Rotation
One shape, and you pick the option that is the same shape turned round, not flipped. Here's how to find it every time.
Chapter 1
What are rotation questions?
You’re shown one shape and five options, in Rush and in the exam. One option is the same shape turned round, like a card spun on a table. The rest are traps.
The shape. An outline with one lopsided detail: teeth, a tab, a bite or a black square.
The flip. One option is always the shape flipped over, then turned.
The near copies. The shape with one part added, taken away or stretched.
Which is the same shape, turned round?
An NVR question from Rush, level 2.
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Turned, or rotated
The shape spins round flat on the table. Every part goes round with it.
Turned a quarter clockwise, the L’s foot points down instead of right, and the black square stays in the foot. Nothing changes size.
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Flipped, or reflected
The shape as you’d see it in a mirror. Left and right swap.
Flipped, the L’s foot points left. Spin an L any way you like and you never get this shape: no turn makes a flip, so the flip is always wrong.
Chapter 2
Solve it in 3 steps.
Here’s the key question, one step at a time.
The question
Which is the same shape, turned round?
An NVR question from Rush, level 2.
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Step 1
Check every part.
A turn never adds, takes away or stretches anything. The key has two teeth: a long one in the middle and a short one at the tip. Option 1 has one tooth, and 3 and 5 have two long ones. Cross them out.
The key: a long tooth, then a short one at the tip.
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Step 2
Follow the tip to find the turn.
Pick one part that’s easy to spot and see where it went. On the key the tip points right. In option 4 it points up: the key turned a quarter anticlockwise. In option 2 it points down: a quarter clockwise.
The key 2: down 4: up Right to down is a quarter clockwise. Right to up is a quarter anticlockwise.
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Step 3
Turn the teeth the same way.
Every part turns together. The teeth hang down, and a quarter anticlockwise swings down round to the right: option 4’s teeth point right. A quarter clockwise would swing them left, but option 2’s point right. Option 2 is the flip.
2: should point left 4: point right The tip and the teeth turned the same way only in option 4.
Three mistakes on this key
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Picking the one that looks right. Option 2 has the ring, the blade and both teeth, all the right size. It passes a quick look, but it’s the key flipped over. | Always check a second part turned the same way as the first. |
| Checking the outline, not each part. Option 5 is turned the right way, with its teeth on the correct side. But its tooth at the tip is long. | Before you turn anything, check every tooth, tab and bite. |
| Mixing up clockwise and anticlockwise. Call option 4’s turn clockwise and its teeth seem to point the wrong way. Then the flip, option 2, looks right. | Clockwise goes up, right, down, left. Say it before you turn. |
So it’s option 4. It has the same two teeth, and they turned a quarter anticlockwise with the tip.
Remember: Same parts. Same turn. No flip.
Chapter 3
When it gets harder.
Rush’s harder levels use busier shapes, often with a black square inside. These are the catches.
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Anticlockwise The flag Clockwise Clockwise or anticlockwise?
Clockwise goes up, right, down, left, like a clock’s hands. Anticlockwise goes up, left, down, right.
A quarter clockwise sends the top of the flag’s pole from up to right. Trap: three quarters clockwise lands where a quarter anticlockwise does, so picture the short way round.
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The F Half turn Flip A half turn isn’t a flip
A half turn puts the shape upside down and swaps left and right.
Half way round, the F’s arms point left. Trap: an F just stood on its head, arms still pointing right, is a flip.
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The block1, 2, 3 Turned1, 2, 3 Flip1, 3, 2 No tip? Read round it clockwise
Name three parts going round clockwise. A turn keeps that order; a flip runs it backwards.
Here it’s tab, black square, cut corner, and the turned copy reads the same. Trap: guessing by eye on a busy shape. This test works at any angle.
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1 2 3 4 5 Four turned, one flipped
Five copies of one shape, each turned a different way: the odd one out is the flip.
Rush’s Doesn’t Belong game asks this, and so does the exam. Read round each copy: here only 3 runs backwards. Trap: there’s no shape to start from, and some copies lie on a slant.
Chapter 4: In the exam
When the question names the turn.
In Rush any turn counts. Some exam papers ask for one turn in particular, and draw a pattern inside the shape. Two more checks, and the steps you know do the rest.
Which shows the shape turned 90° clockwise?
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Step 1
Turn one part exactly as asked.
The tip points up. A quarter turn clockwise sends up to right. Option 1 points down and option 5 points left: both out.
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Step 2
Check a second part turned with it.
The fin sticks out to the left. A quarter clockwise sends left to up. Option 3’s fin points down, so it’s the flip: out.
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Step 3
Check the pattern turned too.
The stripes cross the arrow from side to side, so after the turn they must still cross it, running up and down. Option 4’s run along it: they didn’t turn. That leaves option 2.
1 2 3 4 5
So it’s option 2. The tip turned from up to right, the fin from left to up, and the stripes now run up and down.
Remember: Name the turn. Turn every part.
Other ways the exam asks it
- Slanted turns. Some papers turn the shape an eighth of the way round, or three eighths, so it lands on a slant, and every wrong option is a flip. Reading round clockwise works at any angle.
- Turns in a sequence. In “what comes next” and analogy questions, a shape can turn the same amount each step, a quarter or an eighth. Follow one part from box to box.
- Models made of cubes. Some papers turn a model built from cubes. Count the cubes along each arm, and look out for the mirror image.
Chapter 5
Try it yourself.
Six real questions from Rush, easy to hard, 60 seconds on the clock.
Use the steps
- Check every part.
- Follow the tip to find the turn.
- Turn the teeth the same way.
Remember: Same parts. Same turn. No flip.
For parents.
More on rotation, and what parents ask us.
More on rotation
3D rotation
Some papers show a model built from cubes and ask how it looks after a turn. Rush doesn't practise this, because turning a block model in your head takes well over ten seconds. Two quick checks help. Count the cubes along each arm, since wrong options often make one arm a cube too long or too short. And look for the mirror image: if the model doesn't lie flat and is lopsided, no turn can make its mirror image. The rest is best practised on paper, ideally with a handful of real building cubes to check answers.
Questions parents ask
What is rotation in non-verbal reasoning?
It means turning a shape round on the page, as you would turn a card on a table. The shape never leaves the table, so it can't land face down. The question gives you the shape and asks which option is the same shape after a turn.
How can you tell if a shape is rotated or reflected?
Find one lopsided detail and a start and end on the shape. Walk along it in your head and note whether the detail is on your left or right. If it has changed sides, the shape was flipped (reflected). If it's on the same side, it was only turned. On a reflection question the same check finds the answer, because there the flipped one is right.
Does it matter which way it turned?
In a question that only asks for the same shape turned round, no: any turn counts. Some questions name the turn, such as a quarter turn clockwise, and then the direction matters too. Clockwise is the way a clock's hands go.
Rush: 11+ Practice & KS2 SATsPractise rotation in Rush.
- Turned Shapes as 100-second games, easy at first and harder as your child improves
- Every miss kept with the right answer and why
- Free to start, with a new family game every day
On the App Store for iPhone and iPad
Turned Shapes is free, and five more games too, plus a new family game every day. All 41 games are £24.99 a year after a free week1, or £3.99 a month.