SHL Psychometric Test: All Sections Explained
The SHL psychometric battery in 2026: the cognitive Verify tests, the OPQ32 and MQ personality questionnaires, and the situational judgement tests. How each section is formatted, how each is scored, and which combination
SHL Psychometric Test: All Sections Explained
"SHL psychometric test" is a phrase candidates hear from a recruiter and then have no way to pin down. The recruiter is rarely lying, just imprecise. SHL is a publisher with a deep catalogue, and an employer's "psychometric assessment" can be anything from a single 18-minute numerical battery to a full three-section combination of cognitive, personality, and situational judgement. The combinations are not arbitrary, and once you know what the three pieces are, the email you got from the employer becomes readable. This page walks through every section of the SHL psychometric suite, how each is scored, and which combinations you will face at which employers.
Quick takeaways
- The SHL psychometric battery has three pillars: cognitive ability, personality, and situational judgement.
- Cognitive is the hard gate. It includes the adaptive Verify G+ General Ability test and the standalone Verify subtests (numerical, verbal, inductive, deductive).
- Personality is OPQ32 (work traits) and MQ (motivation). Both are read for fit, not as a pass-fail score.
- Situational judgement (SJT) is custom-built per role. Each scenario describes a workplace dilemma and asks you to rate responses.
- Cognitive is scored against a norm group (percentile or sten). Personality is reported as trait stens. SJT scores against a key derived from senior-employee responses.
- Which combination you face depends on the employer and the role. Big Four graduate intake usually runs all three; senior executive search usually skips cognitive.
- The cognitive section is the only piece you can meaningfully prep by drilling. Personality and SJT reward honest answering aligned to the role.
What "SHL psychometric" actually means
A psychometric test, in the technical sense, is any standardised measure of mental capability or behavioural style. SHL is a publisher of psychometric instruments. When an employer says "SHL psychometric test," they almost always mean one or more of three sections: a cognitive section (usually Verify G+ or a Verify subtest), a personality section (usually OPQ32, sometimes also MQ), and a situational judgement test built around the role's competency model.
The reason recruiters use the vague phrase is that they often do not know exactly which sections their own HR team has configured. The configurable part of the SHL platform is called TalentCentral, and it lets the employer mix-and-match. So "we use SHL psychometric tests for graduate hiring" can mean anything from one 18-minute numerical battery to a 90-minute three-section block. The high-level overview of the SHL suite sits in SHL Assessment: All the Tests Explained, and the wider context of "the SHL test" is in The SHL Test in 2026: Verify G+, OPQ, Numerical, and Verbal.
Pillar one: the cognitive section
Cognitive is the section candidates worry about most, and rightly. It is timed, it is gradeable, and a low percentile here ends an application before any human reads it. The cognitive part of the SHL psychometric battery comes in two main shapes.
Verify G+ General Ability
The adaptive General Ability test. 30 questions in 36 minutes, blending numerical, inductive, and deductive reasoning into one combined adaptive score. The defining feature is that the difficulty of each question adjusts to your performance. Get items right, the next gets harder; miss them, the next gets easier. Your final score reflects the difficulty band you ended up in, not a count of correct answers. Full breakdown lives at the SHL Verify G+ General Ability pillar page.
There is also a Verify Interactive General Ability variant with 24 questions in 36 minutes, using drag-and-drop and on-screen response formats designed to be harder to coach with a generic question bank.
The Verify subtests
When an employer wants a single-skill cognitive measurement instead of the blended G+ score, they order one of the Verify subtests:
- Numerical Reasoning. Three versions live in 2026: Verify Interactive (10 in 18 min), multiple-choice (16 in 20 min), or Verify Numerical Ability (18 in 25 min). Topic mix and cutoffs are covered in SHL Numerical Reasoning Test: Format, Practice, and Cutoffs.
- Verbal Reasoning. Roughly 18 items in 17 minutes. True / False / Cannot say judgements based only on a short passage.
- Inductive Reasoning. 24 items in 25 minutes. Shape-sequence and matrix-pattern completion.
- Deductive Reasoning. 18 items in 18 minutes. Syllogisms and rule-based logic.
The two-pillar takeaway is that "SHL cognitive" can land as one combined adaptive test or as one to three standalone subtests. Either way, the underlying skills are the same, and one worked sample for each reasoning section is in SHL Practice Tests: Free Walkthroughs by Section.
Pillar two: the personality section
Personality is where SHL's reputation really sits. The instruments here are read for fit, not for score, and the employer almost never tells you which report they have ordered.
OPQ32 (Occupational Personality Questionnaire)
The flagship personality instrument. 32 traits across three domains: Relationships with People, Thinking Style, and Feelings and Emotions. Two live versions: OPQ32r (ipsative, forced choice, 104 blocks, 25 to 35 minutes) and OPQ32i (normative, 230+ statements, 35 to 45 minutes). OPQ32r is the version you almost always face in selection; OPQ32i shows up in development and executive assessment. The full mechanics and the six employer report types are in SHL OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire) Explained.
MQ (Motivation Questionnaire)
The MQ measures 18 dimensions of what drives you at work, including things like Achievement, Affiliation, Status, Autonomy, and Material Reward. 144 rated items, usually 25 minutes. Used most often alongside OPQ32 for senior-level assessment, or as a standalone instrument in development coaching. Where the OPQ asks "what is your style," the MQ asks "what conditions make you want to work hard."
The honest takeaway on personality is that drilling does not work. The ipsative format on OPQ32r is built to penalise gaming, and the consistency checks flag candidates who pick the socially desirable answer in every block. Honest, role-aware answering produces a useful profile; trying to be everything produces a flat one that helps no one.
Pillar three: situational judgement
Situational judgement tests (SJTs) sit between cognitive and personality in spirit. They measure behavioural fit in workplace dilemmas.
A typical SHL SJT presents 8 to 12 scenarios across 20 to 30 minutes. Each scenario describes a workplace situation, like a teammate missing a deadline you depend on, or a customer escalating beyond your authority. You are given 4 to 6 possible responses and asked to rate the most and least likely action you would take. Scoring is against a key derived from how senior employees at that company (or in that competency model) actually rated the same scenarios.
SJTs are partly trainable. Not in the rote sense, but in the sense that thinking about the role's competency model before answering helps you read each scenario through the right lens. A consulting firm's SJT will reward proactive client communication and structured analysis; a customer-service SJT will reward empathy and de-escalation; a manufacturing-supervisor SJT will reward safety-first decisions even when they cost throughput. Knowing what the firm values is half the work.
How each section is scored
The infographic below summarises what you actually face, section by section, plus the typical employer combinations.
The cognitive section reports as a percentile or sten against a norm group. There is no universal pass mark. Each employer sets a cutoff for the role. Competitive graduate roles typically cut at the 60th to 70th percentile; bulge-bracket investment banks at the 80th to 90th. The what is a good cognitive test score guide has the cross-test bands.
The personality section reports as a sten on each trait (1 to 10, where 5 to 6 is average). The hiring panel reads the profile through the role's competency model. A sten of 9 on Detail Conscious is desirable for an audit role and slightly worrying for a creative-strategy role. The same profile is a great fit at one company and a poor fit at another.
The SJT reports as either a raw match-to-key score, a percentile against other applicants for the role, or a competency-level breakdown. SJTs are sometimes used as a hard gate (you must score above a threshold to progress) and sometimes as a soft fit signal alongside the personality profile.
| Section | Output | How it is read |
|---|---|---|
| Verify G+ cognitive | Percentile or sten (1-10) vs norm group | Hard gate, cutoff per role |
| Verify subtests | Per-subtest percentile or sten | Hard gate, cutoff per role |
| OPQ32 personality | Sten per trait, plus a chosen report style | Fit profile, not pass-fail |
| MQ motivation | Sten per motivation dimension | Fit profile, not pass-fail |
| SJT situational judgement | Match score against key | Behavioural fit, sometimes a hard gate |
Typical employer combinations
The biggest practical question is "which sections will I get?" The answer varies by employer, role, and seniority. The combinations below are what we see in 2026 across the most-asked-about hiring streams.
Big Four graduate (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG)
Verify G+ cognitive at the first online filter (60th to 70th percentile cutoff), OPQ32r personality alongside it, and a custom SJT before the assessment-centre invite. The consulting streams within the Big Four lift the cognitive cutoff to the 75th to 85th percentile.
Bulge-bracket investment banking (JPMorgan, Citi, Barclays)
Verify G+ or a standalone Verify Numerical (80th to 90th percentile cutoff), OPQ32r, and sometimes an SJT. Banking firms lean harder on cognitive than the Big Four do, and the SJT is sometimes replaced by a video interview through a separate vendor.
UK Civil Service Fast Stream
A modular Verify cognitive battery (numerical, verbal, and judgement-of-situations), OPQ32 optional depending on stream, and a dedicated Civil Service Judgement Test instead of a generic SJT. Cognitive cutoffs are lower than commercial roles, typically 50th to 60th percentile.
FMCG graduate (Unilever, P&G, Mars)
Verify G+ or Verify Interactive cognitive, OPQ32r personality, and game-based SJT-equivalents (Unilever uses Pymetrics-style games instead of a classic SJT). The cognitive cutoff is in the 60th to 70th percentile range.
Tech graduate scheme (IBM, Capgemini, Wipro)
A single Verify subtest, usually Numerical or Inductive (55th to 70th cutoff), OPQ32r personality, and rarely an SJT. The cognitive section here is the simplest of the major employer types.
Senior executive search
Usually no cognitive section. OPQ32i normative personality, MQ motivation, and a custom executive assessment. The whole battery is read for development insight and stakeholder briefing, not as a pass-fail gate.
| Employer type | Cognitive | Personality | SJT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Four graduate | Verify G+ | OPQ32r | Yes |
| Big Four consulting stream | Verify G+ (high cutoff) | OPQ32r | Yes |
| Bulge-bracket banking | Verify G+ or Numerical | OPQ32r | Sometimes |
| UK Civil Service Fast Stream | Modular Verify subtests | Optional | Yes (CSJT) |
| FMCG graduate (Unilever, P&G) | Verify G+ or Interactive | OPQ32r | Game-based equivalent |
| Tech graduate scheme | One Verify subtest | OPQ32r | Rare |
| Senior executive search | None or light | OPQ32i plus MQ | Rare |
How to prepare for each section
The three sections want different prep, and a common mistake is treating the whole battery as one drilling task.
Cognitive
Drill the format and the timing, in that order. Spend the first two days untimed on your weakest reasoning type, then add a clock. The pacing target is 60 to 90 seconds per item, but adaptive tests punish early errors more than late ones, so slow down on the first five questions. A 10-day plan for the numerical subtest specifically sits at SHL Numerical Reasoning Test: Format, Practice, and Cutoffs; the broader cognitive prep approach is in How to pass any cognitive test.
Personality
Read the role description carefully and identify the four or five competencies it is hiring for. Reflect honestly on which of those you genuinely have. Answer consistently. Do not try to be the ideal candidate; the format catches that. The full strategy is in SHL OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire) Explained.
Situational judgement
Read about the firm's stated values and competencies before sitting the SJT. For consulting, that means structured problem-solving and proactive client communication. For finance, that means risk awareness and precision. For sales, that means relationship building and resilience under rejection. When a scenario asks how you would respond, you are answering as the employee that firm wants to hire, which is not always your default.
Where the SHL psychometric battery sits in the hiring funnel
For graduate schemes the cognitive section usually arrives first, as a screening gate after the application form and before any human contact. The OPQ32r and SJT often arrive in the same email link as the cognitive, but the personality and SJT results are read later, by the panel preparing for an interview, rather than as filtering gates.
For experienced-hire roles, the SHL battery often arrives between the first interview and the final, with the panel receiving the report before the second-stage meeting. That is where the OPQ32 in particular gets used: the panel decides which of your traits to probe based on what the role needs.
For senior executive hiring, the SHL piece usually runs alongside a structured stakeholder process and is rarely a gate. Its purpose there is informing the hiring committee, not screening.
FAQ
What is the SHL psychometric test?
It is not one test. SHL is a publisher of psychometric instruments, and the employer's "SHL psychometric test" is usually a combination of a cognitive section (Verify G+ or a Verify subtest), a personality section (OPQ32 and sometimes MQ), and a situational judgement test built for the role.
How long does the SHL psychometric test take?
It depends on the combination. A single Verify subtest is 17 to 25 minutes. The Verify G+ cognitive section is 36 minutes. OPQ32r personality is 25 to 35 minutes. An SJT is 20 to 30 minutes. A full three-section battery can take 90 minutes or more, usually split across one or two sittings.
What sections does the SHL psychometric test have?
Three pillars: cognitive (Verify G+ or Verify subtests), personality (OPQ32 and MQ), and situational judgement. Most employers use two of the three at most; a few use all three.
Is the SHL psychometric test hard?
The cognitive section is hard because of pacing and adaptivity, not because the maths or logic is exotic. The personality and SJT sections are not hard in that sense; they are designed to be answered honestly. The trap is candidates who treat personality and SJT as gameable.
How is the SHL psychometric test scored?
Cognitive scores as a percentile or sten against a norm group. Personality scores as a sten per trait, read through the role's competency model. SJT scores against a key derived from senior-employee responses, sometimes as a hard match score and sometimes as a fit-and-development signal.
Can you practise for the SHL psychometric test?
Yes for cognitive and SJT (partly), not really for personality. Cognitive rewards timed drilling. SJT rewards reading the firm's competency model before sitting. Personality rewards honest, role-aware answering, not drilling.
What is a good SHL psychometric score?
There is no single answer because each section is scored differently and each employer sets its own cutoff. For the cognitive section, a 70th-percentile score gets you past most graduate-screen filters; for personality, "good" means a profile that fits the role; for SJT, "good" means a high match against the firm's competency key.
Is the SHL psychometric test the same as the SHL Verify G+?
No. Verify G+ is the cognitive section. The SHL psychometric test is the broader battery that includes cognitive, personality, and situational judgement.
Related on PrepClubs
- Pillar. SHL Verify G+ General Ability overview. The cognitive pillar of the SHL psychometric battery.
- Overview. The SHL Test in 2026: Verify G+, OPQ, Numerical, and Verbal. What "the SHL test" usually means and how each component is read.
- Suite. SHL Assessment: All the Tests Explained. Every test in the SHL suite and how each one is scored.
- OPQ deep-dive. SHL OPQ (Occupational Personality Questionnaire) Explained. The personality pillar in full detail.
- Numerical deep-dive. SHL Numerical Reasoning Test: Format, Practice, and Cutoffs. The three live versions of the standalone numerical subtest.
- Practice. SHL Practice Tests: Free Walkthroughs by Section. One worked sample for each Verify reasoning section.
- Benchmarks. What is a good cognitive test score. Cross-test percentile benchmarks.
Practice on PrepClubs
Closest-match practice for the cognitive pillar of the SHL psychometric battery.
The cognitive section is the only piece of the SHL battery that rewards drilling, and the skills overlap heavily with the CCAT cluster: numerical reasoning under a clock, inductive pattern completion, deductive logic, and timing discipline. 1,350+ CCAT items, 14 timed mocks, 12 topical drills, with worked walkthroughs on every question. $39 one time. Pass Guarantee.
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