Schroders Online Assessment and Aon Tests
Preparation guide for the Aon assessments in Schroders' internship and placement year recruitment, and the stages of its graduate process
Aon tasks Schroders uses
Internships and placement years.
Source: Schroders internship and placement FAQ, checked 2026.
What Schroders says about its assessments
Schroders, the London-based asset manager, recruits interns, placement students, graduates and apprentices through its early careers team. Its internship and placement year FAQ says the online assessments come from Aon and lists the three you will be asked to complete: a gamified situational judgement test called chatAssess, a deductive logic test called switchChallenge, and the ADEPT-15 Workstyles personality questionnaire. It links to Aon's own preparation page.
The graduate and apprenticeship FAQs describe a cognitive test, a behavioural questionnaire and a workplace scenarios stage instead, and do not name a publisher. If you are applying to the graduate programme, check your invitation email for the tests you are actually sent.
Internships and placement years: the process
- Online application through the Schroders careers site
- Three Aon assessments: chatAssess, switchChallenge and ADEPT-15
- An automated report on your strengths and development areas
- A short competency-based video interview, if you pass the tests
- An assessment centre, where you meet staff and current apprentices
Applications open in September and are reviewed on a rolling basis, so applying early helps. After the tests the early careers team may take up to three weeks to come back to you, and video interviews are reviewed closer to the assessment centre, so a quiet spell is normal. Internship assessment centres run between November and February, with at least a week's notice.
chatAssess: the chat-based judgement test
chatAssess looks like an instant-messaging app. Colleagues send you requests and questions, you choose one of several replies, and the conversation follows on from what you picked. The release that launched it put it at 6 to 15 minutes, with the content tailored to each employer, so expect scenarios set in an investment firm. See our chatAssess guide for how the threads work.
switchChallenge: the deductive logic game
Each task shows a row of four shapes, a code, and the same shapes in a new order, with one code missing. You choose the four-digit code that produces the output, and harder tasks chain several codes together. You have six minutes and answer as many as you can, so speed and accuracy both count. The method is in our switchChallenge guide.
ADEPT-15: the work-style questionnaire
ADEPT-15 shows you pairs of statements and asks which one you agree with more, and how strongly. The pairs adapt to your earlier answers and are matched so that neither statement sounds obviously better, which makes it hard to game. Aon puts it at around 25 to 30 minutes. Answer for how you actually work, and use the ADEPT-15 guide to understand the 15 aspects it reports.
The graduate programme and apprenticeships
Schroders runs a two-year graduate development programme with one global intake a year, usually starting in mid-September. Applications open around August and September. Graduate teams include Wealth Management, Corporate Functions such as Finance, Internal Audit and Risk and Compliance, Public Markets, the Client Group and Schroders Capital. You need to be in your final year or recently graduated, with the right to work in the country without sponsorship now or later.
The graduate and apprenticeship FAQs list four stages:
- A cognitive assessment: a short multiple-choice test of numerical, critical and diagrammatic reasoning, about 20 minutes
- A motivation and behavioural questionnaire, about 20 minutes
- Workplace scenarios with a short recorded video answer, about 30 minutes
- An assessment centre of four to five hours: a group activity, a short presentation and an interview
Graduate assessment centres run between October and December. The apprenticeship, a two-year Level 3 or 4 programme for UK school and college leavers, opens in January with assessment centres from January to March, and apprentices get a feedback report after each online stage, usually within 24 hours.
Top Tips
Practise switchChallenge before anything else
It is the only one of the three Aon tests with a right answer and a clock. Six minutes goes quickly, and the method of building a code one position at a time is something you can learn in advance.
Read each chatAssess message to the end
Before choosing a reply, be clear what the colleague is actually asking for. The reply that deals with that request, helpfully and without overstepping your role, is usually stronger than one that sounds keen but avoids it.
Be consistent on ADEPT-15
The pairs are balanced, so there is no flattering answer to hunt for. Answering honestly gives a profile that matches what you say at the video interview and assessment centre.
Apply to one region at a time
Schroders accepts one application per candidate per region. Choose the programme you most want in each region rather than spreading applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who provides Schroders' online assessments?
Aon, for internships and placement years: Schroders' FAQ names Aon and lists chatAssess, switchChallenge and ADEPT-15. The graduate and apprenticeship FAQs describe their tests without naming a publisher.
Do I get feedback on the tests?
Yes. Intern and placement applicants receive an automated report on their strengths and development areas after the Aon tests. Apprenticeship applicants receive a report after each online stage.
Can I apply for an internship and the graduate programme?
You can apply once per region at a time. An internship is not required for the graduate programme, and if an internship application in your penultimate year is unsuccessful, Schroders encourages you to apply for the graduate programme the following year.
How long are Schroders' internships?
Ten weeks, paid, from June to August, for penultimate-year undergraduates. Placement years start in June and last a year.