Barclays Online Assessment: SHL, cut-e & How to Practice

TL;DR: Barclays screens Analyst, internship and spring-week applicants with a timed cognitive ability assessment. Reports from the 2026 cycle describe SHL Verify Interactive — drag-and-drop, activity-based items mixing deductive, inductive and numerical reasoning — while earlier cycles used cut-e (Aon) modules. Both measure aptitude rather than knowledge, both run on a tight clock, and the same skills train for either. Your invitation names the platform; treat that as the authority.

Applying to a Barclays Analyst programme, a Summer Internship, or a spring insight week usually means an early email inviting you to complete a set of online tests. Which platform runs them has changed. Candidate reports from the 2026 cycle describe an SHL cognitive ability assessment — around 24 activity-based questions in roughly 36 minutes, mixing deductive, inductive and numerical reasoning — often paired with a values or "Mindset" questionnaire. Earlier cycles, and some divisions and regions, used cut-e (now part of Aon): several separately timed modules rather than one sitting. Unlike the behavioural game batteries some banks use, neither is a personality game — both are short, adaptive ability tests with tight timers. As of 2026 they typically follow your online application and eligibility questions, screening candidates before interviews. Exact steps vary by division, programme and region, so trust your invite email over any guide, including this one — but both formats are distinctive and very trainable once you know what you are walking into.

What the assessment looks like

Both formats are ability tests rather than behavioural games, and both are tightly timed. The SHL Verify Interactive version is one sitting of roughly 24 activity-based questions in about 36 minutes, with drag-and-drop items instead of multiple choice. The cut-e (Aon) version is a suite of separate timed modules. You'll commonly meet a numerical reasoning test (reading data from tables and charts), a logical or inductive reasoning test (spotting the pattern in a sequence), and sometimes a checking or verbal test. The defining features are that they're adaptive — questions get harder as you answer correctly — and that each item runs on a tight individual timer, so pace matters as much as accuracy. There's little role-specific knowledge involved; these measure aptitude. Two consequences follow. You can't memorise answers, but you can train the underlying numerical fluency, working memory and attention so you're faster and calmer per item. And there's no visible pass mark — candidates below the benchmark simply stop advancing rather than seeing a fail. We unpack that hidden-threshold logic in can you fail a game assessment.

The games that decide most, and how to train them

Number sense under a timer. Numerical items on either platform reward fast, confident magnitude judgement before you even reach for arithmetic — knowing roughly what the answer should be. Build that intuition with the numerosity game.

Mental arithmetic. Once you've estimated, you need to calculate quickly and accurately without a calculator crutch on the simpler steps. Drill speed and precision with the mental math test.

Selective attention for checking. Checking and error-spotting tasks demand you filter distractors and hold focus at pace — the same muscle a flanker task trains. Sharpen it with the flanker arrows test.

Working memory. Holding figures and reordering them in your head under time pressure is exactly what backward span trains. Strengthen it with the backward digit span.

Barclays's process & timeline

A typical Barclays route runs: online application and screening questions, then the ability assessment, then — for those who clear them — a HireVue or recorded video interview, followed by a final-round assessment centre with group exercises, a case and competency interviews. Divisions and regions differ, and some fold stages together. To understand the vendors in depth, read the SHL game assessment guide and the cut-e / Aon assessment guide; for how ability tests sit within the broader game-based landscape, the pillar HireVue game-based assessments complete guide is a useful map. Comparing banks? See our HSBC and Citi guides.

How to prepare in 3 days

Because both formats are adaptive and timed, pace is the skill to build. Day one: run each related game cold and note the two weakest — that's your target list. Day two: two focused sessions on those two, morning and evening, deliberately pushing your speed while keeping errors low, so the pacing instinct settles overnight. Day three: one full relaxed run across everything, then rest — tired eyes make careless mistakes on timed checking tasks. Set yourself up well: use a laptop with a proper keyboard, keep a pen and scrap paper ready for numerical working, sit somewhere quiet and uninterrupted, and read the instructions twice, since these formats differ noticeably from one another.

FAQ

Can I retake the tests? Generally no within a single cycle — Barclays typically expects one genuine attempt, and results may be reused if you reapply soon after. Treat your first sitting as the real one and prepare accordingly.

Does Barclays see how I worked each question? No — these platforms return your scores and a percentile-style read against the benchmark, not a recording of your process. What matters is accuracy and pace, not showing your working.

Do all Barclays programmes use the same test? No — and the platform itself has moved. The 2026 cycle is widely reported as SHL; earlier cycles used cut-e (Aon), and division, programme and region all change the mix, with some roles adding a video stage. Your invitation email is the only reliable guide to your specific application. If yours named a platform this guide gets wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

GamePrep is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with Barclays, SHL, cut-e, Aon or Harver. Hiring processes change — verify details against your assessment invitation. We provide practice only — no leaked questions or answers.