How scales verbal works
The test gives you several data sheets of written information and a run of statements about them. Each statement relates to one of the sheets, and for each you choose one of three answers: True, False or Cannot Say. Aon shows worked examples first, and then the timer starts.
Aon lists the test at 12 minutes and 49 tasks with the instruction to finish as many as you can, so reaching the end of the time before the last statement is expected. Its practice guide says you can move between tasks, but recommends working through them in the order given.
What True, False and Cannot Say mean here
Aon’s worked examples draw the lines tightly. A statement that says the same thing as the text in different words is True: a paraphrase counts. A statement that is only partly right, with one element the text contradicts, is False.
Cannot Say is for statements the sheet neither confirms nor rules out. One of Aon’s examples turns on two things reported over the same period: the text gives both, but says nothing about one causing the other, so a statement claiming that it did is Cannot Say.
- Read the statement first, then find the part of the sheet it depends on.
- Judge only against the sheet. What you know from elsewhere does not count.
- A reworded match is True. A near match with one wrong detail is False.
- Two things happening together does not show that one caused the other.
How it is scored
Aon does not publish a scoring rule for scales verbal specifically. Its candidate preparation page says that in performance tests points are usually added for each correct answer and deducted for every incorrect answer, and it asks you to work quickly but carefully because incorrect answers generally have a negative effect on the final result.
Aon says each of its tests has a feedback report explaining the result, and that ideally the employer will make it available to you.
How our practice version works
Our scales verbal practice uses the published numbers: five data sheets, 49 statements and one 12-minute clock. Each statement is tied to one sheet, and you answer True, False or Cannot Say.
Two choices are ours rather than Aon’s. Our version moves forward only, with a Skip control in place of free navigation, and it deducts one mark for a wrong answer while a skipped statement costs nothing, following Aon’s general description of performance tests. The sheets and statements are our own writing, not Aon items.