The company was founded in 2005 and, since its inception, has developed some of the most advanced strength-based assessments available on the market. One of the main attractions of CAPP’s tests is that they focus on the innate strengths and abilities of a candidate. Because of this, CAPP tests are believed to match candidates with jobs that they are more intrinsically attracted to, and so (theoretically) help to create happier and more productive workplaces.

What Types of Aptitude Tests Does CAPP Produce?

CAPP has a varied catalogue of strengths-based aptitude tests. Its most popular and commonly used tests are the verbal, numerical, critical reasoning and situational judgement tests. Let’s look at each in turn.

CAPP Verbal Reasoning Tests

These aim to assess how effectively candidates can reason with verbal information. The tests are typically comprised of an assortment of question styles that test different verbal skills. The tests have no strict time limit and candidates can work through them at their own pace. Although the tests may seem ‘pressure-free’ to some, really they just present a different type of challenge, as the time you take to complete the test is taken into account. CAPP tests use a scientific scoring system that takes into account the candidate’s speed and accuracy at answering questions, along with the difficulty of each respective question. The candidate will face up to 20 questions in a typical numerical reasoning test. Because the test is adaptive, the number of questions may vary and will depend on how well the test-taker handles initial questions/problems. Here is a sample question: The tests focus on events that are likely to take place in a modern work environment. They asses how candidates judge arguments, evaluate evidence, draw logical conclusions, identify assumptions and come to conclusions. In addition, candidates are asked to rate how confident they are in each of their answers. This gives employers more insight into the candidate’s critical abilities.

CAPP Situational Judgement Tests

Situational judgement tests (also known as situation reasoning assessments) are used to scrutinise a candidate’s approach to solving work-related problems. The CAPP-style SJT format consists of a series of situations, with the candidate instructed to rank the courses of action, with ‘1’ being those they are most likely to take and ‘5’ those they are least likely to take. In this test, you will be able to rank the five presented options by dragging and dropping them in any order you choose. The aim of the test is to evaluate core competencies that are appropriate for the position and the organisational culture. Eight of the major categories of core competencies that are most commonly assessed include:

Communication Resilience Learning & Development Leadership Teamwork Priority & Organization Analysis & Problem Solving Delivering Quality & Results

Here’s a sample question: Your manager calls you in for a meeting and offers you an opportunity to take up an international placement that will you will need to start immediately. The placement is in Cape Town, South Africa, and you will be required to provide support to a small team. Your manager feels that you will gain a lot of experience from this international placement. He has given you three days to decide if you will accept the placement. What do you say to him? Please rank in order the options below, with 1 being what you are most likely to say and 5 being what you are least likely to say:

Other companies that use CAPP tests include:

Aviva Barclays Boehringer Ingelheim British Telecoms (BT) Civil Service Domestic and General EY Lloyds Banking Group Microsoft Nestle Severn Trent Water Standard Chartered Bank Stonegate Pub Company Thomson Reuters Transport for London

How to Prepare for CAPP Tests

The best way to prepare for any recruitment test is by completing practice test packs. Generally, you should focus on whatever component you consider to be your weakness and perfect it. If you’re not from a mathematical background and feel uncomfortable with numerical data, spend some time taking practice CAPP numerical reasoning tests. In the lead-up to the test, start reading articles in publications like The Economist and Forbes on a regular basis. As you read these articles, think about the way that the author presents and explores key points. Continual practice will equip you with the skills you need to pass the verbal reasoning tests.

Numerical Reasoning

You’ll usually be presented with a graph or chart of numerical data. For example, a chart may present flight times and fares from both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports to a variety of destinations within the UK. The candidate may then be asked the following series of questions:

  1. Drag and Drop The candidate is shown a passage of text and two potential replies that could follow. They should choose which response is the most appropriate, based entirely on the style of communication.
  2. Drop-Down Read a passage of text and choose the most appropriate word to fill in the blank spaces.
  3. Corrections Read a passage of text and correct any mistakes that you find.
  4. Rank Read a series of statements and rank them from 1 to 5, typically with ‘5’ being the most positive and ‘1’ being the least positive.
  5. Multiple Choice Read a passage of text and answer the comprehension questions using ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘cannot say’.

Critical Reasoning Tests

The critical reasoning test contains five different types of question. For each question, the candidate should indicate how confident they are in their answer.

  1. Deducing Conclusions The candidate is shown a statement and four possible conclusions. They should decide whether the ‘conclusion follows’ or the ‘conclusion does not follow’, based upon how relevant each conclusion is to the original statement.
  2. Evaluating Evidence Again, candidates will be shown a statement and four possible conclusions. They should consider whether each option could reasonably be true or false, based on the information they have previously read. Each option should be marked as ‘conclusion follows’ or ‘conclusion does not follow’.
  3. Judging Arguments The candidate is shown a statement and four potential arguments that could follow it. Based on what they’ve read, they should decide whether each potential argument is a ‘strong argument’ or a ‘weak argument’.
  4. Drawing Logical Inferences The candidate is shown a short paragraph of text and four possible conclusions that could follow from it. They should consider each conclusion and decide whether it could be true or false, based on the information they’ve read.
  5. Identifying Assumptions The identifying assumptions section of the test consists of four questions. Each question begins with a statement followed by four potential assumptions. The candidate should decide whether each assumption is expressed in the passage of text.

Tips on How to Succeed During the Tests

Practice – It’s no secret that practice is the key to passing aptitude tests, and CAPP’s tests are no different. We recommend completing practice CAPP tests online to help you familiarise yourself with what will be expected of you. As well as practice tests, reading more articles in high-end publications and broadsheet newspapers can help improve your verbal reasoning skills; especially if you get into the habit of reading with a critical eye. Read the question thoroughly – On your CAPP test day, make sure you read each question very carefully. Skimming through texts in a reasoning test is a sure-fire way to fail. CAPP tests purposefully include confusing language designed to trip candidates up. Often this confusing language comes in the form of double negatives, so be extra wary of these. In some cases, a single word could change the whole meaning of a sentence. Don’t rush – Rushing can lead to careless mistakes, and CAPP tests have no time limit, so there’s no need to go faster than you are comfortable with. Do remember, though, that the time it takes you to complete each question is taken into account when grading your test. The perfect test score is a mix of both accuracy and timeliness. Don’t panic – Nerves are inevitable on test day but panicking will do you no favours. If you come across a challenging question that you don’t know how to answer, simply skip it. You can come back to it at the end of the test and approach it with fresh eyes. Use notepaper – Since the CAPP test is done using a computer, it’s advisable to have notepaper close to hand. You can use it to write down any relevant information and, for example, work out difficult fractions. Be comfortable with calculating mathematical functions – The numerical reasoning test is one of the most challenging parts of the CAPP aptitude tests. It’s important to familiarise yourself with basic mathematical functions. You can be sure that working out percentages, ratios and fractions will come up in the numerical reasoning test. Being able to carry out these operations quickly and comfortably will significantly increase your chances of passing. Sit the test in a quiet place with no distractions – If you’re taking the CAPP test at home, make sure you are somewhere with no distractions and a fast, stable internet connection. For most people, this would be their bedroom or home study. Let the people in your house know that you’ll be sitting your test and to not disturb you during that time. Another tip: keep the door closed to keep out pets.

As well as practice tests, reading more articles in high-end publications and broadsheet newspapers can help improve your verbal reasoning skills; especially if you get into the habit of reading with a critical eye. CAPP tests purposefully include confusing language designed to trip candidates up. Often this confusing language comes in the form of double negatives, so be extra wary of these. In some cases, a single word could change the whole meaning of a sentence. Do remember, though, that the time it takes you to complete each question is taken into account when grading your test. The perfect test score is a mix of both accuracy and timeliness. Let the people in your house know that you’ll be sitting your test and to not disturb you during that time. Another tip: keep the door closed to keep out pets.