Circular seating
Circular seating arrangement questions — free, verified practice
Circular seating arrangement questions place people around a table and ask who sits where, using clues about neighbours, gaps and who sits opposite whom. Because a circle has no ends, fix one person's seat yourself and read every other clue relative to them. Get the facing direction right first: when everyone faces the centre, a person's left is clockwise.
Circular seating appears in almost every IBPS and SBI prelims paper, usually as a set of five questions, and it is graded harder than a row of the same size because there is no end to anchor against. The single most expensive error is not a logical one — it is getting left and right backwards on the very first clue.
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Every question below was generated by the same engine that mints the Deduce daily puzzle, and machine-proven to have exactly one correct answer before it reached this page. The walkthrough is the engine's own, step for step.
Question 1
6 people sit around a round table, all facing the centre.
- Yash sits 2nd to the right of Karan (all facing the centre).
- Yash sits immediately to the right of Tanvi (all facing the centre).
- Harsh sits next to Karan.
- Arjun sits immediately to the right of Yash (all facing the centre).
- Exactly 2 people sit between Tanvi and Jaya (the shorter way).
Can you work out who sits in each seat?
Show the worked solution
- Start: 120 distinct seatings (up to rotation) of 6 people around the table.
- Clue 1 — "Yash sits 2nd to the right of Karan (all facing the centre)." leaves 24 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Yash sits immediately to the right of Tanvi (all facing the centre)." leaves 6 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Harsh sits next to Karan." leaves 2 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Arjun sits immediately to the right of Yash (all facing the centre)." leaves 1 possibility. The surviving clockwise order is Arjun, Yash, Tanvi, Karan, Harsh, Jaya.
- Clue 5 — "Exactly 2 people sit between Tanvi and Jaya (the shorter way)." leaves 1 possibility. The surviving clockwise order is Arjun, Yash, Tanvi, Karan, Harsh, Jaya.
- Exactly one seating (up to rotation) survives every clue: Arjun, Yash, Tanvi, Karan, Harsh, Jaya clockwise.
Question 2
6 people sit around a round table, all facing the centre.
- Jaya sits immediately to the left of Uma (all facing the centre).
- Exactly 2 people sit between Nikhil and Jaya (the shorter way).
- Arjun sits 2nd to the right of Jaya (all facing the centre).
- Kiran sits next to Jaya.
- Uma sits 3rd to the left of Neha (all facing the centre).
Can you work out who sits in each seat?
Show the worked solution
- Start: 120 distinct seatings (up to rotation) of 6 people around the table.
- Clue 1 — "Jaya sits immediately to the left of Uma (all facing the centre)." leaves 24 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Exactly 2 people sit between Nikhil and Jaya (the shorter way)." leaves 6 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Arjun sits 2nd to the right of Jaya (all facing the centre)." leaves 2 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Kiran sits next to Jaya." leaves 1 possibility. The surviving clockwise order is Arjun, Uma, Jaya, Kiran, Neha, Nikhil.
- Clue 5 — "Uma sits 3rd to the left of Neha (all facing the centre)." leaves 1 possibility. The surviving clockwise order is Arjun, Uma, Jaya, Kiran, Neha, Nikhil.
- Exactly one seating (up to rotation) survives every clue: Arjun, Uma, Jaya, Kiran, Neha, Nikhil clockwise.
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How to solve circular seating arrangement questions
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Settle the facing direction before anything else
When everyone faces the centre, a person's left is the clockwise direction and their right is anticlockwise. If a clue says someone faces outward, their left and right are reversed — mark that person on your diagram immediately.
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Fix one person and work relative to them
A circle has no absolute seat, so the arrangement is only determined up to rotation. Place any one named person at the top of your diagram and treat that as fixed; nothing is lost, because every clue is relative anyway.
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Use exact-offset clues as your anchors
“B sits third to the left of A” pins B exactly once A is placed. These are the circular equivalent of an end-of-row clue and should be applied before any “sits next to” clue.
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Place opposite clues early when the count is even
With an even number of seats, “A sits directly opposite B” fixes B the moment A is down. With an odd number, no seat is directly opposite another, so such a clue cannot appear.
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Count gaps the short way round
“Exactly two people sit between A and B” is normally read along the shorter arc. Check both arcs when the count leaves it ambiguous, and carry both as cases if the question genuinely allows either.
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Re-check every clue on the completed circle
Walk the clue list once against your finished table, paying particular attention to each left and right. A circle that satisfies every clue but one is a wrong answer to all five questions.
Reading direction around the table
Reading direction around the table
| Situation | What it means |
|---|
| Everyone faces the centre | Left is clockwise; right is anticlockwise |
|---|
| A person faces outward | That person's left and right are reversed |
|---|
| “B is second to the left of A” | Move two seats clockwise from A (all facing centre) |
|---|
| “A sits directly opposite B” | Only possible with an even number of seats |
|---|
| “Exactly two sit between A and B” | Counted along the shorter arc unless stated otherwise |
|---|
| No clue names an absolute seat | Normal — fix one person yourself and work relative |
|---|
Common mistakes
Getting left and right backwards
This single error invalidates an entire set. Write “left = clockwise” on your diagram before the first clue when everyone faces the centre, and re-check it the moment a clue mentions someone facing outward.
Looking for an anchor that does not exist
There is no end seat in a circle and no clue will hand you an absolute position. Candidates waste a minute searching for one; the correct move is to fix a person arbitrarily and proceed.
Assuming an opposite seat exists
With an odd number of people, nobody sits directly opposite anyone. Count the seats before you try to apply an opposite clue, and treat any reading that requires one as a signal you have misread the seat count.
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FAQ
In circular seating, is left clockwise or anticlockwise?
When everyone faces the centre, a person's left is the clockwise direction and their right is anticlockwise. If a clue states that someone faces outward, that person's left and right are reversed relative to everyone else, so mark them clearly on the diagram before applying any clue about their neighbours.
How do I start when no clue gives an absolute position?
That is the normal case in a circle, not a missing clue. Because the arrangement is only determined up to rotation, you may place any one named person wherever you like and treat that as fixed. Every other clue is relative, so nothing is lost and the puzzle resolves from there.
Why is circular seating harder than a row?
A row has two ends, and a clue naming an end pins an exact seat immediately. A circle has no ends, so no clue is absolute and you must supply the reference point yourself. The circle also adds a facing direction that can reverse left and right, which a single-direction row does not.
Can two people sit directly opposite each other in any circle?
Only when the number of seats is even. With an odd number of people, every seat faces the gap between two others, so no opposite pair exists and no valid question can contain such a clue. Counting the seats first prevents a misread that costs the whole set.
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