Invited to an SHL test? Start with a free practice test
Where you will meet SHL tests in the UK
SHL started out as a British assessment company, which is one reason its tests are so common here. Graduate schemes in banking, consulting, accountancy and law, retail head offices, energy and engineering firms and a number of public bodies use SHL at the screening stage.
In most of these processes the test is the first filter. A score below the employer’s cut-off can end the application before anyone reads your CV, which is why it pays to know the format before the real invitation lands.
Most UK candidates come across SHL at the online-test stage of a graduate scheme, a bank or professional services application, or a public sector recruitment process. The invitation tends to arrive a few days after you apply, with a deadline attached, so a quick and honest measure of your current level is worth more than a long study plan.
The four free tests below give you that measure. Each one is timed, marked straight away and comes with feedback on every question. You will see your score, which question types slowed you down, and an indication of how the result would compare in a live recruitment test. You only need a name and email address to start.
Before you buy anything, this is also the easiest way to see how our SHL practice tests are put together: the same question styles, the same structure and the same kind of explanations as the full practice pack.
How the test fits into the recruitment process
The usual UK sequence is online application, online SHL tests, a video or telephone interview, then an assessment centre and an offer. At the assessment centre some employers ask you to sit a shorter, supervised test to confirm your online result.
That re-test is the best reason to practise properly. A score you cannot repeat under supervision counts against you, while a steady, well-prepared result carries through every stage.
