SQL exercises with solutions: WHERE and filters

Updated on 22 September 2026

WHERE keeps the rows that match a condition: =, <>, >, BETWEEN, IN, LIKE, AND, OR, NOT. These 15 exercises range from level 1 to level 4; they use the syntax of SQLite, SpeedQL’s SQL engine.

Tip: Text and dates go between single quotes: department = 'IT'.

Read the “WHERE (filters)” card in the cheat sheet

Exercise 1 · level 1

Show the name and salary of the employees in the Finance department.

Table `employees` (4 rows)
id	name	department	salary
1	Alice	Finance	32000
2	Bob	IT	41000
3	Claire	Finance	38000
4	David	HR	29000

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … = …

Show the solution

SELECT name, salary
FROM employees
WHERE department = 'Finance';

Expected result (2 rows):

name	salary
Alice	32000
Claire	38000

name

salary

Alice

32000

Claire

38000

Exercise 2 · level 1

Show the name and price of the products in the 'Audio' category.

Table `products` (6 rows)
id	name	category	price	stock
1	Keyboard	Office	25	40
2	Mouse	Office	15	0
3	Screen	Display	180	12
4	Headset	Audio	60	8
5	Webcam	Office	45	0
6	Speaker	Audio	35	25

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … = …

Show the solution

SELECT name, price
FROM products
WHERE category = 'Audio';

Expected result (2 rows):

name	price
Headset	60
Speaker	35

name

price

Headset

Speaker

Exercise 3 · level 2

Show the name of the products in the 'Office' category that are out of stock (stock = 0).

Table `products` (6 rows)
id	name	category	price	stock
1	Keyboard	Office	25	40
2	Mouse	Office	15	0
3	Screen	Display	180	12
4	Headset	Audio	60	8
5	Webcam	Office	45	0
6	Speaker	Audio	35	25

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …
FROM …
WHERE … = … AND … = …

Show the solution

SELECT name
FROM products
WHERE category = 'Office' AND stock = 0;

Expected result (2 rows):

name
Mouse
Webcam

name

Mouse

Webcam

Exercise 4 · level 2

Show the name of the employees in the IT department who earn more than 45000.

Table `employees` (8 rows)
id	name	department	salary
1	Alice	Finance	32000
2	Bob	IT	41000
3	Claire	Finance	38000
4	David	HR	29000
5	Emma	IT	50000
6	Farid	IT	47000
7	Gaelle	HR	33000
8	Hugo	Finance	44000

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …
FROM …
WHERE … = … AND … > …

Show the solution

SELECT name
FROM employees
WHERE department = 'IT' AND salary > 45000;

Expected result (2 rows):

name
Emma
Farid

name

Emma

Farid

Exercise 5 · level 2

Show the title of the movies that last between 100 and 120 minutes (inclusive).

Table `movies` (10 rows)
id	title	genre	year	duration	rating	director_id
1	Night Train	Thriller	2015	118	7.8	1
2	Blue Harbor	Drama	2018	102	7.1	2
3	Paper Moon City	Comedy	2012	95	6.4	5
4	Silent Peak	Drama	2020	131	8.2	3
5	Last Signal	Sci-Fi	2019	142	7.5	1
6	Summer Keys	Comedy	2016	88	5.9	4
7	Iron Garden	Sci-Fi	2021	125	8	3
8	Dust and Gold	Western	2014	110	6.8	2
9	The Quiet Hour	Drama	2022	97	7.4	5
10	Deep Current	Thriller	2017	105	6.9	NULL

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …
FROM …
WHERE … BETWEEN … AND …

Show the solution

SELECT title
FROM movies
WHERE duration BETWEEN 100 AND 120;

Expected result (4 rows):

title
Night Train
Blue Harbor
Dust and Gold
Deep Current

title

Night Train

Blue Harbor

Dust and Gold

Deep Current

Exercise 6 · level 2

Show the title of the Novel or Crime books published after 2010.

Table `books` (10 rows)
id	title	author_id	genre	pages	year
1	Cold River	1	Novel	320	2011
2	Salt Roads	2	Travel	210	2016
3	The Glass Hive	3	Sci-Fi	412	2019
4	Winter Ledger	1	Crime	288	2014
5	Desert Letters	2	Novel	356	2020
6	Small Engines	4	Sci-Fi	198	2022
7	Harbor Lights	5	Novel	445	2008
8	Night Garden	3	Crime	301	2017
9	Paper Birds	5	Poetry	96	2012
10	Open Maps	4	Travel	240	2021

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …
FROM …
WHERE … IN (…, …) AND … > …

Show the solution

SELECT title
FROM books
WHERE genre IN ('Novel', 'Crime') AND year > 2010;

Expected result (4 rows):

title
Cold River
Winter Ledger
Desert Letters
Night Garden

title

Cold River

Winter Ledger

Desert Letters

Night Garden

Exercise 7 · level 2

Show the name and class of the students born in 2009, in alphabetical order of the name.

Table `students` (8 rows)
id	name	class	birth_date
1	Adele	A	2009-03-14
2	Bruno	A	2008-11-02
3	Cyril	B	2009-07-21
4	Dina	B	2009-01-30
5	Elsa	A	2008-09-12
6	Farah	C	2009-05-05
7	Gael	C	2008-12-24
8	Hana	B	2009-10-10

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters), ORDER BY, LIMIT.

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … BETWEEN … AND …
ORDER BY …

Show the solution

SELECT name, class
FROM students
WHERE birth_date BETWEEN '2009-01-01' AND '2009-12-31'
ORDER BY name;

Expected result (5 rows, in this order):

name	class
Adele	A
Cyril	B
Dina	B
Farah	C
Hana	B

name

class

Adele

Cyril

Dina

Farah

Hana

Exercise 8 · level 2

Show the id and duration (in minutes) of the flights that last more than 2 hours.

Table `flights` (12 rows)
id	airline	origin	dest	departs	duration_min	price	seats_sold	capacity
1	SkyJet	CDG	MAD	2025-06-01 08:10	125	89	150	180
2	AirNova	CDG	LIS	2025-06-01 11:40	155	120	160	170
3	BlueWing	LYS	FCO	2025-06-02 07:30	95	75	110	150
4	SkyJet	MAD	CDG	2025-06-02 18:20	120	95	170	180
5	AirNova	BER	CDG	2025-06-03 09:05	110	105	140	160
6	BlueWing	NCE	BER	2025-06-03 13:50	130	140	90	150
7	SkyJet	CDG	FCO	2025-06-04 06:45	135	99	175	180
8	AirNova	LIS	MAD	2025-06-04 16:15	75	65	60	120
9	BlueWing	FCO	LYS	2025-06-05 20:30	100	82	130	150
10	SkyJet	CDG	BER	2025-06-05 10:00	105	110	120	180
11	AirNova	MAD	LIS	2025-06-06 12:25	80	70	95	120
12	BlueWing	LYS	MAD	2025-06-06 15:40	115	79	100	150

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … > …

Show the solution

SELECT id, duration_min
FROM flights
WHERE duration_min > 120;

Expected result (4 rows):

id	duration_min
1	125
2	155
6	130
7	135

Exercise 9 · level 2

Show the title and duration (in seconds) of the songs longer than 4 minutes, from the longest to the shortest.

Table `songs` (10 rows)
id	title	artist_id	genre	duration_s	released
1	Glass Heart	1	Pop	214	2019-04-12
2	Low Tide	1	Pop	198	2021-06-01
3	Rust	2	Rock	256	2008-09-30
4	Wires	2	Rock	301	2015-02-14
5	Sunday Market	3	Afrobeat	233	2020-11-20
6	Palm Wine	3	Afrobeat	245	2022-03-03
7	Alma	4	Latin	189	2013-07-07
8	Brisa	4	Pop	205	2018-05-25
9	Night Drive	5	Electro	276	2021-10-10
10	Pulse	5	Electro	230	2023-01-15

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters), ORDER BY, LIMIT.

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … > …
ORDER BY … DESC

Show the solution

SELECT title, duration_s
FROM songs
WHERE duration_s > 240
ORDER BY duration_s DESC;

Expected result (4 rows, in this order):

title	duration_s
Wires	301
Night Drive	276
Rust	256
Palm Wine	245

Exercise 10 · level 2

Show the city, day and maximum temperature of the readings on which it rained (rain_mm > 0).

Table `readings` (15 rows)
id	city	day	temp_max	temp_min	rain_mm
1	Paris	2025-07-01	24	15	0
2	Paris	2025-07-02	27	17	0
3	Paris	2025-07-03	22	16	4.5
4	Paris	2025-07-04	19	14	12
5	Paris	2025-07-05	23	13	0
6	Lyon	2025-07-01	26	16	0
7	Lyon	2025-07-02	29	18	0
8	Lyon	2025-07-03	31	19	0
9	Lyon	2025-07-04	24	17	8.5
10	Lyon	2025-07-05	22	15	3
11	Marseille	2025-07-01	30	21	0
12	Marseille	2025-07-02	32	22	0
13	Marseille	2025-07-03	33	23	0
14	Marseille	2025-07-04	29	21	0
15	Marseille	2025-07-05	28	20	0

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …, …
FROM …
WHERE … > …

Show the solution

SELECT city, day, temp_max
FROM readings
WHERE rain_mm > 0;

Expected result (4 rows):

city	day	temp_max
Paris	2025-07-03	22
Paris	2025-07-04	19
Lyon	2025-07-04	24
Lyon	2025-07-05	22

Exercise 11 · level 2

Show the id, arrival date and departure date of the bookings whose arrival (check_in) is before 2025-07-10.

Table `bookings` (11 rows)
id	room_id	guest_id	check_in	check_out
1	2	1	2025-07-01	2025-07-04
2	5	2	2025-07-02	2025-07-05
3	8	3	2025-07-03	2025-07-06
4	3	4	2025-07-05	2025-07-12
5	6	5	2025-07-06	2025-07-08
6	1	2	2025-07-08	2025-07-10
7	9	3	2025-07-10	2025-07-11
8	7	5	2025-07-11	2025-07-15
9	4	1	2025-07-14	2025-07-16
10	6	4	2025-07-15	2025-07-19
11	6	5	2025-07-16	2025-07-18

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …, …
FROM …
WHERE … < …

Show the solution

SELECT id, check_in, check_out
FROM bookings
WHERE check_in < '2025-07-10';

Expected result (6 rows):

id	check_in	check_out
1	2025-07-01	2025-07-04
2	2025-07-02	2025-07-05
3	2025-07-03	2025-07-06
4	2025-07-05	2025-07-12
5	2025-07-06	2025-07-08
6	2025-07-08	2025-07-10

Exercise 12 · level 2

Show the id and date of the orders placed in February 2025.

Table `orders` (8 rows)
id	customer_id	order_date	status
1	1	2025-01-05	shipped
2	2	2025-01-12	shipped
3	1	2025-02-03	paid
4	3	2025-02-10	cancelled
5	4	2025-02-20	shipped
6	5	2025-03-02	shipped
7	2	2025-03-15	paid
8	3	2025-03-28	shipped

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … BETWEEN … AND …

Show the solution

SELECT id, order_date
FROM orders
WHERE order_date BETWEEN '2025-02-01' AND '2025-02-28';

Expected result (3 rows):

id	order_date
3	2025-02-03
4	2025-02-10
5	2025-02-20

Exercise 13 · level 2

Show the name and hourly rate of the developers in the Data or Ops teams, from the highest rate to the lowest.

Table `devs` (6 rows)
id	name	team	rate
1	Ana	Web	55
2	Bo	Web	48
3	Cleo	Data	62
4	Dan	Data	58
5	Eve	Ops	50
6	Finn	Ops	45

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters), ORDER BY, LIMIT.

Query structure:

SELECT …, …
FROM …
WHERE … IN (…, …)
ORDER BY … DESC

Show the solution

SELECT name, rate
FROM devs
WHERE team IN ('Data', 'Ops')
ORDER BY rate DESC;

Expected result (4 rows, in this order):

name	rate
Cleo	62
Dan	58
Eve	50
Finn	45

Exercise 14 · level 2

Show the id, owner and opening date of the accounts opened before 2022.

Table `accounts` (6 rows)
id	owner	city	opened	kind
1	Alice	Paris	2021-03-01	current
2	Alice	Paris	2022-06-15	savings
3	Bruno	Lyon	2020-09-10	current
4	Chloe	Lyon	2023-01-20	current
5	David	Nice	2019-11-05	savings
6	Emma	Nice	2024-04-01	current

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …, …, …
FROM …
WHERE … < …

Show the solution

SELECT id, owner, opened
FROM accounts
WHERE opened < '2022-01-01';

Expected result (3 rows):

id	owner	opened
1	Alice	2021-03-01
3	Bruno	2020-09-10
5	David	2019-11-05

Exercise 15 · level 4

Show the id of the invoices that were paid after their due date.

Table `invoices` (6 rows)
id	client	issued	due	amount	paid_on
1	Acme	2025-01-15	2025-02-14	1200	2025-02-10
2	Acme	2025-03-01	2025-03-16	800	NULL
3	Bolt	2025-01-20	2025-03-06	450	2025-03-01
4	Bolt	2025-02-25	2025-03-27	950	2025-04-02
5	Cyan	2025-03-05	2025-05-04	300	NULL
6	Cyan	2024-12-10	2024-12-30	600	2025-01-05

Show the hint

Topics to use: WHERE (filters).

Query structure:

SELECT …
FROM …
WHERE … > …

Show the solution

SELECT id
FROM invoices
WHERE paid_on > due;

Expected result (2 rows):

id
4
6

Practice with automatic checking

In SpeedQL, you write your query and it is checked straight away, on these tables and then on a hidden dataset.

Practice on the 31 “WHERE (filters)” questions