TSA CBT practice test · TSO Assessment Battery (TAB)
TSA practice test: try the 2026 format on the clock
Two timed items, in test order: connect the dots, then a 3D shape. Then you see your pace, any trap you hit, and a plan for the days you have left.
Most people say the shapes come last, and that’s where the clock runs out. This shows you where you stand in under two minutes. No account, no email.
Try a timed TSA practice set
Get TSA QuickPass: $684.3 on Trustpilot · 441 reviews · Updated for 2026
- 1. Connect the dots, 20 seconds.
- 2. A 3D shape with 5 edges, 60 seconds.
No account, no email.
Format checked against test-taker reports, February to October 2026.
Tap the dots in order, number first: 1, A, 2, B, 3, C, and on to E.
Each letter is an edge on the 3D shape. Tap its number on the flat net, one per row.
Stuck on a row? Leave it. The clock runs on the whole set.
Two items are a pace check, not a pass prediction. The real test runs three timed sections back to back, and the shapes come last.
The fix is a method, not talent. QuickPass teaches four named moves for the shapes. The first is the Most Recognizable Surface: anchor on the face you can’t mistake. On this shape, that’s the X face with the step cut into it.
When is your test?
One payment · 90 days · instant access
7-day money-back. Michael reads the refund emails himself.
Questions? [email protected]
“Lots of practice, way harder than the actual TSA test and I passed very easily. Worth every penny to study for a couple of days!”
Grant M., Trustpilot, March 2026
One payment · 90 days · instant access · new TAB and the older X-ray test
- 4.3 on Trustpilot from 441 reviews · 98K+ students since 2019
- 7-day money-back. If QuickPass™ is not right for you, email support within seven days and you get a full refund. No forms and no support tickets. Michael reads them himself.
- Questions before or after you buy? [email protected]
- 4.3 on Trustpilot, 441 reviews
- 98K+ students since 2019
- Covers the 2026 TAB: dots, images, shapes
- Plus the older X-ray and English test
“Thanks to the TSA Test QuickPass™ – TSA CBT Test Prep Course program, I passed the test easily and received my Tentative Job Offer the following day.”
Tess S., Trustpilot, May 2026
Most people walk in expecting X-rays. They get shapes.
Your invite email says the test checks “x-ray interpretation aptitude”. So people study X-ray images for days. Then they sit down to something nothing like they expected: three timed puzzles. Nearly everyone who tested in 2025 and 2026 reports no X-ray questions.
- 1. Connect the dots. Tap the circles in order as fast as you can: numbers, then letters, then both mixed. Most people finish it.
- 2. Image matching. One simple drawing and a row of look-alikes. Pick the identical one, as many as you can in a few minutes.
- 3. The 2D to 3D shapes. A flat net and a folded shape. Match about five edges per shape, one bubble per row. It comes last, and most people don’t finish it.
The first two are lightning fast. The 2D-3D is the nightmare, as one test-taker put it. People freeze on one shape, try to fold the whole thing in their head, and run out of time. “Mind origami”, one test-taker called it.
Then they walk out feeling dumb. They aren’t. Nobody showed them how to read a net against a clock, and free practice didn’t warn them.
- 21 days to book and sit the test after your invite1
- 6 months a failed result stays on your record1
- Best Qualified first. Offers go out in ranking order2
Checked against test-taker reports from February to October 2026.
It’s not an IQ test. It’s a method and a clock.
Four moves that get you through the shapes on time
QuickPass doesn’t ask you to spin shapes in your head. It teaches four moves by name, then drills them against a clock.
- Most Recognizable Surface. Start from the face you can’t mistake. Often that isn’t the X face. Here it is, because of the step cut into it. On the net the step sits at the bottom. So the net shows the X face upside down, and D, the long straight edge, has to be 1.
- Fixed Point of View. Stand on that face like the middle of a football field. Let the other faces fold up around you. You stop turning the whole shape and start reading it from one spot.
- Spine Patterns. A straight run of faces on the net is the backbone of the shape. Its two far ends often meet on the same edge once it’s folded. Spot the spine and you settle edges without folding the whole net.
- Easy Points. No more than 60 seconds a shape. Take the edges you’re sure of, make an educated guess on the rest, and move on. The clock runs on the whole section, so a frozen minute costs more than one edge.
For the dots and the images: know A=1 to Z=26 cold and find your start before you click. Scan the whole row before you pick a match.
You won’t see these exact shapes on test day. You’ll use the same moves.
3 very hard TSA shape questions, with answers
The pace check above is two items. These three come from the hardest practice tests in the course: cube nets, edge matching and a complex solid. Try them, then open the answer.
Shape folding · cube nets · very hard
Which cube can be folded from this net?
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
Show the answer
Answer: A. A is the only cube that folds. Opposite pairs on this net: flag and triangle, dot and half-shaded face, arrow and bar. In A, half-shaded face, bar and triangle run clockwise as on the net, the triangle points at the dot and the bar runs from the dot to the half-shaded face. B: the shaded half is turned. C: bar and half-shaded face have swapped places. D: the bar is turned. E: a mirror image, which no fold can make.
Shape folding · edge matching · very hard
The net folds into the cube; X is the same face in both. Which letter is edge 9?
NetFolded cube- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
Show the answer
Answer: E. This is a staircase net, so the zipper never reaches edge 9. Name the faces instead: X is the top, the square left of X is the left side, and edge 9 sits on that left square and touches the front. Its partner is 14. The seam joins the left side and the front: E. Trap: 9 and 10 meet at an outward corner, so they are never partners.
Shape folding · complex solids · very hard
The net folds into the solid; X is the same face in both. Which number is face C?
NetFolded solid- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Show the answer
Answer: C. C is a mid-width wall, and only 7 and 9 have that width. On the solid, C shares an edge with A, the narrowest wall (10). Of 7 and 9, only 9 meets 10 when the net folds, so C is 9. 7 is the wall right next to X, inside the notch.
What free practice leaves out
| What | Free practice | TSA QuickPass |
|---|---|---|
| The clock | Usually none | Timed quizzes, and a stopwatch on every dots question |
| The shapes | Often one edge, pick from four | Several edges per shape: 55 shapes, 555 edges to match |
| Difficulty | Clean, easy shapes | A little harder than the real test, on purpose |
| How to solve | An answer key, at most | Four named moves for the shapes, tactics for dots and images |
| When you get it wrong | You see the right answer | Short answer clips that show the fold |
| Which test | Often the old X-ray test only | The 2026 TAB, plus the older X-ray and English test |
| Cost | $0 | $68 once, 90 days |
“I tried multiple free versions and discovered I would need a bit more than what was available for free on the internet.”
Joshua K., Trustpilot, August 2024
Your plan, sized to your test date
The three new-test lessons take about 5 hours. Here’s how to fit them into the days you have.
- Tonight: the 2D to 3D lesson, about 2 hours. The shapes first, always.
- Tomorrow: dots and images, about 3 hours together.
- Every day after: one timed shapes quiz, 60 seconds a shape.
- About an hour a day.
- Week one: all three new-test lessons, shapes first.
- After that: timed quizzes daily, until 60 seconds a shape feels normal.
- Once the invite email lands, you get 21 days to book and sit the test.
- Start now, at your own pace. 90 days of access covers the wait.
- Book your test once the timed quizzes feel easy.
Only a week? Two reviewers below had less: six days and two days.
From people who had days, not months
Prepped 6 days.
“I had 6 days to grasp all this information, I focused most of my studies on the 2D-3D, and I have to say the Preterminal Instruction didn’t fail me!!”
Amy S., March 2026Prepped 2 days.
“By the time I discovered that it was not the xray exam I would be taking, but the 3D spatial test instead, I only had two days to prep before taking the test (I would definitely recommend a week or two though).”
Anthony M., September 2025Prepped 2 weeks.
“I practiced for two weeks about an hour each day and got progressively better.” “In the first few days of working with the curriculum I was lucky to get a 50% score.”
Nicholas T., June 2026On realism.
“The practice tests in the course were very similar to the actual TSA test, but actually, some of them were much harder. Which was a great advantage, because it trained my brain to be ready for all the questions that the actual test threw at me!”
Laren S., January 2026On the method.
“the shapes are not the same BUT the key factors that they tell you to look for is what help me fly through the test.”
Rober M., March 2025On “I’m bad at shapes”.
“Going 2D to 3D may come natural for some, but I needed to learn it, was able to take the test with confidence.”
Tony, January 2026
Close, not identical, and nobody’s are. The TSA doesn’t publish its questions, and test-takers say the real drawings can look rough. What carries over is the skill: matching edges from a flat net to a folded shape, fast. You won’t see these exact shapes on test day. You’ll know how to read a net against the clock, because that’s what you practiced.
Free questions show you a shape. They don’t show you the moves, the clock or the traps. QuickPass gives you 55 shapes with 555 edges to match, timed quizzes, and four named moves for reading a net fast. Plus dots, images and the older test. One payment, 90 days.
Yes, if you spend it on the shapes. Start with the 2D to 3D lesson, about 2 hours, then do timed quizzes. One reviewer had two days and credits the timed practice. Another bought three days before the exam and passed. If it isn’t right for you, you have 7 days to ask for a full refund.
Nearly everyone who tested in 2025 and 2026 reports the TAB: dots, images and shapes, about 25 to 45 minutes. Your email may still say “x-ray interpretation aptitude”. That’s the official wording, not a sign of X-ray questions. QuickPass covers the older X-ray and English test too, just in case.
That’s the most common myth about it. It feels that way because nobody shows you how to read a net. Once you know where to start and how to move from edge to edge, the shapes get faster. One buyer who “needed to learn it” took the test with confidence.
If QuickPass™ is not right for you, email support within seven days and you get a full refund. No forms and no support tickets. Michael reads them himself. That covers the full $68. Questions before you buy go to the same inbox: [email protected].
Right after checkout. Your login opens the course straight away. If anything doesn’t open, email [email protected] and a real person sorts it out.
The email you get after the test says results come within 7 days. Many test-takers hear in one to four days, and they say the email gives a pass or a fail, not a score. A pass stays on record for two years1.
A failed result stays on your record for six months1, and then you can apply again. That’s why the time to practice is before test day, not after.
No. PrepTerminal is independent test prep. We’re not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the TSA or DHS. You book your test through USAJOBS and Pearson VUE, never through us. We help you get ready for it.
Everything in TSA QuickPass™
For the 2026 TAB (about 5 hours):
- 2D to 3D shapes: the full method, 55 shapes with 555 edges to match across six quizzes, two of them on a 10-minute clock, plus answer clips
- Connect the dots: 40 practice questions in four sets, from numbers to mixed order
- Image matching: 50 practice questions, most of them timed at 5 minutes a quiz
For the older test, in case you get it: 783 X-ray questions, plus vocabulary, reading, writing and verbal reasoning.
After you pass: background check and interview guides, plus a bonus interview video.
Format: step-by-step written guides, 6 short videos, and answer clips in the shapes quizzes.
$68 once. 90 days of access. No subscription, no tiers.
That’s about 3.5 hours of pay at the lowest 2026 full-time starting rate for a TSA officer3.
Get TSA QuickPass: $68Instant access. 7-day money-back. Michael reads the refund emails himself.
7-day money-back. If QuickPass™ is not right for you, email support within seven days and you get a full refund. No forms and no support tickets. Michael reads them himself.
Questions before or after you buy? [email protected]
Your test date is set. Your pace isn’t yet.
You have 21 days from the invite, maybe fewer. The shapes come last, and the clock decides how many you finish. Five hours of lessons and a few timed quizzes can change that number.
Learn the moves. Then beat the clock.
Get TSA QuickPass: $687-day money-back. Michael reads the refund emails himself.
P.S. Skipped the pace check at the top? Take it now. It’s under two minutes, and it shows you what most free question banks won’t: your pace, and the trap you’d hit.