Banking / Finance
Barclays assessment tests: what to expect and how to practise
Candidates commonly report the following in Barclaysselection process: Situational judgement + personality questionnaire (Aon/cut-e style). Here is what those formats measure, what the screening reads for, and where to train the same demands.
Free to start:
- • 2 aptitude exercises free — timed numerical + the deductive grid
- • Free 10-question personality mini-test with an instant result
- • No credit card
The battery candidates report
Aon (cut-e) style batteries are short, computed modules: applied numeracy, deductive grids and interactive formats where every wrong option encodes a specific misreading. They reward interface familiarity as much as raw ability.
Selection stacks in banking / finance, normally run the online battery as the first cut — before any interview — which is why it eliminates more candidates than every later stage combined. The preparation that pays is format preparation: the items change, the demands do not.
Try the format now — no account
Each symbol appears exactly once per row and column. Find what belongs in the “?” cell.
3 real grids · pure deduction, zero guessing · no account
What Barclays says it values
Barclays publishes its own framework, and behavioural screening tends to mirror the published values. Knowing them will not hand you answers — questionnaires flag inconsistent role-play — but it tells you which of your genuine strengths are worth letting through clearly:
- Respect
- Integrity
- Service
- Excellence
- Stewardship
What the screening reads for
Across candidate reports and the sector's published role profiles, the behavioural side of Barclays screening effectively reads for: integrity · service mindset · composure · drive for excellence. The aptitude side is simpler to summarise — accuracy at pace — and it is also the side that responds fastest to practice.
How to prepare
Run the timed formats until the interface and the pacing are boring, then use the per-exercise rank to find the module that would drag your profile down and concentrate there. For the personality questionnaire, take a full practice pass first: seeing your own profile before the employer does is the one legitimate edge available, and answering consistently beats answering “perfectly”.
Frequently asked questions
What assessments does Barclays use in hiring?
Candidates commonly report the following in Barclays's selection process: Situational judgement + personality questionnaire (Aon/cut-e style). Processes change by role, region and year, so treat your own invitation email as the definitive list — and this page as preparation for the formats it is most likely to name.
Can I prepare for the Barclays assessment?
Yes — the formats train even when the exact items cannot be known. Timed numeracy, deductive logic and interactive modules all reward familiarity: candidates routinely move several bands between a cold first attempt and a practised one. For the personality questionnaire, practice shows you your own profile before Barclays sees it, which is what an honest preparation can deliver.
Is Persona Prep affiliated with Barclays?
No. Persona Prep is an independent practice platform with no connection to Barclays or to any test publisher. We build practice for the assessment FORMATS candidates report; we never reproduce any company's or publisher's actual test content.
What is Barclays looking for in the personality questionnaire?
Barclays publishes its own framework — Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, Stewardship — and behavioural screening tends to mirror it. In practice that means the questionnaire reads for: integrity; service mindset; composure; drive for excellence. Consistency matters more than a "perfect" profile: modern questionnaires flag contradictory answering.
Persona Prep is an independent preparation platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Barclays or any assessment publisher. Company names are used only to identify the selection processes candidates ask about; assessment details reflect public candidate reports and can change at any time.