- Arctic Shores Test is task-based, not question-based - up to nine interactive tasks, not multiple choice.
- There is no candidate fee; employers licence the assessment and invite you by email from noreply@arcticshores.com.
- Sessions run 30-45 minutes and measure Personality, Workplace Intelligence, and Learning Agility.
- There's no fixed pass mark - employers set their own role-fit thresholds on a 1-100 scale.
What Is Arctic Shores Test?
Arctic Shores Test refers to the Arctic Shores Assessment, a psychometric evaluation built by Arctic Shores, a UK company founded in 2014 by Robert Newry and Dr Safe Hammad. Rather than asking candidates to answer multiple-choice questions, it presents a series of short, game-like interactive tasks and quietly records how you behave while completing them. Arctic Shores describes this as curating over 12,000 data points on natural behaviour across a single session - far more granular than a traditional right-or-wrong test.
If you've been sent a link to this assessment as part of a job application, you're not being tested on knowledge or trivia. You're being observed. That distinction shapes everything about how you should approach it, and it's the reason generic exam-prep advice often misses the point. Our Arctic Shores Test Study Guide 2026 goes deeper into first-attempt strategy, but this article covers the fundamentals first.
How the Assessment Actually Works
Employers who use Arctic Shores Assessment licence it directly from the company - there's no third-party testing centre and no fee charged to the candidate. If you're invited to take it, the email will come from noreply@arcticshores.com, and it's worth checking your spam folder if you're expecting one after an application.
The assessment runs entirely online and works on desktop, tablet, or mobile, so long as you have a stable internet connection. It typically takes 30-45 minutes, with tasks unlocking one at a time rather than all being visible up front. Before the scored tasks begin, there's a free practice task in the onboarding section that you can repeat as many times as you like - this is your one legitimate opportunity to get comfortable with the interface and controls before anything counts.
There are no prerequisites to take the assessment and no expiry date on the format itself, but if you apply to a different employer, you'll normally be asked to complete it again from scratch, since results aren't portable between companies. If you need reasonable adjustments - extra time, alternative input methods, or anything else - these must be requested before you start the session, not partway through. Full eligibility details are covered in our Arctic Shores Test Requirements guide.
Key Takeaway
Book time for the free practice task the moment you receive your invite. It's the only sanctioned way to reduce format surprise, and repeating it costs nothing.
The Three Measurement Areas
Arctic Shores frames its assessment around three measurement areas rather than fixed subject domains. Understanding what each one is actually looking for is more useful than trying to guess "correct" behaviour.
Domain 1: Personality
Captures stable behavioural tendencies - how you approach risk, ambiguity, and decision-making under time pressure - expressed through your natural choices during tasks rather than self-report questions.
- Reflected in tasks like Balloon Burst, which Arctic Shores says measures around 20 traits simultaneously through risk-taking behaviour
Domain 2: Workplace Intelligence
Arctic Shores' alternative to a traditional cognitive ability test, this area looks at how you process information, react to changing rules, and make judgments in fast-moving, reactive tasks.
- Often assessed through flanker-style tasks such as Direction/arrows, Sequence, and Order
Domain 3: Learning Agility
Measures how quickly you adapt when task rules shift mid-way through, or when you're given new information and expected to adjust your approach without instruction.
- Visible in tasks like Predict and Power Generator, where conditions change as the task progresses
Crucially, employers choose which behaviours carry the most weight for a given role. The same set of tasks might be scored quite differently for a trading role than for an audit position or a graduate consulting programme - a risk-tolerant profile that suits one desk may be scored neutrally, or even negatively, for another. Our Arctic Shores Test Exam Domains 2026 guide breaks down each area and its associated tasks in more detail.
Common Tasks You'll Encounter
While the exact task set can vary by employer and role, candidates commonly report encountering a rotating selection from this list:
- Balloon Burst - a risk-appetite task where you decide how much to inflate a virtual balloon before it pops
- Direction/arrows (flanker task) - quick-reaction tasks testing focus under distraction
- Tickets - a categorisation or sorting-style task
- Sequence - pattern recognition and ordering
- Emotions - reading and responding to emotional cues
- Team Selling - scenario-based decision-making in a simulated work context
- Power Generator - resource management under shifting constraints
- Security Door - rule-following and adaptability
- Order, Balance, and Predict - additional judgment and adaptability tasks
None of these resemble a verbal reasoning or numerical test in the traditional sense. They're closer to short, simple games, and that's intentional - Arctic Shores wants to observe natural behaviour rather than rehearsed test-taking technique.
Who Uses Arctic Shores Test
Arctic Shores Assessment is used by a range of major employers as part of early-stage recruitment, particularly for graduate and volume-hiring programmes. Organisations known to use it include Deloitte, KPMG, Capita, HSBC, NatWest, Citi, and Teach First. If you've received an invite from one of these - or a similar large employer - as part of an application, this is very likely the assessment in question rather than a different credential sharing the same acronym.
Because it's typically deployed at the screening stage, it often arrives before a first interview and functions as a filter to help employers narrow a large applicant pool. For a sense of what roles commonly involve this stage of screening, see our Arctic Shores Test Jobs overview.
Scoring, Feedback and Pass Marks
One of the most misunderstood aspects of Arctic Shores Assessment is scoring. There is no fixed pass mark set by Arctic Shores itself. Instead:
- Candidates receive a personal feedback report showing each measured behaviour on a 1-10 spectrum, benchmarked against a norm group
- Employers receive a single 1-100 role-fit number
- Each employer sets its own threshold for that role-fit number, per role
This means the same performance could clear the bar for one employer's graduate scheme and fall short for another's. There is no universal cut-off to study toward. Our dedicated Arctic Shores Test Passing Score guide and Arctic Shores Test Pass Rate guide go further into what the available data actually shows, since headline "pass rate" framing can be misleading for a threshold-based, employer-set system like this one.
| Aspect | Traditional Multiple-Choice Test | Arctic Shores Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Fixed questions with correct answers | Up to nine interactive behavioural tasks |
| Scoring | Fixed pass mark | 1-100 role-fit score, threshold set per employer |
| Candidate fee | Often charged directly | None - employer licenses the assessment |
| Prep strategy | Content review and memorisation | Format familiarity via the free practice task |
| Delivery | Testing centre or proctored session | Online, desktop/tablet/mobile, no centre |
Preparing Without Gaming the System
Because there's no answer key to learn, effective preparation looks different from studying for a knowledge-based exam. The goal is composure and familiarity, not recall. A light, staged approach in the days before your invite tends to work better than cramming:
Understand the Format
- Read through how tasks unlock one at a time and what a 30-45 minute session involves
- Review the three measurement areas so nothing on screen feels unfamiliar
Practice the Free Task
- Repeat the onboarding practice task until the controls feel automatic
- Test your device and connection on the same setup you'll use for the real session
Reduce Friction
- Pick a quiet, distraction-free 45-minute window
- Request any reasonable adjustments in advance, not mid-session
Spaced, low-pressure exposure to the format - rather than intense last-minute review - fits this assessment because there's genuinely nothing to memorise. If you want a structured walkthrough of this approach mapped against each task type, the full study guide is the natural next read. You can also work through interactive practice on our practice test platform to get comfortable with task-based formats before your real invite arrives.
It's also worth understanding the broader value question before you invest much prep time. Since there's no fee and no formal renewal, the "cost" of this assessment is really about time and readiness rather than money - our pricing breakdown and ROI analysis unpack this from a candidate's perspective, and the salary guide looks at the roles this screening stage typically leads toward.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Employers licence the assessment directly from Arctic Shores, and candidates are never charged. If you receive an invite, it comes from noreply@arcticshores.com at no cost to you.
Most candidates complete it in 30-45 minutes. Tasks unlock one at a time, so you can't preview the full session in advance, and a free practice task is offered before the scored portion begins.
There's no fixed pass mark to fail, since each employer sets its own role-fit threshold. If you apply to a different employer, you'll normally complete the assessment again as a fresh session.
No. Arctic Shores explicitly states that candidates who follow third-party answer-key guides produce invalid measures and rarely progress. Preparation should focus on format familiarity, not memorised responses.
The assessment runs on desktop, tablet, and mobile, provided you have a stable internet connection. Choose whichever device lets you complete the session without interruption.