Master ACE, CORE, MPA and OPTO Practice
The Nordic test suite most candidates have never heard of until the invitation arrives. Practise the four tests Master International sends to candidates, on the real counts and clocks, with feedback in the STEN bands your employer will read.
Also seen as Master Value People, the Metis platform (now the Master People Platform at app.master-hr.com) and MCA, the Master Competence Analysis that ACE replaced. Mainly used in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
ACE: calculator yes, skipping no
A calculator, pen and paper are allowed. A skipped question is scored as a wrong one and makes the next question easier, so always answer.
CORE: skip and come back
19 matrices in 35 minutes, and most people need about 18. Skipped questions come back after the last one.
MPA and OPTO: consistency
No right answers and no clock. Both formats are built so that a flattering pattern shows up rather than helps.
Laptop or desktop only
Master recommends a computer for the real tests, not a phone or tablet. Our practice works on a phone, but a phone result is not comparable with Master's norms.
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Master ACE (Adaptive Reasoning)
The adaptive Adjustable Competence Evaluation: 12 questions in 30 minutes mixing number problems, figure matrices, word analogies and logic grids. Each answer sets the difficulty of the next, a calculator is allowed, and a skipped question counts as a wrong one.
Master MPA (Person Analysis)
The Master Person Analysis: 40 groups of four statements, and in each you pick the one most like you at work and the one least like you. It places you on nine working-style properties from pace and sociability to structure and detail, with no right answers.
Master OPTO (Personality)
OPTO’s 154 statements rated from Very untrue to Very true in groups of seven, across 20 aspects of work behaviour. When two statements in a group get the same rating you spread them apart, and that Spotlight step is what a feedback interviewer will ask you about.
The four tests, in brief
ACE (Adjustable Competence Evaluation)
An adaptive reasoning test that mixes number word problems with typed answers, 3x3 figure matrices with six options, word analogies with five, and logic grids where you place people or things from a set of statements. A right answer makes the next question harder and a wrong one makes it easier, so the score is the difficulty you sustain, not the number you got right. Master positions it for the later stages, once the field has narrowed.
CORE (Cognitive Resource Evaluation)
A non-verbal test of 19 figure matrices from easy to hard, with the six options in a random order for each candidate. It is a power test: the 35 minutes are generous, and the skip queue means a hard question never has to cost you the easier ones after it. Master positions it for screening larger groups, and the real test opens with untimed practice questions.
MPA (Master Person Analysis)
160 statements in 40 groups of four. In each group you mark the statement most like you at work and the one least like you. The result places you in one of five columns on nine properties, from self-assertion and pace to attention to detail and abstract thinking, and an interviewer then talks it through with you. The questionnaire itself is sometimes called the Master Person Profile.
OPTO
A Big Five questionnaire of 154 statements, shown one at a time in groups of seven and rated from Very untrue to Very true. When you rate two statements in a group the same, you are asked to spread them apart. Your first ratings are scored; the way you spread them can raise a Spotlight that the interviewer will ask about. OPTO+ Leadership is a report drawn from the same sitting.
How Master reports your result, and what we do not simulate
Every test reports on a STEN scale from 1 to 10. Master calls 1 to 3 low, 4 to 7 average and 8 to 10 high, and 70% of people land between 4 and 7. MPA is the exception: it shows each property in five columns, the middle one holding about 40% of people. Our feedback converts your practice result into the same words, so you learn the vocabulary on your real report.
There is no pass mark, only a band for the role. The employer sets the STENs it wants and the platform reports how well you match it. Master's generic bands for ACE and CORE are 4 to 7 for operational roles, 6 to 10 for generalist and management roles and 8 to 10 for analyst and leadership-team roles. In CORE screening a 75% match is the qualifying level, and the platform can stop you there before the next test. Some employers also look twice at a result far above the band: Master's model is matching, not maximising.
A high ACE result may be confirmed at interview. ACE Confirm is a short supervised re-test, built from questions at the difficulty you reached, that ends as soon as you reproduce your result: often 4 to 5 minutes, 7 on average and 15 at most. It returns green, yellow or red, and a yellow means sitting the whole ACE again under supervision. Master recommends that employers use it on high results as a matter of routine.
You are entitled to feedback. Master says every candidate tested with its tools can get a report or a conversation explaining the result, and recommends that employers let you download your own CORE, MPA or OPTO report straight after the test.
Our questions are in English and our percentiles are ours. The real tests run in many languages. Our STEN is an estimate from how you compare with people practising here, not Master's norm groups, and the MPA property Achievement orientation is estimated from four other properties, as the real MPA calculates it rather than asking about it.
BRIGHT and EASI are described, not simulated. BRIGHT is a ten-minute customer-service screen, often sent as an open link in a job advert, and no source we could open publishes its item format, so we would be guessing. EASI is a typology (Enthusiast, Analyst, Supporter, Implementer) that Master's own cases use for team development rather than hiring. The high-precision ACE (24 questions in 75 minutes) is the same adaptive test run for longer, so the practice here covers it.
The real tests are laptop or desktop only. This practice is not. Master recommends a computer for ACE, CORE, MPA and OPTO and advises against phones and tablets. Our tests work properly on a phone for revision, but a phone result is not comparable with Master's norms, so do at least one full sitting at a desk, with a calculator and paper beside you for ACE.
We are not Master International. Master and Value People are registered trademarks of Master International A/S. These are independent practice tests built to Master's published formats, and every question is our own.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions are on the Master ACE test, and how long is it?
Most often 12 questions with a 30 minute limit, and about 20 minutes on average. The high-precision version is 24 questions in 75 minutes, and there are two-area versions and a 22-question spatial-only version for candidates with dyslexia or a language barrier. The employer chooses the version, so you may not know which one you will get.
Can I use a calculator on ACE?
Yes. Master says a calculator is "permitted and expected", and pen and paper are allowed too. Have both on the desk before you start: the numerical questions are word problems with a typed whole-number answer, written on the assumption that you are calculating on paper.
Should I skip hard ACE questions?
No. On ACE a skipped question counts as a completed one and the next question is chosen as if you had answered wrongly, which lowers the level you can reach. A wrong answer carries no further penalty, so a reasoned guess always beats a skip.
What is the difference between ACE and CORE?
ACE is adaptive and mixes numerical, verbal and figure questions, so each answer sets the difficulty of the next. CORE is a fixed test of 19 figure matrices with a 35 minute limit, where you can skip a question and it comes back at the end. Master positions CORE for screening larger groups and ACE for the later stages.
What is a good STEN score on a Master test?
There is no pass mark. Employers set a band of acceptable STENs for the role. Master’s own generic bands are 4 to 7 for operational roles, 6 to 10 for generalist and management roles, and 8 to 10 for analyst and leadership-team roles. In CORE screening, a 75% match to the band is the qualifying level.
How do I answer the MPA questionnaire?
In each of 40 groups of four statements, choose the one most like you at work and the one least like you, and leave the other two. There is no time limit, and there are no right answers: MPA places you between two described ends on nine properties.
Why does OPTO make me re-rank statements I rated the same?
That is the Spotlight step. Your first ratings are what is scored. If you give two statements in a group the same rating, OPTO asks you to spread them out, and moving your answers the same way four times or more within one aspect raises a Spotlight flag that an interviewer will ask about.
Will I see my Master test results?
Yes. Master says every candidate is entitled to feedback explaining their result, as a report or a conversation, and it recommends that employers let you download your own CORE, MPA or OPTO report straight after the test.
Companies That Use Master International
Master International, from Copenhagen, is used mainly by employers in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Its ACE reasoning test and MPA or OPTO personality questionnaires usually come later in a process, around the second interview, while CORE is used to screen larger groups earlier.
Saxo Bank
Banking & InvestmentACE and MPA for every candidate who reaches a second-round interview, across all locations.
View Saxo Bank guide →Jettime
AviationOPTO and ACE in pilot recruitment, after the flying test, as the basis of the HR interview.
Master publishes case studies that name the product and the stage, which is rarer than it sounds; the two below are the ones where it does. Many Nordic employers use Master through recruitment agencies without naming it, so if an invitation mentions ACE, MPA, OPTO or app.master-hr.com, this is the provider.
Guides and Tips
Read up before you practise: what the tests reward, what catches candidates out, and why shortcuts do not work.
Can You Cheat the Master ACE Test?
A short supervised re-test drawn at your own level. Why an inflated ACE result is checked rather than trusted.
Master ACE Test: Never Skip, Always Bring a Calculator
Two rules decide more Master ACE results than any arithmetic practice, and both run against the habits other tests teach. Why a skip costs you, why the calculator is expected, and what your STEN means for the role.
Practice by Test Type
Compare the same format across every provider that uses it, and see what each one is really measuring.
Numerical Reasoning Test Practice
Tables, charts, percentages and ratios against the clock. The most common screening test on graduate schemes and analyst roles.
Logical Reasoning Test Practice
Shapes, sequences and flowcharts instead of words or numbers. Inductive, deductive, abstract, diagrammatic and spatial in one place.
Personality Test Practice for Job Applications
No right answers, which is exactly why they unsettle people. Learn the traits, the consistency checks and the formats before you sit one for real.
About CogniPrep Master International Practice
CogniPrep provides independent simulations of the candidate tests published by Master International A/S, a Danish assessment company founded in 1985 and based in Birkerød, with its own companies across the Nordics and in Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Mexico. Its tests are delivered on the Master People Platform, formerly Metis, and are met mostly by candidates applying to employers in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, including international applicants to Nordic companies.
- 4 practice tests: Master ACE, Master CORE, Master MPA and Master OPTO
- ACE: 12 adaptive questions in 30 minutes across numerical, spatial and verbal reasoning, calculator allowed
- CORE: 19 figure matrices in 35 minutes with a skip-and-return queue
- MPA: 40 groups of four statements, most and least like you, untimed
- OPTO: 154 statements in groups of seven on a seven-point scale, untimed
- Results on a STEN scale from 1 to 10, matched against a band the employer sets
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