Free EIAT practice questions with answers
Updated 13 September 2026 · 12 min read
Below are ten practice questions in the format of the Elevator Industry Aptitude Test and the tool assessment that follows it. They are original questions written to reflect the publicly described format — not official NEIEP questions — and every one comes with a worked answer. Try each question before you open the answer.
They are taken straight from our practice sections, so if you want more of any type, the full banks are there.
Reading comprehension
The EIAT's reading section is a cloze test: a passage with numbered gaps, and four words to choose from for each gap. Read the whole sentence, and often the one after it, before you choose.
Question 1. Working safely on a site depends on paying close ___(1)___ to what is happening around you. A hazard that goes ___(2)___ can injure someone long after the person who created it has walked away. Every member of the crew has a ___(3)___ to raise anything unsafe, however minor it looks. Doing so early is almost always ___(4)___ than dealing with the consequences afterwards.
Which word belongs in blank (1)?
- distance
- decoration
- attention
- luggage
Show the answer
C: attention. Blank (1) takes "attention". Read the whole sentence before choosing: the other three words are ordinary English but none of them makes sense where the gap sits.
Math
No calculator. Watch the fifth option on these — "No answer" is sometimes correct, and one of the questions below is an example.
Question 2. 12.6 ÷ 0.3 = ?
- 42
- 43
- 41
- 84
- No answer
Show the answer
A: 42. 12.6 ÷ 0.3 = 42.
Question 3. 3 1/2 × 2/3 = ?
- 3 1/3
- 1 1/3
- 2 1/3
- 4 2/3
- No answer
Show the answer
C: 2 1/3. 3 1/2 × 2/3 = 2 1/3.
Question 4. 22.5 ÷ 2.5 = ?
- 10
- 8
- 18
- 4.5
- No answer
Show the answer
E: No answer. 22.5 ÷ 2.5 = 9. None of the four figures offered matches, so the answer is "No answer". The option is there to be used — check your result against the list rather than picking the closest.
Question 5. Solve for x: 3x + 7 = 25
- 7
- 5
- 12
- 6
- No answer
Show the answer
D: 6. Take 7 off both sides: 3x = 25 − 7 = 18. Then divide both sides by 3: x = 18 ÷ 3 = 6.
Mechanical comprehension
Most mechanical questions give you a diagram and ask which way something turns, which side goes down, or which arrangement takes less effort. You are judging, not calculating to a number.
Question 6. Gear A is turned in the direction shown. Which way does gear B turn?
- It cannot turn
- Clockwise
- Counterclockwise
Show the answer
C: Counterclockwise. Meshed gears turn opposite ways, so the direction flips at every gear along the row. Gear B is an odd number of gears from A, so it turns the opposite way — counterclockwise. The number of teeth changes the speed, never the direction.
Question 7. The beam shown is free to pivot. What happens when it is released?
- The left side goes down
- The right side goes down
- It stays balanced
Show the answer
C: It stays balanced. Turning effect is weight multiplied by distance from the pivot: left is 10 x 3 = 30, right is 15 x 2 = 30. They match, so it balances — the heavier weight sits closer in, which is exactly how it evens out.
Question 8. The same load is lifted by the two arrangements shown. Which one needs less force on the rope?
- Arrangement B
- Arrangement A
- Both take the same force
Show the answer
A: Arrangement B. Count the rope sections actually holding the load up. A has 1 and B has 2, and the weight is shared between them, so arrangement B needs less force. The catch is rope: the easier one has to be pulled 2 times as far.
Question 9. The two cylinders are joined and filled with oil. Which piston can push with the greater force?
- They are the same
- Piston B
- Piston A
Show the answer
B: Piston B. The pressure in the oil is the same everywhere, and force is pressure multiplied by area. Piston B is the wider one, so the same pressure acts over a bigger area and gives a bigger force. That is how a bottle jack lifts a car.
Tool assessment: the tape measure
The tool assessment asks you to read a tape to a sixteenth of an inch. Count the small marks rather than judging by eye.
Question 10. What measurement is the arrow pointing to on the tape?
- 2 3/8"
- 2 7/16"
- 2 5/16"
- 2 1/4"
Show the answer
A: 2 3/8". It reads 2 3/8" — 6 of the sixteenth-inch marks past 2. Count the small marks rather than judging by eye. The longest mark between the inches is the half, the next longest the quarters, then the eighths, and the shortest are the sixteenths.
How did you do?
If one area went noticeably worse than the others, that is where your preparation time should go first. The questions above are deliberately representative rather than hard: the real difficulty on test day is doing a hundred of them on paper against a clock. Our full practice sections give you timed runs of each type, and the four-week study plan sets out how to use them.
Frequently asked questions
Are these the real EIAT questions?
No. They are original practice questions written to reflect the format NEIEP describes publicly. The official questions are not published, and this site is not affiliated with NEIEP or the IUEC.
Can I use a calculator on the EIAT?
Published descriptions of the EIAT say no calculator is allowed, so practice the math questions by hand on paper.
What does 'No answer' mean on the EIAT math questions?
It means none of the four figures offered is correct. If your working does not match any of them, choose 'No answer' rather than the closest figure.
Ready to start?
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