the dates. The first gap is seven days and the second is eight, which cannot fall on the same weekday.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q09

Quarters starting in January run January to March, April to June, and so on. Counting back two months from the stated end month gives the first month of the quarter.

clerical-accuracy-s04-q10

Read each entry under its own stated convention before comparing: day-then-month gives 5 March, and month-then-day gives the same date. Always confirm which convention a form uses when the day number is twelve or lower.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q01

Check each pair for length before reading it, since a dropped letter changes the count. An accent is part of the character, so a name written with one does not match the same name written without.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q02

Take an address one element at a time: number, then name, then type of road. The faults here sit in a different element each time, which is why a single sweeping glance misses them.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q03

Line the two records up field by field: title, first name, middle initial, surname. Three fields agree exactly, and the first name is one letter shorter in one record than the other.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q04

Work through the shared fields first and set them aside once they agree. Only the flat identifier differs, and a one-character difference there sends post to the wrong door.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q05

Weigh the identifying field more heavily than the display text: a registration number is unique to one company, while a trading suffix is often abbreviated. Differences in wording alone rarely outweigh a matching unique identifier.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q06

Split the record at the comma and check the name and the address separately. One copy reverses two letters in the surname, one drops a letter from the road name, and one reverses the house number.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q07

Everything up to the postcode is identical, so the check narrows to the final block. The rounded characters Q and O differ only by a tail, which makes them a common source of postcode faults.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q08

Strong overlap on surname and address makes a duplicate likely, but an accented character alone is not proof. Flagging preserves both versions until someone with the authority to decide can confirm the match.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q09

Compare the two spellings from the left until they diverge: the first eight letters are the same, and one spelling simply continues for a further letter. Differences at the end of a word are the ones a quick read most often misses.

clerical-accuracy-s05-q10

Both entries agree through the opening letters, so the fault has to sit later in the word. The vowel in the closing syllable is the single character that changes.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q01

Build the code in the order the rule gives and honour every width it specifies. Three letters come first, and a single-digit shelf number is padded with a leading zero rather than left short or reversed.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q02

Add the four digits before writing anything down: two plus three plus one plus two is eight, which is below ten, so the rule applies as stated. A check digit is recalculated rather than copied, which is what lets it catch keying faults.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q03

Recompute the sum for every code rather than spot-checking one: the four sums are seven, nine, eight, and seven. Only one code carries a final digit that disagrees with its own total.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q04

Follow the rule literally on all three points: one letter, then the count, and no padding. Adding a second letter or a leading zero introduces information the rule never asked for.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q05

Treat the two parts of the reference independently: the year moves on and the sequence resets. Carrying the old sequence number into the new year is the trap the resetting rule exists to prevent.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q06

Ignore the digits entirely, because the rule constrains only the final character. Three of the endings are vowels and one is not.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q07

Assemble the parts strictly in the stated order: year, month, site. The year 2026 shortens to 26, March pads to 03, and no space or separator belongs anywhere in the string.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q08

Count characters rather than judging length by eye, and remember to include the hyphens. Three references come to ten characters, and one comes to eleven despite looking much like the rest.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q09

Read the worked example to see which part is padded: the room number takes two digits and the floor number takes as many as it needs. Floor 2 stays a single digit, and room 30 already has two.

clerical-accuracy-s06-q10

Take the letters in the order they appear in the town name, not the ones that stand out in it, then take the final two digits of the year rather than the first two. Order matters as much as content in a coding rule.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q01

Add the lines yourself before looking at the stated figure, so the printed total cannot anchor your arithmetic: £24.50 and £13.75 make £38.25, and £8.20 brings it to £46.45.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q02

Recalculate from the quantity and the unit price: twelve at £6.40 comes to £76.80. Comparing that with the £78.80 shown gives both the direction and the size of the difference.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q03

Value each line before combining them: five at £11.20 is £56.00, and three at £7.50 is £22.50. Adding the two line values gives the order total.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q04

Total each column separately, then subtract: receipts come to £269 and payments to £75, leaving £194. Keeping the two columns apart until the final step prevents the classic sign error.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q05

Apply the steps in the stated order: 10% of £250.00 is £25.00, leaving £225.00, and delivery is then added on top. Discounting after the delivery charge would give a different and incorrect figure.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q06

Group the repeated values before adding the odd one: four days at 7.5 hours is 30 hours, and the fifth day brings it to 34. Multiplying the repeated figure is quicker and safer than adding five numbers in a row.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q07

Subtract the smaller total from the larger to get £180, then divide by nine to get twenty exactly. The digits 31 and 13 have indeed swapped places, which is why the nine test is worth running before rechecking every line.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q08

Work the movement in the order it happens: add what came in, then take away what went out. That gives 340 plus 125, less 168.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q09

Add the lines independently: £52.40 and £38.90 make £91.30, and £51.90 brings the total to £143.20. Confirming that a figure is right is as much a result as finding a fault.

clerical-accuracy-s07-q10

Value the goods first and adjust afterwards: twenty-four at £3.75 is £90.00, and the fixed credit is then deducted once. A fixed credit is not scaled by the quantity.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q01

Find the row before doing any arithmetic, and confirm the code matches in full rather than at a glance. The rate for that code is £5.10, which multiplied by three gives the line value.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q02

Locate the named row first, then apply the stated convention to the value you find there. The room number for that name begins with a three, which the rule identifies as the floor.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q03

Compare the counts first: four against three tells you exactly one name is absent. Walking both lists in the same order then shows where the sequences part company.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q04

Read every row in order and tally only the name you are counting, ignoring the others entirely. That name appears on the Monday and the Wednesday.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q05

Translate the code through the table and compare the meaning with the free-text note: 'returned' and 'awaiting signature' describe different states. Which of the two is wrong cannot be settled from the record alone, so it is raised rather than corrected.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q06

When several values share the same digits in different orders, compare them digit by digit rather than by shape. Only one entry reads 2145 in that exact sequence.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q07

Read across the row for the route named in the booking and check whether the day appears there. Days listed against other routes are irrelevant to this check.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q08

Read the band boundaries as written: the middle band runs from five to nine inclusive, so nine items sit inside it rather than in the band above. Banded tables are most often misread at their edges.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q09

Both sheets are in ascending order, so compare them position by position and stop at the first mismatch. The final entries differ, and the question asks for the one belonging to the second sheet.

clerical-accuracy-s08-q10

Take the terms from the row matching the supplier on the invoice, not from the row you read first. Seven days from 3 August falls on 10 August, still inside the same month.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q01

When one word carries all the variation, spell it out syllable by syllable rather than reading the sentence for sense. Only one version keeps every syllable of 'acknowledge' intact and unrepeated.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q02

Two checks are needed here: the British form of the verb ends in -yse, and the rest of the sentence must also be clean. One version has the right verb but a transposition in the following word.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q03

An apostrophe marks possession, not a plural: the single claimant takes one before the s, and 'documents' is simply plural. Versions that add an apostrophe to 'documents' or drop it from the possessor both misplace it.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q04

Strip the phrase between the subject and the verb, then read what remains: a single list takes a singular verb, and plural lists would take a plural one. The nearby plural noun is what pulls the verb the wrong way.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q05

Identify the elements first (unit, road, town, postcode), then apply the rule to each boundary in turn. Commas follow the unit and the road, while the town runs straight into the postcode.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q06

Reading for meaning skips over repeated short words, so count the words instead of absorbing the sense. One sentence runs to one word more than the others.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q07

Test each word by substitution: 'they are' for the contraction, a possessive before a noun, and a place word for location. Only one sentence passes all three tests at once.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q08

Add the itemised parts and compare the sum with the stated headline figure. Only one sentence has parts that add to the total it announces.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q09

Capitals belong at the start of the sentence, on the pronoun 'I', and on proper nouns such as month names, nowhere else. Ordinary nouns given capitals for emphasis are a common house-style fault.

clerical-accuracy-s09-q10

An opening phrase describes whatever noun follows the comma, so ask who actually did the checking. Only one sentence puts the person who checked the totals in that position.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q01

Test each rule separately against the record: the closing date does follow the opening date, so that rule holds. The reference carries a year one earlier than the opening date, which the first rule forbids.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q02

Some fields can be checked without any external reference, and a date is one of them. February never reaches thirty days in any year, leap or otherwise, so that entry is impossible rather than merely doubtful.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q03

Run the two checks independently: six at £14.50 comes to £87.00, so the arithmetic holds. June has thirty days, so the delivery date fails even though the money is right.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q04

Work forward from the field the rule names, the last renewal, rather than from the joining date. Twelve months from January 2026 runs into January 2027, so a July 2026 record cannot yet have lapsed.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q05

Count the thirty days across the month boundary: May has 31 days, so twenty-nine days from 2 May reaches 31 May and the thirtieth day falls on 1 June. Payment on 5 June therefore arrives after the due date.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q06

Count the months forward from the start date: six months after September lands in March, not February. Counting on fingers from the wrong month by one is the usual cause of this kind of slip.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q07

Apply the house rule to the figures given: twelve delivered less two damaged leaves ten that can be accepted. The accepted count as written cannot be reconciled with the damage recorded on the same note.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q08

Derive the balance from the fields above it: £240.00 less £60.00 leaves £180.00, not the figure shown. The instalments add correctly to the stated balance, which is exactly why an error in that balance passes unnoticed.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q09

Two fields that should agree do not, and the record itself does not say which one is wrong. Raising the discrepancy preserves both versions, whereas altering either count hides the fault.

clerical-accuracy-s10-q10

Count working days a week at a time, dropping the weekends: from the Tuesday of submission, twenty working days reach into the first week of August. Whether or not the submission day itself is counted, the decision date still falls inside the target.