BDO Arctic Shores Assessment Practice
BDO in the UK screens graduates, school leavers, interns and placement students with an Arctic Shores task-based assessment. What BDO says it measures, what comes after it, and how to get comfortable with the format
What BDO’s online assessment is
BDO’s interview hints and tips page links its practice straight to Arctic Shores’ own demo, which settles who supplies it. BDO describes the assessment as a series of interactive, puzzle-like tasks that measure behaviours and cognitive traits such as decision-making, problem-solving and resilience. It is designed to measure your potential, not your past experience, and BDO’s process page adds that the tasks are based on quantitative and inductive reasoning.
So this is not a question paper with a passage to read. You work through short tasks, and BDO says they read behaviour as well as reasoning: how you make decisions, how you solve problems and how you handle setbacks. BDO’s practical advice is to use a laptop or tablet. Progress saves automatically if you are interrupted, and BDO says you will receive personalised feedback afterwards.
Practice matched to what BDO says it measures
BDO does not publish which tasks appear in its assessment, so the list below is not BDO’s task list. Each game is picked for a trait BDO names, and the note says which.
All fourteen Arctic Shores practice games are on the Arctic Shores hub, and our guide to game-based assessments explains how this kind of test is scored. For the reasoning side, see inductive reasoning and numerical reasoning.
The stages after the assessment
The interview stages reward clear examples more than polish. Our STAR method guide covers how to structure them.
Who can apply
BDO runs graduate programmes, school leaver programmes, placements and internships, and work experience and insight days. Its FAQ sets the academic bar: graduates need a 2:2 in any degree subject, interns and industrial placement students need to be on track for a 2:2, and BDO asks for three A levels at A* to C.
Adjustments
Frequently asked questions
Does BDO use SHL?
Some prep sites say so, but BDO’s own careers pages link the Arctic Shores demo for its online assessment. Trust the employer’s page, and your invitation, over a third-party list.
Is the BDO assessment timed?
BDO’s FAQ says some elements of the process are timed and gives the video interview as the example. It does not publish timings for the task-based assessment, and progress saves automatically if you stop.
Is this the same as BDO in other countries?
Not necessarily. Everything on this page comes from BDO’s UK careers site, so check the process for the country you are applying in.
Are your games the real BDO assessment?
No. They are independent practice games modelled on Arctic Shores’ published formats. They are not supplied, reviewed or endorsed by BDO or Arctic Shores.