Mawhiba Level 3 Content: Four Domains, Examples and Time per Question

Information last checked: 1 November 2026. The numbers and domain definitions here come from Mawhiba's National Program for Gifted Identification page and may change, so check them before the test. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with the Mawhiba foundation, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission or any government body.

This guide covers Level 3, for students in grade 3 (intermediate) and grade 1 (secondary). Mawhiba says each student sits the test once per level, so it is worth knowing what is coming before your child sits down at the screen. The week-by-week plan is in the study plan guide, and English tests are in the STEP and TOEIC guide.

The key numbers

Split evenly across the four domains, that is about 42 minutes each (30 questions × 84 seconds). This is a rough calculation, not a statement that the test divides time this way. The test is computer-based at test centres, in Arabic or English as chosen at registration.

Domain 1: Verbal reasoning and reading comprehension

Mawhiba defines it as the ability to use language to process the information or facts available, and to apply language rules to written content so as to draw out, reorganise and make use of meanings. The question types we train:

• Verbal analogies: a relation between two words, then a pair with the same relation.
• Sentence completion: one or two blanks fixed by the meaning of the sentence and its linking words.
• Contextual error: a word that contradicts the meaning of the sentence.
• Vocabulary and classification: a word's meaning in context, and the odd word in a group.
• Reading comprehension: a passage of about 180 to 260 words at Level 3, then a question on the main idea, a detail or an inference.

Example: courage : recklessness = thrift : ? (stinginess, generosity, saving, spending). Courage pushed too far becomes recklessness, and thrift pushed too far becomes stinginess. The answer is "stinginess". "Saving" is close to thrift in meaning but is not thrift taken too far, which is the near-miss trap.

Domain 2: Mathematical and spatial reasoning

The ability to use mathematical skills and logical thinking to reach solutions, and to find a logical relation, similarity, match or difference. Types: word problems, number and letter sequences, figure sequences and matrices, and spatial reasoning (mirror images, rotation, unfolded cubes, paper folding). Our questions have no calculator, so the working has to be done in the head or on scrap paper in a few steps. At Level 3 expect simple equations, two-step percentages, probability, and factors and multiples.

Example: A shirt costs 200 riyals. It is cut by 15%, then the new price is cut by 10%. What is the final price? After the first cut: 200 × 0.85 = 170 riyals. After the second: 170 × 0.9 = 153 riyals. A student who adds the cuts (25%) gets 150 riyals and falls into the trap, because the second cut applies to the new price.

Domain 3: Scientific and mechanical reasoning

The ability to use data and facts gained through the senses, experiment and logic to reach new ones, to picture their past and future, and to draw evidence-based conclusions. Types: explaining phenomena with a science concept, reading an experiment and a table, gears and pulleys, levers, balance and inclined planes, and force, motion and energy. At Level 3 questions often need a calculation: gear tooth ratios, lever balance (force × arm), and density and floating.

Example: Gear A has 12 teeth and drives gear B, which has 36 teeth. A turns 3 times. How many times does B turn? The same number of teeth pass at both gears: 12 × 3 = 36 teeth, which is one turn of B, in the opposite direction to A. A student who divides 36 by 12 and answers three turns has flipped the ratio.

Domain 4: Mental flexibility

The ability to produce varied ideas, to look at fields of use and link them, and to change how one approaches things and situations by breaking their difficulties down into factors that help find solutions. Types: symbols and codes, symbol equations and number puzzles, flexible classification and the odd one out, logic puzzles, and alternative uses and solutions. At Level 3 expect puzzles with five or six conditions, truth-tellers and liars, and counting combinations.

Example: 213 is coded 435 and 507 is coded 729. How is 641 coded? Every digit goes up by 2, so the answer is 863. The method: check the two examples digit by digit, and once the rule holds in both, apply it.

Where students lose marks

• Time: a hard question that takes three minutes costs the time of three easy ones. Teaching your child to skip and come back saves questions at the end.
• The near-miss option: in analogies and classification, the option that looks most like the answer is often the trap.
• The last step: in maths and science, students calculate well and then answer something else, such as giving the number of turns instead of the direction.
• Picture questions: mirror, rotation and paper folding need practice with a pencil, not guessing.
• Ignoring a domain: the score covers the whole test, so a weak domain drags it down even when the others are strong. Mawhiba says scoring takes each question's difficulty into account, so it is not just the number of correct answers.

How your child practises here

• 10 free questions with no sign-up, then a result showing your child's weakest domain.
• Practice on the weakest domain, a mistakes notebook and flashcards in the practice area.
• A full mock exam with 120 questions in 168 minutes.

Results on this site are for practice only. They show the share of our questions answered correctly, not the official 1000 to 2000 score. Access prices and question details are on the exam page.