Podium GCAT Practice: the NZ Police Online Tests
The Ability Assessment in New Zealand Police’s online testing is Podium’s GCAT, the General Cognitive Ability Test, and the Personality Profile runs on Podium’s platform. NZ Police does not name either on its page, but it sends you to Podium’s practice tests and hosts Podium’s preparation booklet. Practise the full 60-question test, each of its three question types on its own, and the 100-statement profile.
Free Tests
Free to try with a free account. Unlock Podium for £10 for unlimited practice.
GCAT Verbal Drill
The GCAT's verbal questions on their own: 20 in 10 minutes at the real test's 30 seconds each, adaptive, six options. Synonyms, word meanings, opposites, odd one out, analogies and word groups. A practice format, not a separate Podium test.
PQ10 Personality Profile (NZ Police Personality Profile)
100 short statements rated from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree, ten to a page, untimed: nine for each of the ten PQ10 scales plus ten that check for over-flattering answers. No score to beat: a profile on ten two-ended scales.
Premium Tests
GCAT General Reasoning (NZ Police Ability Assessment)
The full Podium GCAT as NZ Police sets it: 60 six-option questions in 30 minutes, verbal, numerical and abstract mixed in one sequence, adaptive, with one clock, no per-question limit and no going back.
GCAT Numerical Drill
The GCAT's numerical questions on their own: 20 in 10 minutes, adaptive, six options, no calculator. Number series, missing numbers, odd one out, number pairs and short word problems. A practice format, not a separate Podium test.
GCAT Abstract Drill
The GCAT's abstract questions on their own: 20 in 10 minutes, adaptive, six options, generated fresh every time. Rotating shapes, clock faces, shapes moving round a tile and symbol sets. A practice format, not a separate Podium test.
What this practice can and cannot tell you
- Our adaptive rule is our reconstruction of the behaviour NZ Police describes, not Podium’s unpublished algorithm. Our questions are original, and your percentile here is a ranking among people practising on CogniPrep, not a prediction of your result.
- The section drills are practice formats; the real test mixes all three. Use them to work on one question type, then sit the full GCAT.
- NZ Police does not name the personality questionnaire; Podium’s PQ10 has 90 items and NZ Police’s profile has 100. Ours uses nine statements for each of the ten PQ10 scales plus ten that check for over-flattering answers, which makes 100.
- NZ Police used to advise a computer or a tablet of at least 9 inches; Podium’s platform also runs on a phone in portrait, but sit the real test on a computer if you can. Our practice works on any screen.
The NZ Police online tests at a glance
Online testing is an early step, after your application and initial background checks and before the phone conversation, medical, fitness test and interview. You get an email with the links and five days to complete both.
Ability Assessment (Podium GCAT)
- 60 multiple-choice questions, one correct answer each, six options
- 30 minutes on one clock: 30 seconds a question on average
- Verbal, numerical and abstract questions mixed, not in sections
- Adaptive: questions get harder as you answer correctly
- No calculator, notes, other devices or AI
- Proctored online: photos taken at intervals and reviewed by trained staff
- Pass or fail; the pass mark is not published
Personality Profile (Podium platform)
- 100 short statements, five points from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree
- No time limit; about 15 minutes
- No right or wrong answers and no pass mark
- Ten statements to a page, every one answered before Next, Back allowed
- Answer “how you are now”, not as the officer you hope to be
What a GCAT question looks like
One question at a time under a dark header with the clock: an instruction line, the word, number series or row of tiles to work on, and six numbered answer tiles. Next moves on; there is no Back. These three are our own examples in Podium’s layouts.
Verbal
Which of the following words means the same as:
Brief
Brief means short. Expect the opposite, and a word often seen near the target, among the wrong options.
Abstract: series
What comes next?
Clock faces are a large share of Podium’s abstract questions. Read the hand as a number: 12, 2, 4 is two hours a step, so the hand points to 6 next.
Abstract: analogy
A is to B as C is to ?
The first shape turns a quarter turn clockwise, so the answer is the outline L turned a quarter turn clockwise. The wrong options are usually its mirror image, or the right turn with the wrong fill.
How the adaptive test behaves, and how to pace it
Right answers bring harder questions. NZ Police says the questions adjust to your responses, and that reaching hard questions or making mistakes is expected. On an adaptive test your result depends on how hard the questions you answer correctly are, not only on how many, so a stretch that feels difficult usually means you are doing well.
Do not rush the end. NZ Police’s own advice is that guessing or rushing through questions at the end is not helpful, and that the test is “not about finishing quickly”. Podium’s booklet adds that ability tests are often designed not to be finished. Aim for about 30 seconds a question and be past question 30 at the 15-minute mark, but a careful answer beats a fast one.
Every answer is final. Choose one of the six options before you press Next. In our practice a question you move past without answering counts as wrong; nobody outside Podium knows exactly how the real test treats one, so do not leave any.
Switching is part of the test. Words, numbers and shapes arrive in no set order, so part of the challenge is changing method quickly. Name the question type to yourself before you start on it.
How results are reported
Podium’s GCAT report gives an overall General Reasoning score and separate Abstract, Numerical and Verbal scores, each as a sten from 1 to 10, a percentile against a norm group, and one of five bands: Below Average, Slightly Below Average, Average, Slightly Above Average and Above Average. Stens of 5 and 6 are average; Podium’s international norm group has more than 80,000 people in it.
NZ Police sees that report. You are told whether you passed, and the pass mark is not published by NZ Police or Podium. A fail means a stand-down of at least six months before you can resit, and a second fail ends your application. NZ Police has said it no longer allows early resits, so treat your first sitting as the one that counts.
Our results use the same terms: a sten and a band for the whole test and for each question type, plus what cost you marks and what to change.
The personality profile and the ten PQ10 scales
Podium’s PQ10 reports ten scales, two for each of the Big Five personality domains. Each scale has two named ends and neither is the good one: Podium’s report writes strengths and risks for both. It also checks answering style, flagging answers that look too good to be true and answers that sit on the fence.
Openness
Inquisitiveness
Conventional to Inquisitive
Creativity
Pragmatic to Creative
Extraversion
Power
Subdued to Empowered
Sociability
Reserved to Sociable
Agreeableness
Compassion
Indifferent to Compassionate
Diplomacy
Tough-Minded to Diplomatic
Conscientiousness
Drive
Relaxed to Driven
Orderliness
Unstructured to Orderly
Emotional Stability
Emotionality
Sensitive to Composed
Confidence
Apprehensive to Confident
Podium’s own free practice tests
NZ Police links to Podium’s candidate practice page, which has short verbal, numerical and abstract tests and a sample of the personality questionnaire. Do them: they are the real screens. They give no answers or scores.
The tests marked #2 are the better guide. They run on Podium’s newer platform with six options per question and the varied question types of the live GCAT: 10 questions in 10 minutes. The #1 tests are an older platform with five options and one boxed-group format for every question type, at the live test’s pace of 10 questions in 5 minutes.
You can read NZ Police’s own description of both tests on its online testing page.
Later stages, which we do not simulate
Literacy assessment (POST). Some candidates sit an additional literacy assessment after passing the online tests: those without NCEA Level 2 or 3 literacy, University Entrance literacy or a degree. NZ Police says its content is specifically relevant to police officers and publishes no format, so we do not build it.
After the online tests. A phone conversation, medical, the Physical Appraisal Test, the SCOPE assessment, a formal interview and vetting. None of them is a psychometric test.
Other employers. Podium is also used outside the police, and you may receive a Podium invitation through a recruiter or consultancy such as Talogy (formerly OPRA) or People Central. The GCAT and the personality questionnaire are the same instruments, though an employer may set them up differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who runs the NZ Police online psychometric test?
Podium, a New Zealand assessment company, also known as Podium365. NZ Police links to Podium’s practice tests as “our provider’s website” and hosts Podium’s preparation booklet for the ability test, which is Podium’s GCAT, the General Cognitive Ability Test.
How many questions are there and how long do I get?
The Ability Assessment is 60 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes, with verbal, numerical and abstract questions mixed together rather than in sections, and one correct answer each. The Personality Profile is 100 short statements with no time limit; NZ Police says it takes about 15 minutes. You have five days from the invitation email to complete both.
Is the NZ Police ability test adaptive?
Yes. NZ Police says the questions “adjust to your responses and will become more challenging as you answer correctly”, and that reaching difficult questions or making mistakes “is expected and does not mean you are performing poorly”. It also says guessing or rushing at the end is not helpful.
Can I go back and change an answer?
Plan on no. Podium’s current practice tests have no Back button during the questions, and an adaptive test chooses each question from your previous answers. Older guidance said you could return to skipped questions, so read the instructions on your own test.
Can I use a calculator?
No. NZ Police has asked candidates to sit the test without aids, naming calculators, mobile devices and dictionaries, and the current page adds notes, other devices and AI. The numbers in the numerical questions are chosen to work in your head.
What is the pass mark?
Neither NZ Police nor Podium publishes one. You are told whether you passed. If you fail, you wait at least six months before you can resit, and a second fail ends your application.
What is the personality profile looking for?
In NZ Police’s words, “your likely strengths and weaknesses in specific personality areas relevant to police work”. There are no right or wrong answers, and NZ Police asks you to answer “how you are now, rather than how you think you’ll be as a Police Officer”.
Are Podium’s free practice tests like the real thing?
They show the real screens and question types, but Podium gives “no answers, scores, or solutions”. The three tests marked #2 run on Podium’s newer platform with six options per question, which is what candidates report for the live test; the #1 tests are older, with five options.
Companies That Use Podium (GCAT & PQ10)
Podium is an Auckland assessment publisher whose GCAT reasoning test and PQ10 personality questionnaire are sold across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Singapore and the Middle East, often through resellers such as Talogy. Its best-documented user is New Zealand Police, which sets both tests at the online testing stage of constable recruitment.
You may also receive a Podium link through a recruiter or consultancy, such as Talogy (formerly OPRA) in New Zealand and Australia, rather than from the employer directly. The test is Podium's either way.
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 Podium NZ Police Test?
A question path nobody else shares, photos reviewed by trained staff, and no second application if help is confirmed.
NZ Police Psychometric Test: The Podium GCAT
NZ Police never names the test on its own page. It is Podium’s GCAT: one mixed, adaptive run of 60 questions with no going back, and a personality profile of 100 statements.
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.
Verbal Reasoning Test Practice
Short dense passages and true, false or cannot say answers. Judged on what the text supports, never on what you already know.
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 Podium Practice
CogniPrep provides independent practice for the Podium assessments used in New Zealand Police’s online testing, and is not connected to NZ Police or Podium. Podium Systems Limited, trading as Podium365, is an Auckland assessment publisher. Its GCAT (General Cognitive Ability Test, also listed as General Reasoning Ability) is 60 verbal, numerical and abstract questions; NZ Police uses the 30-minute timed version, mixed and adaptive, with six options per question, as its Ability Assessment. Its PQ10 is a ten-scale personality questionnaire built on the aspects of the Big Five; NZ Police’s Personality Profile is 100 untimed statements on Podium’s platform. Both are completed online within five days of the invitation, with online proctoring for the ability test.
- 5 practice tests: the full GCAT, verbal, numerical and abstract drills, and the PQ10 personality profile
- 60 mixed questions in 30 minutes, six options, adaptive, no going back
- Clock faces and rotating shapes in the abstract questions, generated fresh every time
- Results as a sten and one of Podium’s five bands, overall and per section
- 100-statement personality profile on the ten PQ10 scales, with a check for over-flattering answers
- No calculator; the real test is proctored
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