How the reasoning tests work
Practical guides to the question types, the timing and how to prepare.
PwC vs Deloitte, EY and KPMG: the online assessments are not the same
Applying to all four? Their first-stage online assessments test different things. PwC names numerical, inductive and deductive reasoning. Deloitte names verbal. EY names numerical only. Here is what each firm says, from its own careers pages.
How long is the PwC online assessment, and how many questions?
PwC does not publish a time limit or question count for its early careers cognitive test. Here is every figure in circulation, where each one comes from, and which are worth believing.
PwC graduate scheme online assessment: what to expect
Where the online assessment sits in PwC's graduate selection process, what the timed cognitive test covers, what candidates reported in the last cycle, and the parts PwC does not publish.
PwC apprenticeship and school leaver online assessment
PwC early careers is not only graduate schemes. Apprenticeship, school and college leaver and undergraduate applicants go through the same first stage: a behavioural profile and a timed cognitive test on SHL. Here is what PwC says applies to every route, and what nobody has reported yet.
Does the PwC online assessment include verbal reasoning? No
PwC's UK early careers cognitive test covers numerical, inductive and deductive reasoning. Verbal reasoning is not part of it. Here is what PwC actually says, why so many prep sites disagree, and what to practise instead.
Can you use ChatGPT in the PwC online assessment?
PwC UK bans AI tools and third-party help in its early careers assessments and says it checks for them. What the policy covers and what getting caught costs.
Can you reapply to PwC? The once-a-year rule explained
PwC UK considers one early careers application per intake year. Fail or withdraw and you wait a year. What counts as an application and how to protect yours.
PwC 'Bringing our values to life': is it assessed?
'Bringing our values to life' is a non-assessed activity at the start of PwC's early careers online assessment. What it is for and what comes straight after it.
PwC behavioural assessment: forced choice, not an SJT
PwC's early careers behavioural assessment is an untimed forced-choice profile, and PwC says it does not use situational judgement tests for student programmes.
PwC online assessment format: what candidates reported
PwC does not publish its test format. Graduate applicants in the 2025/26 cycle reported interactive SHL questions, 8 in 12 minutes. The evidence, graded.
Is PwC still using Career Unlocked? No: what replaced it
Is PwC still using Career Unlocked? No. Here is what PwC's careers page describes instead, and how to spot a preparation guide that is out of date.
PwC numerical reasoning test: percentages and charts
Get through the PwC numerical reasoning test without silly mistakes: percentage change, reverse percentages, ratios and charts, with every step shown.
PwC abstract and inductive reasoning: how to find the rule
PwC's own careers e-learn calls it abstract reasoning; SHL and most prep sites call it inductive. Same test. It rewards one habit: read a single attribute across the frames, name the rule in a sentence, then test it on the last one.
PwC deductive reasoning test: 3 worked examples
What a PwC deductive reasoning test asks, and how to work one out: three constraint problems solved step by step, with the wrong turns named.
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