Psychometric Tests
Psychometric tests are the standardised assessments employers use to compare applicants fairly: timed ability tests with right answers, and questionnaires that describe how you prefer to work. In the UK you are most likely to meet them on a graduate scheme or apprenticeship application, though plenty of experienced roles use them too.
This page covers the two kinds, the 12 publishers you are most likely to meet, where each test sits in an application and how to prepare. Between them those publishers account for 73 ability tests and 12 personality and strengths questionnaires you can practise here.
Ability tests and personality questionnaires
Almost every psychometric test is one or the other, and the two call for opposite preparation.
Ability tests
Right answers, usually timed
- Numerical, verbal, logical, critical thinking and checking tests.
- Scored against a norm group, so the result is a percentile or band rather than a raw mark.
- The employer sets a cut-off, which is rarely published.
- Practice helps, mainly by removing the time spent decoding each question.
Personality and strengths questionnaires
No right answers, rarely timed
- Statements or forced choices about how you work and what energises you.
- Reported as a profile across several scales, not as a single score.
- Read against the profile the employer wants for the role.
- Preparation means knowing the format, not rehearsing answers you think are wanted.
Practise by test format
If the invitation names the format but not the publisher, start here. Each page covers the format across every publisher that sets it.
Numerical Reasoning
Tables, charts, percentages and ratios against the clock. The most common screening test on graduate schemes and analyst roles.
Verbal Reasoning
Short dense passages and true, false or cannot say answers. Judged on what the text supports, never on what you already know.
Logical Reasoning
The umbrella name on many invitations. Covers the four rule-based formats and how to tell which one you have actually been sent.
Inductive Reasoning
Spot the rule in a set of examples, then use it: the next frame, the odd one out, or which group a new figure joins.
Deductive Reasoning
The rules are handed to you. Work out what must follow from them, and nothing more, under tight time pressure.
Abstract Reasoning
Matrices, figure series and odd-one-out sets sold under the abstract or non-verbal label. No words, no numbers, one missing piece.
Diagrammatic Reasoning
Figures travel through boxes that each change them by a rule. Work out the output, or which operator did the work.
Spatial Reasoning
Turn, fold, mirror and assemble shapes in your head. Set for engineering, military and aviation roles and inside general ability tests.
Mechanical Reasoning
Drawn gears, pulleys, levers and fluids. Predict which way things turn, what balances and what moves fastest.
Critical Thinking
Judge inferences, assumptions and arguments from short passages. The Watson Glaser that law firms set is the best known.
Error Checking
Compare an original with a copy and find what changed. Short, fast and scored on accuracy as much as speed.
Cognitive Ability
Short general tests that mix verbal, numerical, logical and spatial items, such as the CCAT, Wonderlic and PI Cognitive.
Situational Judgement
Realistic workplace scenarios scored against an employer competency framework. No maths, no time pressure, and a scoring key you can reason about.
Personality Questionnaires
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.
The publishers behind the tests
Employers rarely write their own tests. They license them from a publisher, and the publisher decides the timing, the marking and what the questions look like.
SHL
The Verify ability tests and the OPQ32 personality questionnaire. Some employers follow the unsupervised online test with a shorter supervised retest, and a large gap between the two is what gets noticed.
Ability
- Numerical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- Inductive Reasoning
- Deductive Reasoning
- Situational Judgement Test
- Mechanical Reasoning
- SHL Verify G+ (General Ability)
Personality and strengths
- OPQ32 Personality Questionnaire
Evidenced at BAE Systems, Barclays, BCG (Boston Consulting Group), among others.
Aon / cut-e
The cut-e scales tests, the smartPredict challenges and the ADEPT-15 personality questionnaire. Unusually, a wrong answer on the cut-e aptitude tests deducts a mark while a blank deducts nothing.
Ability
- scales verbal (Verbal Reasoning)
- scales numerical (Numerical Reasoning)
- scales ix (Inductive Reasoning)
- switchChallenge (Deductive Logic)
- gapChallenge (Deductive Reasoning)
- gridChallenge (Spatial Memory)
- digitChallenge (Numerical Agility)
- chatAssess (Situational Judgement)
- scales cls (Inductive Reasoning)
Personality and strengths
- ADEPT-15 (Work-related Behaviour)
Evidenced at BAE Systems, KLM, Procter & Gamble, among others.
Saville Assessment
Swift Analysis puts Verbal, Numerical and Diagrammatic sections of 11 questions in 8 minutes each into one sitting, and some employers add an Error Checking test.
Ability
- Verbal Analysis
- Numerical Analysis
- Diagrammatic Reasoning
- Error Checking
Cubiks / Talogy
The Logiks speed tests (verbal, numerical, abstract), a situational judgement test and the PAPI personality inventories. Cubiks is now part of Talogy, so the invitation may carry either name.
Ability
- Logiks Verbal
- Logiks Numerical
- Logiks Abstract
- Cubiks Situational Judgement
Personality and strengths
- PAPI-N Personality
- PAPI-I Personality
Korn Ferry / Talent Q
The Talent Q Elements tests. They adapt to your answers, and each question carries its own clock rather than the test having one overall limit.
Ability
- Elements Verbal
- Elements Numerical
- Elements Logical
Watson Glaser
Critical thinking in five sections, each applying its own standard of proof, scored against a graduate or professional norm group with no negative marking.
Ability
- Inference
- Recognition of Assumptions
- Deduction
- Interpretation
- Evaluation of Arguments
Evidenced at Clifford Chance, among others.
Cappfinity
Strengths-based assessment: scenarios and a strengths profile where how quickly you answer feeds the result, often alongside numerical and verbal tests.
Ability
- Strengths-Based Situational Judgement
- Numerical Reasoning
- Verbal / Critical Thinking
Personality and strengths
- Strengths Profile
Evidenced at AtkinsRéalis, Deloitte, EY (Ernst & Young), among others.
Test Partnership
A UK publisher whose aptitude, critical thinking and situational judgement tests are all computer adaptive, plus the TPAQ personality questionnaire and the MindmetriQ games.
Ability
- Insights Numerical Reasoning
- Insights Verbal Reasoning
- Insights Inductive Reasoning
- Concepts Critical Thinking
- Perceptions Situational Judgement
- MindmetriQ Net the Numbers
- MindmetriQ Link Swipe
- MindmetriQ Pipe Puzzle
Personality and strengths
- TPAQ Personality Profile
Evidenced at Cadent Gas, DAC Beachcroft, EDF Energy, among others.
Sova Assessment
Reasoning, judgement and personality delivered back to back in one sitting, usually under the employer’s branding. Employers can switch the countdown off, but Sova still records how long each answer takes and folds it into the score.
Ability
- Numerical Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- Logical Reasoning
- Situational Judgement
- Checking and Accuracy
- Learnability
Personality and strengths
- Personality Questionnaire
Evidenced at Bain & Company, JCB, John Lewis Partnership, among others.
Clevry (Criterion)
Formerly Criterion Partnership. Its ability tests come at three levels, Essential, Enhanced and Expert, and the level is usually named in brackets on the invitation.
Ability
- Clevry Verbal Reasoning (Expert)
- Clevry Numerical Reasoning (Expert)
- Clevry Abstract Reasoning (Expert)
- Clevry Verbal Reasoning (Enhanced)
- Clevry Numerical Reasoning (Enhanced)
- Clevry Abstract Reasoning (Enhanced)
- Clevry Checking Test (Enhanced)
- Clevry Verbal Reasoning (Essential)
- Clevry Numerical Reasoning (Essential)
- Clevry Mechanical Reasoning (Essential)
- Clevry Graduate/Managerial SJT
Personality and strengths
- Clevry Personality Questionnaire (Core)
Evidenced at Centrica (British Gas), M&S, Next, among others.
Thomas International
The GIA, five short timed speed tasks, alongside the HPTI personality inventory and the PPA behaviour profile, which Thomas says you cannot pass or fail.
Ability
- GIA Reasoning
- GIA Perceptual Speed
- GIA Number Speed & Accuracy
- GIA Word Meaning
- GIA Spatial Visualisation
- GIA Full Battery
Personality and strengths
- Behaviour Profile (PPA)
- Personality Profile (HPTI)
- Emotional Intelligence (TEIQue)
UK Civil Service
The Civil Service’s own tests, set on Civil Service Jobs vacancies: verbal and numerical reasoning, judgement tests and a work strengths test.
Ability
- Civil Service Verbal Test
- Civil Service Numerical Test
- Civil Service Judgement Test
- Management Judgement Test
- Work Strengths Test
- Customer Service Skills Test
- Casework Skills Test
Personality and strengths
- Styles Assessment for Behaviours
Evidenced at Ministry of Justice, among others.
Where the tests sit in an application
A typical graduate scheme runs in this order, though employers drop, merge and reorder stages freely.
1. After you apply
Online ability tests
Numerical, verbal and logical reasoning are the usual first sift, often joined by a situational judgement test. Some schemes use game-based tasks here instead.
Game-based assessments2. Alongside or soon after
Personality questionnaire
Untimed or loosely timed, with no right answers. The employer reads your profile against the one it wants for the role rather than ranking it.
How to approach a personality questionnaire3. Shortlisted
Video interview
Often a one-way recording of competency or strengths questions, marked later by an assessor.
Interview practice4. Final round
Assessment centre
Group, written and inbox exercises. Where an employer used an unsupervised online test earlier, this is where a supervised retest can appear.
Assessment centre practice
How to prepare
- 1
Find out whose test it is
Publishers differ in timing, marking and question style more than the test names suggest. The invitation’s sender domain and wording usually settle it.
Which provider am I taking? - 2
Practise the format in that publisher’s style
A Saville numerical section and a Talent Q one test the same skill under very different clocks. Practise against the clock you will actually get.
- 3
Know what a good score means
Ability results are compared against a norm group, so the number that matters is your position in it, not the share you got right.
What is a good psychometric test score? - 4
Plan the last week
Pacing and format familiarity are what improve in the final days. The last evening is for logistics and sleep, not another full test.
The week before your assessment
Practise the real format
Sign up free to try a test from every publisher, then unlock the one your employer uses. One-time payment, no subscription.
Get started freeRelated guides
Pre-employment tests in the US
CCAT, Wonderlic, Predictive Index and the federal exams, which work differently from UK testing.
Game-based assessments
Arctic Shores, Pymetrics, Aon smartPredict and the other games that replace a question paper.
Tests by employer
Which publisher each employer uses, and at which stage, with the evidence.
Does practising psychometric tests work?
What the research says practice changes, and what it does not.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a psychometric test and an aptitude test?
Aptitude tests are one kind of psychometric test: the ones with right answers, such as numerical or verbal reasoning. Psychometric is the wider term and also covers personality questionnaires, situational judgement tests and strengths assessments.
Can you fail a psychometric test?
An ability test, yes, in the sense that employers set a cut-off and a score below it ends the application. A personality questionnaire is not passed or failed in the same way; the employer compares your profile with the role, though that comparison can still count against you.
Can you practise a personality questionnaire?
You can get used to the format, and that is worth doing so the forced-choice blocks do not throw you. Answering as the person you imagine the employer wants risks tripping the consistency checks questionnaires build in, and a faked profile that works lands you in a job built for someone else.
Do all graduate schemes use the same tests?
No. Each employer licenses tests from one or more publishers, and some change publisher between recruitment years. Our employer guides record which tests each one uses, with the evidence.
Can I retake a psychometric test?
An immediate retake for the same role is unusual. Reapplying in the next cycle is common, and many large employers set a waiting period first. Applying for a second role at the same employer? Ask whether your existing result carries over.
Are psychometric tests fair if I have a disability?
Employers can make adjustments, such as extra time or a different format, and should tell you how to ask. Ask before you start the test rather than explaining a result afterwards.