I thought the answer is C because the number of the circles increases and it must contain a triangle with three dots and three shapes - at least one square, one triangle and one circle.

But the answer sheet says the answer is A. Could anyone explain me why?

Many thanks!

I agree this seems impossible - how long do they expect the average 10-year old to take on this?

The constant is the total number of shapes (8) and the number of circles increases from one black and one white to one black and 4 white, so would expect the answer to contain 8 shapes, one black circle, five white circles and two others. Both A and C fit that pattern

Triangles go 3,3,2,2
Squares go 3,2,2,1

so it's easily possible to argue the next box should contain 1 triangle, 1 square which is C as you chose

Including texture the sequence goes:

White triangles 2,1,1,1
White squares 1,1,0,0

Dotty triangles 1,1,1,1

Black squares 1,1,1,0

Stripey triangles 0,1,0,0
Stripey squares 1,0,1,1

- which suggests the next term should have just one stripey shape but no other clear pattern. I can see no reason for supposing that stripey shape should be a triangle again (as answer a implies) rather than c (as the OP prefers) - infact the "must have at least one of each shape" is a pretty good reason for choosing c

A badly written question IMHO which has nothing to do with intelligence, or creativity, or mathematical ability

And that's taken me a good 5-10 minutes.

Thanks, Solimum!
I see that your reasoning and mine coincide. Thank you for the confirmation. I was hoping someone could present a strong argument for A, which I couldn't think of.
Let's wait and see if someone comes along to enlighten us.

1. There must be 8 shapes in total -- D is out

2. The number of circles increases one by one: should have 6 circles in total +
circles are all white except for a single black -- B is out

3. As one moves to -->:
first a square is gone (converted to a circle),
then a triange is gone,
then a square is gone,
so.. a triangle must go --> we must be left with 1 triangle, 1 square and 6 circles -- A is out

This leaves C and E but
4. The three dot pattern in a triangle has always been there, so one anticipates it to remain there --> The answer is: C

There might be a logic/pattern behind A as well, but the patterns above are equally valid. Badly written question in my view.

Beats me - I also come up with C!

Did you ever get to the bottom of it?

Where is this question from? Could it be a typo