Aptitude test
The Aon (cut-e) Assessments
Aon (formerly cut-e) runs a distinctive suite of short, adaptive aptitude tests and gamified challenges used globally by elite employers. Because these assessments dynamically adjust their difficulty based on your real-time performance, preparation requires a precise understanding of their unique interfaces. This definitive guide breaks down every core module, explains how adaptive scoring operates, and provides practical strategies to pass your upcoming online test.
In short
Aon cut-e assessments are rapid, adaptive cognitive tests commonly deployed as initial automated screens for competitive corporate positions. Unlike traditional assessments, they adjust question difficulty on the fly based on your preceding answers, meaning your early accuracy heavily dictates your score trajectory. They feature unique interfaces, such as tabular information webs for verbal reasoning, symbol-switching sequences, and spatial memory grids. To pass, you must familiarise yourself with these exact formats ahead of time, maintain near-perfect accuracy on the opening questions, work with disciplined speed, and pivot seamlessly between memory and logic tasks.
The basics
What it is
The Aon assessment suite, still widely known by its legacy name cut-e, is a highly sophisticated family of psychometric instruments designed for volume recruitment and high-bar talent selection. Purchased by Aon, these assessments have evolved from standard text-and-numerical formats into a highly integrated platform of short, gamified, and adaptive modules. Instead of a uniform 30-minute exam, candidates are typically hit with a rapid-fire battery of individual tests lasting between 2 and 15 minutes each. They are deployed across the investment banking, management consulting, and technology sectors globally to filter out thousands of applicants immediately after the initial CV or resume submission.
The architectural hallmark of the modern Aon test is computerized adaptive testing (CAT). As you answer questions, the underlying software calculates your ability level in real time; if you answer correctly, the subsequent item is harder; if you slip, the system serves an easier question. This means your early answers carry disproportionate weight in establishing your baseline, making a focused, accurate opening absolutely vital. Because the modules are so brief, you cannot afford to waste minutes deciphering how the interface operates, meaning prior exposure to the test architecture is often the deciding factor between a rejection and an interview invite.
These tests are standard practice across both the UK and US markets, appearing heavily in recruitment pipelines for graduate schemes and summer analyst positions at top financial institutions, global engineering firms, and elite professional services networks. The exact combination of modules varies by firm, but almost all candidates face a blend of the core "scales" tests alongside gamified components like gridchallenge or switchchallenge. Successful completion moves you past the digital screen into a superday or assessment centre, while a weak performance triggers an automatic, system-generated rejection.
Intervyo is an independent preparation platform providing original, highly realistic assessment recreations and interview practice tools designed to mirror the formatting and logical pressure of major test publishers. Intervyo is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Aon, cut-e, or any of their subsidiary brands, and all diagnostic materials are engineered independently to help candidates build genuine test-day confidence.
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What it measures
The dimensions under test
Numerical reasoning (scales numerical / eql)
Measures your ability to accurately extract data, interpret statistical charts, and perform rapid mental calculations. The scales numerical interface requires you to evaluate complex financial or operational statements by toggling between multiple discrete data tabs under tight time limits.
Verbal reasoning (scales verbal)
Assesses your capacity to analyse written text, identify logical inconsistencies, and draw valid conclusions from structured corporate documents. Instead of reading long prose passages, you must navigate a tabular layout to verify claims against segmented data blocks.
Logical-deductive reasoning (scales cls)
Evaluates your abstract problem-solving skills and your ability to discover underlying rules within geometric shapes or symbols. You must identify patterns in multi-coloured grids and apply those implicit rules to new, unseen structures.
Spatial reasoning (gridchallenge)
Tests your short-term spatial memory, visual processing speed, and mental rotation capabilities. The assessment forces you to simultaneously recall the exact locations of dots on a grid while executing rapid mental symmetry checks.
Multitasking and cognitive flexibility (switchchallenge)
Quantifies your ability to process multiple streams of information and manage shifting operational rules. You are required to track how a changing sequence of alphanumeric symbols is reordered by a central sorting engine.
Behavioural and personality profiling (shapes / views)
Maps your natural working style, risk appetite, and professional preferences against the core competencies of the hiring firm. This module uses an adaptive forced-choice format to prevent candidates from gaming or falsifying their profile.
The format
What to expect
See it in action
A worked example
The following original example illustrates how a scales verbal tabular item functions and how to process it efficiently under adaptive time pressure.
- 01
Inspect the target statement
Read the claim presented at the bottom of your screen first, for example: "The Compliance Division exceeded its allocated standard operating budget during Q3."
- 02
Identify and click the relevant tab
Avoid reading everything; look at the tab headings (e.g., "Human Resources", "Financial Performance", "Marketing") and immediately click "Financial Performance" to find the relevant data matrix.
- 03
Map the data constraints
Locate the row for "Compliance" and cross-reference it with the column for "Q3 Expenses vs Budget", noting that the cell states "Actual: 420,000 GBP / 530,000 USD; Budgeted: 450,000 GBP / 570,000 USD".
- 04
Execute the logical verification
Compare the data to the statement: the actual spending was lower than budgeted, meaning they did not exceed the budget, allowing you to confidently select "Inconsistent/False".
The takeaway
By quickly isolating the single correct tab rather than hunting through prose, you secure a rapid, accurate answer that propels the adaptive engine into a higher scoring bracket.
The scoring
How it is marked
Aon cut-e assessments are entirely norm-referenced and powered by an adaptive algorithm, meaning your raw tally of correct answers is not your final score. Instead, your performance is calculated dynamically based on the difficulty of the questions you successfully answered, which is then converted into a percentile rank against a global norm group of similar candidates. Because firms receive a highly competitive pool of applications, they establish strict internal percentile thresholds, and candidates are almost never permitted to see their own scores or feedback reports.
90th Percentile and Above (Exceptional)
Clears the most stringent cut-offs at elite investment banks and strategy consulting firms, establishing a highly secure baseline for the next recruitment stage.
70th to 89th Percentile (Strong)
Comfortably clears the standard benchmark for most corporate graduate schemes, engineering tracks, and commercial banking programmes in both the UK and US.
50th to 69th Percentile (Moderate/Risky)
Sits around the global average; while sufficient for some regional employers, it often results in a rejection at hyper-competitive employers due to volume-based filtering.
Below 50th Percentile (Unsuccessful)
Places you in the bottom half of the applicant pool, triggering an automatic system rejection from the firm's applicant tracking system.
The variants
Versions you might be sent
scales numerical / scales eql
The standard numerical reasoning module that presents business data via interactive charts and tables, alongside rapid-fire numeracy tests (eql) focusing on quick mental calculations.
scales verbal
The signature tabular verbal reasoning test where you must verify corporate claims by navigating an array of themed text folders under intense time constraints.
scales cls
A highly abstract inductive logic test where you are presented with a series of grids containing shapes and must deduce the hidden rules that govern their classification.
gridchallenge
A gamified spatial memory test where you must determine whether complex shapes are symmetrical while simultaneously memorising a sequence of blinking grid nodes.
switchchallenge
A fast-paced deductive game where you must decipher the exact operational rule used by a digital filter to rearrange a series of geometric symbols.
smartPredict & chatAssess
Modern, highly integrated packaging formats where Aon bundles these individual aptitude modules into a seamless, chat-style simulation or an immersive corporate storyline.
Who uses it
Firms that screen with this test
Each links to a dedicated firm guide: the application process, the interview stages, and what they look for.
The prep
How to prepare
Master the tabbed interface
Practise navigating data across multiple digital folders quickly, as standard linear reading habits will cause you to run out of time on scales verbal and numerical tests.
Front-load your focus
Treat the initial questions of every single module with extreme care, ensuring near-perfect accuracy to drive the adaptive testing algorithm into the highest possible difficulty and scoring tiers.
Drill spatial memory tasks
Spend dedicated time training your short-term working memory and mental rotation skills to handle the intense dual-task demands of the gridchallenge.
Refine your mental math
Maintain crisp mental arithmetic skills, specifically percentage changes, currency conversions, and ratios, so you can execute calculations without relying entirely on your scratchpad.
How not to fail
Common failure modes
The specific ways candidates lose marks on this test. None of these need talent to avoid, only awareness.
- 01Rushing the opening questions. Dropping points on the first few items due to simple careless errors, which permanently traps your adaptive difficulty trajectory in a low percentile band.
- 02Getting stuck on a single tab. Wasting precious seconds reading through an entire verbal or numerical folder instead of using the target statement to surgically pinpoint the exact tab required.
- 03Over-analysing a dead-end question. Spending more than a minute debating a single tough question; because the tests are short, getting bogged down destroys your pacing for the remaining items.
- 04Losing focus during gridchallenge transitions. Allowing your concentration to break between the symmetry checks and the dot-location prompts, causing an immediate lapse in your spatial memory chain.
- 05Misinterpreting the switchchallenge operators. Failing to correctly map how the central sorting layer modifies the order of elements, leading to a compounding series of incorrect symbol choices.
- 06Using external real-world knowledge. Marking a verbal statement as true because it makes sense in the real world, rather than judging it strictly and exclusively on the explicit data provided in the tab.
On the day
What strong candidates do
The habits that separate high scorers, most of them decided before the timer even starts.
Navigating via target statements
Reading the statement first to identify specific keywords, then clicking straight to the corresponding tab without skimming irrelevant folders.
Executing a meticulous start
Deliberately slowing down by 5 or 10 percent on the first four questions to guarantee accuracy before accelerating into a high-speed rhythm.
Setting up physical workspace tools
Keeping a standalone calculator, a fine-tip pen, and clean scratchpaper ready to note down changing rules or intermediate numbers instantly.
Isolating symmetry axes instantly
Focusing on a single central quadrant during the gridchallenge symmetry phase to make split-second vertical or horizontal balance judgements.
Maintaining a steady switching rhythm
Accepting that errors will happen on the switchchallenge and immediately resetting your focus for the next symbol string rather than panicking.
Adhering to pure literal logic
Applying cold, strict rules to the verbal test, treating any claim that cannot be completely verified by the text folder as explicitly "cannot say".
Practise on the real format
Reading about the test is not practising it.
Intervyo recreates Aon (cut-e) Assessments in its real format, timed and scored, with instant feedback so the structure is familiar before it counts. Start free, no card required.
FAQ
Common questions
The gridchallenge is a gamified spatial reasoning module designed to test your working memory and mental processing capacity. You are shown a grid with a highlighted dot, which you must memorise. The test then interrupts you with a rapid visual task, such as determining if a complex geometric shape is perfectly symmetrical. After a few rounds of this, you must recall and click the exact sequence of dots in their correct order.
Keep exploring
Keep going
Practise on Intervyo
Aon (cut-e) Assessments
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Intervyo is an independent preparation platform. Our practice tests simulate the style and format of Aon (cut-e) assessments and are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the test publisher.