Why "Cannot Say" Trips You Up

Verbal reasoning looks like the easy one. You can read, you have an opinion, you know things. Then the results come back and you are lower on the order of merit than you expected.

Nine times out of ten, it is “cannot say” - specifically, confusing it with “false” at exactly the moment the clock is ticking. Here is what is happening and how to fix it.

What does “cannot say” actually mean in the Irish PAS test?

The publicjobs.ie verbal reasoning assessment, delivered through AON Assessment Solutions, gives you three answer choices for every statement: True, False, or Cannot Say.

Most candidates understand True and False easily enough. The problem is “Cannot Say.”

“Cannot Say” does not mean the statement sounds wrong. It does not mean you think it is unlikely. It means: the passage does not give you enough information to decide either way.

That is a much narrower definition than it feels like in the moment. If the passage mentions that a company expanded into two European markets, and the statement says “the company is profitable,” you cannot say that is true - but you also cannot say it is false. Profit is not mentioned. The answer is “Cannot Say,” not “False.”

The distinction sounds obvious when you read it slowly. At thirty seconds per question, it stops feeling obvious very quickly.

Why do candidates keep picking “False” when the answer is “Cannot Say”?

Your brain is doing two things at once and one of them is not allowed.

You are reading the passage while your general knowledge fills in gaps. You know things about companies, about government, about how the world works. That knowledge is useful in life. In a verbal reasoning test, it actively costs you marks.

The rule is: only go by what the passage says. Not what you think is plausible, not what you read last week, not what common sense suggests.

When a statement goes one step further than the passage but is not directly contradicted by it, the answer is “Cannot Say.” When the passage clearly rules something out, the answer is “False.” The line between those two is where marks are lost.

The first time I sat the SJT I ranked on instinct rather than on the framework - and it cost me. With verbal reasoning, the instinct problem is outside knowledge. Your instinct says “well, that is probably false.” The passage has not told you that. Write “Cannot Say” and move on.

Does it matter? Does verbal reasoning count toward the order of merit?

Yes, it does - and this surprises a lot of candidates who assumed it was just a pass/fail hurdle.

For the Executive Officer competition, verbal reasoning and situational judgement scores both feed into your order of merit ranking. Every point counts because you are not competing against a fixed pass mark - you are competing against every other candidate who sat that competition. Scores are norm-referenced, meaning where you finish depends on how you perform relative to the whole cohort.

No official pass mark is published by publicjobs.ie. If you want to check how verbal reasoning specifically applies to your competition, the Competition Information Booklet for your role will spell it out. You can find that via your publicjobs.ie application account.

What this means practically: the candidates who nail “cannot say” logic are picking up marks that candidates relying on instinct are dropping. That gap compounds across 59 questions in 35 minutes.

How do you actually apply “cannot say” correctly under time pressure?

You need a single fast rule that takes no deliberation:

Ask: does the passage explicitly support this statement, or explicitly rule it out?

If it supports it: True.
If it rules it out: False.
If neither: Cannot Say.

You are not judging whether the statement is reasonable. You are running one check against the text.

Reading the statement before you re-read the passage also saves time. On a 35-minute test with 59 questions, that is real. You know what you are looking for, so you can scan rather than read.

What you must not do is use outside knowledge to decide. If the passage is about an Irish government department and the statement mentions something any Irish person would know, leave that knowledge at the door. Go by the text only.

A quick note on the format you will face

The live EO verbal reasoning test is 59 questions in 35 minutes - roughly 30 seconds per question. The CO test is shorter. Both use the same True / False / Cannot Say logic.

The self-assessment tool on publicjobs.ie is worth running through, but it is untimed and uses only 16 questions across four passages. It will help you understand the format but it will not replicate the time pressure of the actual test. For that, you need timed practice that matches the pace of the real thing.

The full verbal reasoning test guide covers the format, timing, and what the passages tend to look like - worth reading before you start practising. And if overthinking the passage is a pattern for you, there is more on that in Am I Reading Too Much Into Verbal Reasoning Passages?.

FAQ

How do I know whether to pick “cannot say” vs “false” on the verbal reasoning test?

Pick “False” only when the passage directly contradicts the statement - when something in the text rules it out. Pick “Cannot Say” when the statement goes beyond what the passage says but is not ruled out either. If you are not sure, “Cannot Say” is almost always safer than “False” when the passage is silent on something.

Can you use general knowledge to answer the verbal reasoning questions?

No, and this is the most common mistake. You must answer based only on what the passage says. Your general knowledge, your opinion, and anything you know from outside the test are all irrelevant. Even if a statement seems obviously true from your own experience, if the passage does not say it, the answer is “Cannot Say.”

Is the verbal reasoning test the same for Clerical Officer and Executive Officer?

The format - True / False / Cannot Say - is the same. The length and timing differ. The EO test is longer and faster-paced. Both use the AON Assessment Solutions platform. Always check your specific Competition Information Booklet for the exact breakdown that applies to your role.

Does failing verbal knock you out of the competition entirely?

The verbal score feeds into your order of merit ranking rather than operating as a simple pass/fail gate in most competitions. A weak verbal score will not necessarily remove you from the process, but it will push you further down the list. Given that competitions can attract thousands of applicants, a few marks either way matters more than most candidates realise.

Try it for yourself before your test date

The best way to lock in the “cannot say” rule is to practise it under timed conditions, with passages you have not seen before, until the decision is automatic.

PublicServicePathway has a free taster you can start tonight, no card required. It uses the true / false / cannot say format with euro-denominated numerical and ranked-answer SJT questions built for the Irish PAS process, not repurposed UK content.

Try the free taster at psp-taster.pages.dev - see how you handle “cannot say” when the clock is running.

"Cannot Say" Is Ruining Your Verbal Reasoning Score: Here Is Why