How the Saville error checking test works
Each item puts information side by side: an original and a copy made up of numbers and letters, such as names, codes, dates and amounts. You decide where the copy contains errors.
You are most likely to meet it inside Swift Comprehension Aptitude, Saville’s combined test for administrative, operational, commercial and customer service roles, where it follows verbal and numerical sections of 4 minutes each. There the error checking part is reported as 8 questions in 90 seconds, about 11 seconds each. A longer version is reported as 32 questions in 6 minutes.
Saville lists both Error Checking and Swift Comprehension among the tests that cannot be taken on a mobile phone.
How to check fast without missing errors
Speed comes from a fixed routine, not from reading faster:
- Compare field by field, not record by record: one field in the original, then the same field in the copy.
- Read long numbers in chunks of two to four digits, the way you read a phone number. Swapped digits hide in long strings.
- Check every character of a code. O and 0, I and 1, and S and 5 are easy to mix up.
- Keep the same order through the fields every time, so you never skip one.
- Do not re-check a field you have already matched. At 11 seconds an item, rhythm matters more than certainty.
Worked example
Original: “Hartley, J | KT-40918 | 14/03/2026 | £2,615.70”. Copy: “Hartley, J | KT-40198 | 14/03/2026 | £2,615.70”.
The name and the date match. Chunk the reference: KT, 409, 18 against KT, 401, 98. The 9 and the 1 have swapped places, so the reference is wrong. The amount matches to the penny, so this copy has one error.
Tips for the real Saville error checking test
- Use a computer with a clear screen. Saville says error checking cannot be done on a phone.
- Try Saville’s free Error Checking practice test to see the layout and feel the pace before the day.
- If you are sitting Swift Comprehension, prepare the verbal and numerical sections too. Error checking is the shortest part.
- Settle before you start the section. With 90 seconds there is no time to recover from a distraction.
- Do not press Back or leave the test window. Saville support has to reset the test, and your answers are lost.
Practise Saville Error Checking on CogniPrep
Our Error Checking game gives you 32 items on one 7-minute clock. Each shows a Master record and a Copy with six fields (name, reference, date, amount, account and status), and you click every field in the copy that differs; an item can have no differences or up to three. There is no Back button, and items you do not reach score nothing. Your score out of 100 rewards the errors you find, marks you down for fields flagged wrongly, and counts how many items you get through and whether you pass clean copies correctly. The items come in a fixed order. Our clock is longer than the reported real pace, so aim to finish in about 6 minutes.