How to Prepare for Arctic Shores Assessments: Complete Guide

Arctic Shores assessments are a series of interactive tasks rather than questions. This guide covers what to expect, how to prepare without over-preparing, and how to set yourself up on the day.

What Are Arctic Shores Assessments?

Arctic Shores builds its tasks on research methods from cognitive neuroscience and behavioural science. They do not test knowledge or past experience. Instead they record how you typically think, react and approach a challenge, from how you play rather than from what you say about yourself.

What the Tasks Are Like

Preparation Strategies

1. Understand the Format

Arctic Shores does not publish a fixed number of tasks, because the set depends on the employer; its candidate guidance says up to nine. Expect a handful of short tasks rather than a fixed battery, and know the common formats before you start: a balloon task, an arrows task and a safe or dial task are among those it has described or shown. Knowing what to expect reduces anxiety and stops you spending the first minute of each task finding the controls.

2. Practise the Controls, Not a Script

Arctic Shores says no practice is needed, and it offers an optional practice task before the assessment that does not count towards your score. Practice is still useful for:

• Learning each task's format and controls so nothing surprises you
• Checking your device and browser work smoothly
• Reducing anxiety, so you play the way you normally would

What practice should not do is give you a target to hit. Arctic Shores warns that outside guides promising a right way to play can produce poor or invalid results.

3. Be Yourself

Arctic Shores assessments don't have a single pass mark. Your results are compared with a norm group of similar people who took the assessment before, and each employer values different qualities for different roles. The best approach is to complete each task the way that feels natural to you.

4. Manage Test Anxiety

Test anxiety can significantly impact performance. Techniques to manage anxiety include:

• Deep breathing exercises before and during the assessment
• Positive self-talk and visualisation
• Getting adequate sleep the night before
• Practising in realistic conditions

Game-Specific Tips

Balloon Game

Arctic Shores calls this task Balloon Burst. There is no published right number of pumps, so do not go in with one. Watch what happens on the first few balloons and let that inform how far you push the rest, the way you would with any real decision.

Arrows Game

Arctic Shores calls this level Direction: press Q when the centre arrow points left and P when it points right. Use the keyboard rather than clicking the icons, and keep your eyes on the centre arrow rather than the ones around it.

Sequence Game

Use chunking to group items together. Picture the sequence as a few short shapes on the grid rather than a long list of separate cells.

Day of the Assessment

• Ensure you have a stable internet connection
• Use a quiet, distraction-free environment
• Declare any reasonable adjustments before you begin, because they cannot be added later
• Close unnecessary browser tabs and applications
• Set aside an hour of uninterrupted time, even though most candidates finish sooner

After the Assessment

You may get a report afterwards. Arctic Shores' help centre says it shows each dimension assessed on a four-point scale against similar candidates, while its candidate guidance describes a 1 to 10 spectrum and says you get the report if your employer chooses. Either way there is no "right" or "wrong" result: Arctic Shores says there is no better or worse, only how you behave.

Start Practising Today

CogniPrep has 14 practice games modelled on Arctic Shores tasks, so you can learn each format before the real thing. The counts, clocks and scores in our games are ours, because Arctic Shores keeps its own private.