Which figure should replace the question mark (?) if the following series were to be continued?

Correct — B. Each box holds the same six letters, so read the series cell by cell, not as a picture.

Rule: the letters run in the fixed cycle V → N → C → P → S → F → V, and each box moves a letter one step along it.

The centre, bottom-middle and bottom-right cells always hold three consecutive letters of that cycle:
Box 1 is V N C, Box 2 is N C P, Box 3 is C P S, Box 4 is P S F.
Box 5 must therefore read S, F, V.

The top-left cell confirms it — it runs S, F, V, N, so the next letter is C. Option (b) is the picture with C at top left, S in the centre, and F and V below.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Its centre is S, which is right, but the bottom pair reads C and V where the cycle demands F then V. Its top-left letter is F, three steps behind the C the sequence has reached: F → V → N → C.
• (c)
  Its top-left C is right, but the centre holds V where the sliding window has reached S. Its lower three read V, P, S, which are not consecutive in the cycle.
• (d)
  Its lower three are F, P, S, and F does not precede P in the cycle, so that is not a window at all. Its top row simply recycles box 4's letters in a new order.

A letter-grid series is a positional problem. Ask what happens to each cell, not what happens to the picture.

The six letters V, N, C, P, S and F never change — every box holds all six. So the series is about where each letter goes, and the handle is a cell whose letter advances by one fixed step.

Four cells do exactly that: top-left, centre, bottom-middle and bottom-right each move one place along V → N → C → P → S → F, wrapping back to V. Those four alone settle the answer.

The remaining two cells, top-middle and top-right, hold a pair of letters two apart in the same cycle, and the pair swaps its order from one box to the next.

Key facts

• Every box contains the same six letters V, N, C, P, S and F, so the series is about position rather than content.
• Top-left, centre, bottom-middle and bottom-right each advance one step along the cycle V, N, C, P, S, F.
• Centre, bottom-middle and bottom-right always hold three consecutive letters of that cycle, sliding one place per box.

Common traps

• Reading the boxes as drawings and hunting for a visual rotation
• Deciding on the top row, which does not follow the plain one-step rule
• Choosing the option that recycles box 4's top row in a new order

No directly related past PYQ was found.