M&S Online Assessment and Job Simulation Guide

The two-stage online assessment

M&S’s early careers programme pages describe the same route. On the Retail Graduate Programme page, for example: "We’ll invite you to take part in a two-stage online assessment, where you can find out more about M&S whilst we find out more about you." M&S’s employer profile on TARGETjobs names the two stages:

Both stages are framed around fit with M&S and its values, so read what M&S says about them before you start, and answer the behavioural questions as you really work.

Who supplies the tests

M&S does not say. Two pieces of evidence point to Clevry, a UK assessment company formerly called Criterion Partnership: a live portal on Clevry’s Psycruit platform that greets candidates with "Welcome to your M&S Assessment", and a Marks and Spencer logo on Clevry’s ability test page. Neither says which tests run on the portal or for which roles.

The programmes

The 2027 programmes are the Retail Graduate Programme; Food Commercial, Food Logistics and Food Product Development graduate programmes; Fashion, Home and Beauty graduate programmes in Online and in Supply Chain and Logistics; and a Food Technology industrial placement. The food and fashion programmes we checked are structured two-year programmes. For the graduate programmes:

• You can apply to only one programme per annual recruitment cycle, so choose carefully.
• You must have the right to work in the UK for the whole programme, and have graduated by the September 2027 start.
• Vacancies close on a rolling basis and dates can change. Several listed 8 November 2026 as the closing date when we checked.

The Retail Graduate Programme pays £34,000. You start with a Customer Assistant immersion, step up to Team Manager, learn to manage an entire store around nine months in, and finish as a Store Manager. You choose a preferred store when you apply, from 22 listed across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, such as Meadowhall, Fosse Park, Cribbs Causeway, Bromley, Gyle and Lisburn.

Store roles

M&S’s in-store careers page says to allow around 45 minutes for the application, which includes time for an online assessment, followed by booking an interview slot in a store. If several roles in one store interest you, apply once and discuss them at interview. M&S does not say who supplies the store assessment.

Practise the format

These are Clevry’s standard tests, not M&S’s items, which are not published. They rehearse the Psycruit platform’s rules, where each page must be finished before the next and there is no way back, and the two kinds of question M&S describes.

• Clevry Personality Questionnaire (Core) (20 minutes) - A self-report questionnaire like the behavioural stage, which M&S says looks at what drives you and how you approach situations.
• Clevry Graduate/Managerial SJT (30 minutes) - Workplace scenarios with Most and Least answers, the nearest Clevry format to a scenario-based job simulation.
• Clevry Numerical Reasoning (Enhanced) (18 minutes, free) - M&S’s stage descriptions name no numerical test, but its logo sits on Clevry’s ability test page. A free check if you are unsure.

Our guides to personality questionnaires and situational judgement tests explain how each stage is built and what scores well.

Common questions

Does M&S use Clevry?

An M&S-branded assessment portal runs on Clevry’s platform, and Clevry shows M&S among its ability test clients. M&S itself names no supplier, and one prep site credits Aon instead, so check the platform named in your invitation.

How long is the M&S online assessment?

M&S’s TARGETjobs profile gives about 30 to 40 minutes for the behavioural assessment and about 45 to 60 minutes for the job simulation, so allow up to an hour and forty minutes in total.

Is there a numerical test?

M&S’s own descriptions of the graduate stages do not mention one. Clevry’s ability test page shows M&S as a client, which suggests ability tests are used somewhere in M&S recruitment, but not where.