Watson Glaser Inference — How to Master the Hardest Section

What the Watson Glaser Inference Section Tests

The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) is the standard assessment used by Magic Circle law firms — including Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, and Slaughter and May — as well as leading consulting firms and graduate employers worldwide. Of its five sections, the Inference section is consistently rated the most difficult by candidates.

The Inference section tests your ability to distinguish between what a passage actually states and what you might assume, infer, or believe to be true. Each question presents a short passage of factual information followed by a series of proposed inferences. Your task is to evaluate how well each inference is supported by the facts in the passage alone — not by your background knowledge, not by common sense, and not by what seems likely in the real world.

This is a fundamentally different skill from reading comprehension. You are not asked whether something is true in general — you are asked whether it follows necessarily and directly from the passage. Law firms prize this skill because it mirrors the analytical rigour required to advise clients: an associate who conflates evidence with assumption is a liability.

The section typically contains 5 passages, each with 5 proposed inferences, giving 25 items total. You must classify each inference using a 5-point scale.

Detailed preparation resources, including timed practice sets and full-length simulations, are available on our Watson Glaser complete guide and via our Watson Glaser practice test.

Common Mistakes — And How to Avoid Them

Even strong analytical thinkers make predictable errors on the Inference section. Understanding these traps in advance is half the battle.

1. Using Outside Knowledge

This is the single most common error. Candidates read a passage about, say, economic growth in a country they know well, and mark an inference True because they know from experience that it is correct. The inference section does not care what you know — it only cares what the passage says. If the passage does not support it, the answer cannot be True or Probably True, regardless of real-world accuracy.

2. Confusing True and Probably True

Candidates frequently mark inferences as True when the passage only makes them Probably True. True requires absolute certainty from the passage. A passage stating “most employees were satisfied” does not make it True that “the majority of staff would recommend the company” — it makes it Probably True at best. Precision here separates high scorers from the rest.

3. Confusing False and Insufficient Data

When a passage says nothing about a topic, the answer is Insufficient Data — not False. False means the passage actively contradicts the inference. A passage that simply does not mention a topic leaves the inference neither supported nor contradicted: that is Insufficient Data. Many candidates default to False when they cannot see support for an inference; this is incorrect.

4. Reading Too Much Into Qualifiers

Words like “always,” “never,” “all,” and “none” in an inference are red flags. A passage that supports a general trend rarely supports an absolute. “Sales increased in most regions” does not support “sales increased in all regions.” Absolute qualifiers in inferences almost always indicate False or Probably False.

5. Rushing the Passage Read

Under time pressure, candidates skim passages and miss nuance. Each passage is short — rarely more than 4–5 sentences — so read it carefully twice before answering. The few seconds saved by skimming cost more in wrong answers than they gain in time.

For broader test strategy, see our 7 tips to pass the Watson Glaser. For practice on related analytical skills, our verbal reasoning and numerical reasoning sections also help build precision.