PRACTICE GUIDE AKUNA CAPITAL
Akuna Capital Sequences Test: what the test is, and how to train for it
The Akuna Capital sequences test screen is 24 questions in 12 minutes - about 30 seconds each - answered by typing the number, with no calculator. It marks negatively, so a wrong answer costs you a mark and a skip costs you nothing.
Where it sits: Same sitting as the maths test. The practice sitting on this page runs the same item count, the same clock and the same marking rule, with questions generated by Outcry rather than taken from Akuna Capital.
Outcry is not affiliated with Akuna Capital and has no access to their assessment content. This guide describes an assessment format that candidates report publicly; the questions here are generated by Outcry and are not Akuna Capital’s own.
What it screens
A Chicago options market maker with a strong C++ and derivatives-pricing focus.
- ✓First and second differences, ratios, and alternating patterns
- ✓Interleaved sequences (two rules taking turns)
- ✓Squares, cubes, primes and factorials recognised on sight
- ✓Committing to an answer with seconds left
Where it sits at Akuna Capital
This section does not arrive on its own. It closes the paper, and the sitting around it runs 20 minutes and 104 items in total, with Math test on the same continuous clock. Candidates who prepare only for this round tend to be caught by the pacing of the rest.
There is no going back. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, which means the decision to leave an item is final at the moment you make it.
The format
These are the numbers the Akuna Capital sitting on this site runs on, matching the format candidates report.
| Questions | 24 |
|---|---|
| Time | 12 minutes |
| Per question | 30 seconds |
| Negative marking | Yes - a wrong answer costs a mark |
| Answer style | Typed numeric answer, no calculator |
| Where it sits | Same sitting as the maths test |
What it tests, with a worked example
Every example below is generated by Outcry, drawn from the same question generators the timed drills run. None of them is Akuna Capital’s.
Second-order differences
The differences themselves form a pattern - the give-away for a quadratic rule.
Example 1
How many numbers from 1 to 150 are divisible by 3 or by 5?
Answer 70
50 multiples of 3, 30 of 5, and 10 counted twice as multiples of 15: 50 + 30 − 10 = 70.
Example 2
What comes next: 1, 8, 27, 64, 125, ?
Answer 216
Cubes from 1: next is 6³ = 216.
Example 3
What comes next: 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, ?
Answer 55
Triangular numbers - the gaps go up by one each time. Next is 45 + 10 = 55.
Interleaved sequences
Two rules taking alternate turns, which reads as noise until you split the list.
Example 1
11, 30, 68, 144, 296, ? What comes next?
Answer 600
Double and add 8: 296 × 2 + 8 = 600.
Example 2
34, 37, 40, 43, 46, ? What comes next?
Answer 49
Each term adds 3, so 46 + 3 = 49.
Example 3
9, 24, 54, 114, 234, ? What comes next?
Answer 474
Double and add 6: 234 × 2 + 6 = 474.
Operation chains
Each term built from the last by a repeating operation cycle rather than one rule.
Example 1
11, 13, 17, 19, 23, ? What comes next?
Answer 29
Consecutive primes from 11. After 23 comes 29.
Example 2
1, 8, 27, 64, 125, ? What comes next?
Answer 216
Cubes from 1³. Next is 6³ = 216.
Example 3
4, 8, 12, 16, 20, ? What comes next?
Answer 24
Twice the last minus the one before: 2 × 20 - 16 = 24.
Ratio runs that are not geometric
Terms whose ratios themselves move, which reads as geometric until the third term breaks it.
Example 1
9, 25, 57, 121, 249, ? What comes next?
Answer 505
Double and add 7: 249 × 2 + 7 = 505.
Example 2
19, 27, 37, 49, 63, ? What comes next?
Answer 79
The gaps are 8, 10, 12, 14 and grow by 2. Next gap 16, so 63 + 16 = 79.
Example 3
11, 30, 68, 144, 296, ? What comes next?
Answer 600
Double and add 8: 296 × 2 + 8 = 600.
Position-dependent rules
The rule uses the index rather than the previous term, so differences never settle.
Example
Which one does not belong: 83, 16, 81, 49?
- 81
- 83
- 49
- 16
Answer 83
81, 49, 16 are all perfect squares. 83 is not.
Sequences with a planted decoy
An opening that fits two rules, where the fourth term is what decides between them.
Example 1
3, -6, 12, -24, 48, -96, ?
Answer 192
Each term is -2 times the one before it. -96 × -2 = 192.
Example 2
3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127, ?
Answer 255
Each term is 2 times the last, plus 1. 2 × 127 + 1 = 255.
Example 3
2, 7, 8, -5, -34, -53, ?
Answer -4
Each term is 2 × the previous term, minus 3 × the one before that. 2 × -53 + 102 = -4.
What a good score looks like
On a paper of 24 questions marked +1 and -1, the arithmetic of the threshold matters as much as the threshold: every wrong answer costs you two places against someone who skipped it. These are usually scored alongside the arithmetic section rather than reported separately, so a standalone cutoff is rarely visible. Candidates describe the sequences round as the one that responds fastest to practice, because the rule families are few.
How to train for it
- 01Practise splitting a list into odd and even positions the moment the differences look random. That one move solves every interleaved item.
- 02Memorise the small squares, cubes, primes and factorials to sight-recognition. Deriving them is what costs the time.
- 03Give yourself a fixed budget per item and abandon at it. One sequence you refuse to let go of costs more than the three you never reach.
TRAIN IT HERE
The drills that match each section
Sequence Sprint
Timed next-term sequences, exactly the assessment format.
Arithmetic Drill
The raw calculation speed that sequence tests assume you already have.
SIT THE FULL BATTERY
All the sections back to back on one clock, marked the way the real screen marks them, with a by-skill breakdown at the end. Included with any pass.
Also reported at Akuna Capital
Common questions
- Is the Akuna Capital sequences test test multiple choice?
- Typed numeric answer, no calculator. You type the number, so there is nothing to eliminate your way to.
- How long is the Akuna Capital sequences test test?
- 24 questions in 12 minutes, which is about 30 seconds each.
- Is there negative marking on the Akuna Capital sequences test test?
- Yes. A wrong answer costs you a mark, so an item you cannot see a route through is worth skipping outright - a blind guess on this paper is negative expected value.
- How do I practise for it free?
- Every drill linked on this page is free to play, with no account, inside a daily run cap. Questions are generated fresh each run, so there is nothing to memorise between attempts. The full Akuna Math and Sequences sitting puts the sections back to back on one clock.
Hiring now: current Akuna Capital quant openings, refreshed daily.