Aptitude and Written Tests: How to Prepare

Many large employers, campus drives and graduate schemes start with a written or online test. You may see it called an aptitude test, a screening test, a psychometric test or an online assessment. The reason is simple: when thousands of people apply, a test is a fast, fair-looking way to reduce the list. This lesson tells you what these tests usually contain and how to prepare in a sensible way.

A note first. Do not pay anyone who promises you a pass or sells leaked papers. They are scams or cheating, and the second can end your career before it starts. Real preparation is free or cheap and takes steady practice.

What is usually tested

• Numerical ability. Percentages, ratios, averages, simple interest, profit and loss, time and work, reading tables and charts.
• Verbal ability. Reading short passages and answering questions, grammar, synonyms and antonyms, sentence correction, filling gaps.
• Logical reasoning. Number and letter series, patterns, coding and decoding, puzzles, seating arrangements, statements and conclusions.
• Subject or technical questions. Basics of your degree or the job, such as accounting, programming, engineering or computer basics.
• Situational judgement. Short workplace situations where you choose the best response, used often by UK employers.
• Typing or computer skills tests for office roles, and trade or practical tests for skilled jobs.

The test described in the job advert or invitation is the one that matters. Look for the name of the test provider and the topics. If the message does not say, ask the recruiter politely what to expect.

Know the format

Before you study, learn how the test works.

• How many questions and how long? This tells you the time per question.
• Is there negative marking, meaning points lost for wrong answers? If so, guessing carefully matters.
• Can you go back to earlier questions, or is it one question at a time?
• Is it on a computer or paper? A calculator allowed or not?
• Is there a section cut-off, meaning a minimum score in each section?

Time per question is the key number. A test with 30 questions in 30 minutes gives you about a minute each. Some questions take 20 seconds, so you can spend longer on harder ones, but you must learn to leave a question and move on.

A four-week plan

A little each day beats a long study night. About 45 minutes a day is a good rhythm.

1. Week 1: Basics. Revisit the school-level topics: percentages, fractions, ratios and averages. Revise grammar rules. Take one short test to see where you are.
2. Week 2: Topic practice. Spend two days on each topic, with untimed practice at first, then timed sets of ten questions. Keep a notebook of mistakes.
3. Week 3: Speed. Do mixed timed sets. Learn shortcuts that you understand, not ones you memorise without meaning.
4. Week 4: Full mock tests. Take full-length timed tests, at the real time of day if possible. Review every wrong answer.

Habits that raise your score

• Keep an error log. Write every mistake and why it happened: a calculation slip, not reading carefully, not knowing the method. Review the log each weekend.
• Learn to estimate. In a numbers question, rounding to nearby values often shows which option is right.
• Read the question twice. Many wrong answers come from missing the word “not” or the units.
• Skip and return. If a question takes too long, mark it and move on. Easy marks wait later in the paper.
• Practise mental maths. Times tables up to 20 and common fractions as percentages (one eighth is 12.5 per cent) save time.
• Read English daily. A newspaper article or a news website for 15 minutes a day builds speed for verbal passages.

Good practice sources

Use free and low-cost resources and avoid paying large amounts. Past-paper style questions from your college, reputable free practice websites, school textbooks for the maths basics, and free mock tests offered by many employers and test providers themselves, which show you the real interface. Practise on the kind of device you will use.

Test-day tactics

1. Sleep and eat before the test. A tired brain makes silly mistakes.
2. Arrive early, or log in early for online tests, and check your internet and device.
3. Bring what is needed: ID, pens, a calculator if allowed, and a watch.
4. Read the instructions fully before starting the timer.
5. Do the questions you know first. Keep an eye on the clock.
6. If there is negative marking, only guess when you can remove at least one or two options.
7. In the last minutes, check that every question has an answer, unless guessing costs marks.

If you feel a panic wave, close your eyes for five seconds, breathe out slowly, and restart with the next question. One bad question does not decide your result.

Typing and computer skills tests

Office roles may test typing speed and accuracy and basic Word and Excel tasks. Practise typing with free tools for ten minutes a day. Focus on accuracy first, then speed. Learn basic Excel tasks such as sum, sort and filter. Our Excel for jobs course on this site is a good place to start.

Practical and trade tests

For skilled trades, the test may be practical: wiring a board, welding a joint, using a machine or reading a drawing. Safety comes first in these tests. Show that you check safety, use tools correctly and keep the work area tidy. Ask if you do not understand an instruction. Doing it slowly and safely beats doing it fast and unsafe.

Your task

1. Choose the next test you expect to take. Find out the format: number of questions, time, negative marking.
2. Make a four-week plan with 45 minutes a day. Write the days and topics on a calendar.
3. Start an error log in a notebook. Add every mistake from your first practice set.
4. Take one timed practice set and calculate the time per question.

How to check it worked

• You know the time per question for your test.
• Your error log has at least ten entries with a reason for each.
• You have booked time each day for practice.