Mawhiba Level 2 Syllabus: The Four Domains and Question Types

Last checked: 1 November 2026. The definitions, number of questions, time and grades come from the National Program for Gifted Identification page on Mawhiba's website. They can change, so check it before the test. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with the Mawhiba foundation, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission or any government body.

Level 2 of the Mawhiba Multiple Mental Abilities Test is for students in grade 6 (primary) and grades 1 and 2 (intermediate). Each student gets one attempt at this level, so it helps your child to know what the questions look like before test day. This guide explains what the four domains measure and the common question types in each, with one small example of our own for every domain. The plan by days left is in the study plan guide, and the score and Mawhiba programs are in the scores guide.

The numbers to plan around

Our full mock exams have 96 questions in 120 minutes, split evenly over the four domains: 24 questions per domain. If your child shares the time evenly, that is about 30 minutes per domain (24 × 75 seconds).

Domain 1: Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension

Mawhiba defines it as the ability to use language to process the information and facts available, and to apply language rules to what is read in order to infer, extract, reorganise and use meanings. In practice the questions ask for meaning.

• Verbal analogies: a relationship between two words, then the pair that has the same relationship.
• Sentence completion: one or two blanks. Only one answer fits the meaning once you read linking words such as "but" and "therefore".
• Contextual error: one of four words contradicts the meaning of the sentence.
• Vocabulary and classification: the meaning of a word in context, and the word that does not belong to the group.
• Reading comprehension: a short passage (about 120 to 180 words in our questions) followed by a question on the main idea, a detail, an inference or the meaning of a word.

Example of our own (analogy): "Thermometer : temperature = scale : ?" Options: mass, length, time, speed. Answer: mass. The first is an instrument that measures the second, and a scale measures mass. Length, time and speed are measured by other instruments. A step that always helps: say the relationship in a full sentence ("an instrument that measures ...") and test it on every option.

Domain 2: Mathematical and Spatial Reasoning

Mawhiba defines it as the ability to use mathematical skills and logical thinking to reach results through specific strategies, and to find a logical relation, similarity, match or difference.

• Math word problems: everyday situations (money, time, distance) in two to four steps, with no calculator. Fractions, ratios, averages, percentages and area appear.
• Number and letter sequences: finding the rule (a fixed addition, multiplication, a changing difference, two interleaved sequences) and completing the missing term.
• Figure sequences and matrices: a change in rotation, shading or count across a row or column.
• Spatial reasoning: mirror images, rotation, unfolded cubes, counting cubes, and folding and punching paper.

Example of our own (word problem): Khalid has 60 riyals. He spends a quarter of it on a snack, then a third of what is left on a book. How many riyals does he have left? Working: a quarter of 60 is 15, so 45 is left. A third of 45 is 15, so 30 riyals remain. The common mistake is to take a third of the original 60 instead of a third of what is left, and write 25. Ask your child to write the name of each amount next to every line ("left after the snack").

Domain 3: Scientific and Mechanical Reasoning

Mawhiba defines it as the ability to use data and facts gained through the senses, experiment and logic to reach new facts, to picture their past and future, and to draw evidence-based logical conclusions. The question gives a situation and asks for an explanation or a prediction.

• Science concepts and explaining phenomena: why does a pencil look broken in a glass of water? Why did a plant kept in the dark turn yellow? The task is the best explanation using a concept that suits the grade.
• Experiments and reading data: which is the independent variable, what must stay the same, and which conclusion the numbers support.
• Gears and pulleys: direction and speed of rotation, and fixed and movable pulleys.
• Levers, balance and inclined planes: the fulcrum, the balance, and which method needs less force.
• Force, motion and energy: friction, gravity, floating, energy changes and simple electric circuits.

Example of our own (gears): Three meshed gears sit side by side in a row, and the first turns clockwise. Which way does the third turn? Answer: clockwise. Two meshed gears turn in opposite directions, so the second turns anticlockwise and the third reverses the second, returning to the first one's direction. The rule: in a row of meshed gears, the first, third and fifth all turn the same way.

Domain 4: Mental Flexibility

Mawhiba defines it as the ability to produce varied ideas, to look at fields of use and connect them, and to change how one approaches things and situations by breaking their difficulties into factors that can help in finding solutions. In our questions each question has one answer that can be proved, and we never ask "which idea is nicest".

• Codes and symbols: "original → code" examples from which you work out the rule, then apply it to a new word or number.
• Symbol equations and number puzzles: the value of a symbol from two or three equations, and squares and number shapes with a hidden rule.
• Flexible classification and odd one out: a group that can be sorted in more than one way, where the question sets the basis.
• Logic puzzles: queues and seating, who tells the truth, and planning steps, with four or five conditions at Level 2.
• Uses and alternative solutions: which property of a thing allows a new use, and which solution meets every condition.

Example of our own (code): In a certain code, 3 5 is written 4 6, and 7 1 is written 8 2. How is 4 8 written? Answer: 5 9. The rule that works for both examples: add one to each digit. The trap: the rule "add the two digits" works for one example and fails for the other, so every rule is tested on all the examples before it is applied.

Where time and marks go

• The first reasonable option: in verbal and science questions the writer includes an option that looks familiar and does not answer what was asked. Re-read the question before locking in.
• Stopping at the first step: two- and three-step problems have a middle result among the options, like 25 in our example.
• Staying too long on one question: an average of 75 seconds per question means a question that takes 3 minutes costs two others. Teach your child to flag a question and come back.
• Shapes and cubes: children go wrong when they try to picture the whole rotation in their head. It is easier to follow one mark in the figure (a shaded side or a corner) step by step.
• The wrong grade at registration: Mawhiba says sitting the test in a grade other than the student's actual grade cancels the score, so register your child in their own school grade.

How to use this site

Start with the 10 free questions in the free practice test, no sign-up: it shows your child's weakest domain and explains every option. Then practise by domain in the practice area (weak points, My mistakes and flashcards), and a few days before the test try a full mock exam with the same number of questions and time: 96 questions in 120 minutes. Your score here is the percentage of correct answers in each domain, for practice only, and it is not Mawhiba's 1000 to 2000 score.