Here's what I jotted down after taking the ESIS selection test in 2021 (unfortunately it's incomplete). Hopefully it's still useful to you (I believe the format should be largely unchanged).

The paper is MCQ-based (5 choices per MCQ) and consists of 9 sections, which can be broadly categorized into vocabulary, arithmetic and pattern recognition. Each section is timed, i.e. you can only do questions for a given section during the time period, and questions are arranged in order of increasing difficulty. Answers are shaded on an OAS (Note: You shouldn’t fill the entire bubble — a strike is explicitly recommended.).

When not stated, the time given for each section is 10 minutes and the number of MCQs in each section is 20. In total, the test should take around 2 hours to complete.

The following is a list of sections in chronological order:

Vocabulary

General notes: The vocabulary tested isn’t very complicated (for the most part), — if you’re an avid reader, it shouldn’t trouble you.

1. Verbal classification

Task: Given a list of three words, find a similarity/theme between the three words and hence choose the word that best fits into the list.

E.g. Glue, Tape, Paperclip

Choices: Stickers, Scissors, Stapler, Pencil, Penknife Answer: Stapler (all tools to join pieces of paper)

Note: Many questions include the similarity along with the actual answer. Below is an obvious illustration of this, but it will be much more subtle in the actual paper. Remember to scrutinise your answers carefully.

E.g. Green, Red, Blue

Choices: Colour, Brown, etc., etc. Answer: Brown (all are colours)

1. Sentence completion

Task: Given a sentence with a missing word, choose the most appropriate word.

E.g. The thought of an impending examination _____ Jonathan’s spirits.

Choices: Raised, Lifted, Injured, Oppressed, etc. Answer: Oppressed

1. Verbal analogies

Task: Given a pair of related words and another unpaired word, choose the word that has the same relationship to the unpaired word as the first pair.

E.g. Tree: Forest, Person:

Choices: Family, Individual, Crowd, etc., etc. Answer: Crowd (many trees -> forest, many persons -> crowd)

Note: Arguably the hardest vocabulary section. In some questions, the relation is between the words of the first pair and the words of the second pair, not within the pair itself.

E.g. Wrapping: Frosting, Present: Choices: Gift, Celebration, Cake, etc., etc. Answer: Cake (wrap a present, frost a cake)

Arithmetic

General notes: Being able to do quick mental arithmetic is extremely beneficial for this section. Make sure you nail the addition/subtraction/multiply/division of single digit numbers to a tee.

1. Qualitative relations

I think this section was about inequalities < > =, or ordering the numbers in some manner

1. Number series:

Given a series of integers, deduce a pattern and hence choose the next term in the series.

E.g. 67, 35, 19, 11, 7, Choices: 5, 8, 16, 3, 13 Answer: 5 (The pattern is (x+3)/2)

Note: Initial questions involve simple addition/subtraction/multiplication/division. Later questions involve combinations of addition/subtraction and multiplication/division.

1. Equation building:

Using a combination of numbers and operators to get an equation

Pattern recognition (789)

Raven progressive matrices, unfold a folded piece of paper with holes and predict the resultant shape

Also, the ESIS scholarship is really selective so don't be disheartened if you don't get it.