Barclays Online Assessment – Complete Overview, Sample Questions, and Practice [2024]
Barclays are a British multinational investment bank and financial services company that have been operating for over 300 years. Headquartered in the UK and with locations in more than 50 countries, they employ about 130,000 people in various positions and offer various Graduate programs, internships, and apprenticeships.
With high competition for every position, Barclays administer a multi-step hiring process, which includes a series of online assessments designed to make sure their employees possess the required abilities for the job and are aligned with the organisation’s values.
On this page, you will find everything you need to know about the Barclays online assessment, including the assessment’s structure, types of tests, sample questions, and answering tips.
Note: The Barclays Summer Internship application opend on 02 Feb 2024. For the latest details, visit the company's careers website or your campus career services.
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Barclays Online Aptitude Tests
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What Is the Barclays Online Assessment?
The Barclays online assessment is a series of tests, provided by SHL, that evaluate if you have the competencies and behavioural traits necessary for success in your position and in the organisation itself.
The Barclays assessment comprises three mini-tests:
✻ Cognitive ability assessment
✻ Personality assessment
✻ Mindset assessment
Let’s go over them!
Barclays Cognitive Ability Assessment
The Barclays cognitive ability assessment evaluates your comprehension in three areas:
Numerical reasoning – your ability to understand and analyse numerical data presented in graphs and tables and to make calculations such as percentages, fractions, unit conversion, etc.
Verbal reasoning – your ability to understand written information and evaluate and make logical inferences based on this information.
Inductive logical reasoning – your ability to identify patterns and rules presented in graphic information and predict the outcome based on this information.
You will be presented with a series of multiple-choice questions that can include word problems, syllogisms, argument evaluation, and next-in-series questions.
You will have 12 questions to address in 10 minutes.
You can use a calculator.
Note that you need to answer all the questions to avoid score reductions.
Let’s see how it looks –
Barclays Cognitive Ability Assessment – Numerical Reasoning Sample Question
If a price of a pen has increased from $0.90 to $0.99, what was the percent increase in price?
Tip: In numerical reasoning questions, especially when time is tight, it is crucial to avoid unnecessary calculations. Read the question carefully, make sure you understand what you are asked and search for this information.
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Barclays Cognitive Ability Assessment – Verbal Reasoning Sample Question
In many cultures, the lotus flower is considered a symbol of purity, enlightenment, and rebirth. Art, literature, and religious texts often depict it as a sacred and powerful symbol. The lotus flower grows in muddy waters but emerges above the surface, clean and pristine. This is seen as a metaphor for human experience – we can rise above our struggles and difficulties to become something beautiful.
What is the lotus flower often used as a symbol for?
Tip: Verbal reasoning questions are often deliberately confusing. If you are unsure about the correct answer, try to eliminate the obviously incorrect options. This will increase your chances of getting the answer right.
Barclays Cognitive Ability Assessment – Inductive Reasoning Sample Question
Choose the image that completes the pattern
The recommended work method for questions with more than one rule, is to choose one of them and “run with it”, trying to eliminate as many distracters as possible.
Two elements are at play in this question: the number of circles and the colours and patterns of overlapping shapes.
A quick examination of the images can easily eliminate distracter 5 as the shapes remain the same throughout the entire sequence.
Let’s take a closer look at the number of circles element. We can see that it follows a simple rule of decreasing by one every time we advance from one frame to the next. Using this information we can now dismiss distracters 1 & 3 as well.
In this case, the colours’ rule is very intuitive; as we can see it switches from frame to frame, alternately. Thus, we are looking for the distracter (either 2 or 4) that matches the colours shown in frame 2. The correct answer is 2.
The correct answer is
Tip: Sometimes, more than one pattern appears to fit the given series. In this case, look for any clues or information that can help you identify which pattern is more likely to be correct.
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With JobTestPrep’s Barclays online assessment PrePack™, you will receive all the tools needed to ace the SHL test, with the practice of all Barclay’s cognitive ability assessment tests, detailed solutions, and study guides.
Barclays Personality Assessment
The Barclays personality assessment evaluates your traits and characteristics and how they fit the requirements of the position you have applied for.
You will be presented with sets of three statements. You will need to choose the statement that describes you best. Then, you will be presented with the two remaining statements and need to choose the one you think is more like you.
You will have 105 sets of statements to address in 20 minutes.
Let’s take a look!
Barclays Personality Assessment Sample Question
Step I
Which statement describes you best?
Step II
Let’s say you choose the statement “I enjoy working in a team” as the one that describes you best.
Which statement describes you best?
Tip: The test intentionally contains some statements that are repeated. If you come across such statements, just choose the best answer from the available options without being concerned about how you responded to similar statements earlier.
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Barclays Mindset Assessment
The Barclays mindset assessment evaluates your work-related tendencies, way of thinking, approach, and behaviours in a working environment to ensure they match the Barclays Values.
Like the personality assessment, you will be presented with sets of three statements. You will need to choose the statement that describes you best.
Then, you will be presented with the two remaining statements, and need to choose the one that is more like you.
You will have 75 sets of statements to address in 20 minutes.
Barclays Mindset Assessment Sample Question
Step I
Which statement describes you best?
Step II
Let’s say you choose the statement “I prioritize clear communication and collaboration to achieve shared goals” as the one that describes you best.
Which statement describes you best?
Tip: choose your answers based on how you would behave in a work setting and not in your personal life outside of work.
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Barclays HireVue Interview
Applicants for several positions and programs within Barclays are invited to take the HireVue interview. This is a virtual pre-recorded interview in which participants must record their responses to pre-determined questions. Although it may look like a video version of a regular interview, there is more to it than that!
As these interviews lack social dynamics, a major factor in regular interviews, participants must come up with optimal responses and appearances, perfecting both response content and nonverbal communication cues.
Read more about how our occupational psychologists can help overcome this obstacle when preparing for the HireVue interview.
Barclays Values
Barclays emphasise their core values and recruit their employees according to how they fit the organisation’s principles, environment, and culture.
Before taking the Barclays online assessment, make sure you are familiar with the Barclays values and address them while choosing your answers, mainly in the Barclays mindset assessment, but also the Barclays personality assessment.
Barclays define five core values:
- Respect – harnessing inclusion and diversity, trusting your colleagues and valuing their contribution.
- Excellence – championing innovation and using your expertise, resources, and energy to make a positive difference.
- Integrity – operating with honesty, fairness, and transparency.
- Service – acting with humility and sympathy and putting your clients at the centre of your actions.
- Stewardship – improving things and making them better.
Practise Makes Perfect
Practise how to best answer the Barclays mindset assessment with the complete study guide and solving tips that will teach you how to best address every question!
Barclays Application Process
The Barclays hiring process comprises 5 steps:
- Application
- Barclays online assessments
- Telephone interview
- Face-to-face interview
- Job offer.
FAQs
The Barclays Online Assessment is a series of three tests that assesses your abilities and behavioural tendencies – a cognitive ability assessment (numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and inductive logical reasoning), a personality assessment, and a work-related mindset assessment.
Yes. The Barclays online assessment is considered hard as its strict time limit makes it very difficult to reach the correct answer in the cognitive ability assessment, and the personality and mindset assessments are also pretty challenging because you need to be authentic to yourself while keeping in mind your position and the Barclays core values.
The Barclays cognitive ability assessment is a psychometric evaluation of your comprehension in three areas: numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and logical inductive reasoning.
The Barclays personality assessment is a questionnaire designed to evaluate your traits and characteristics and how they fit the position requirements you have applied for.
The Barclays mindset assessment is a questionnaire designed to evaluate your work-related tendencies, way of thinking, approach, and behaviours in a working environment and how they align with the Barclays Values.
Master the Barclays Assessment Test
With the complete PrepPack™, including full cognitive ability simulations and focused practices, study guides, full OPQ32 simulation and a personality report, and over 100 SHL OPQ32-style practice questions
More Free Practice
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Check out these fantastic free practice tests (all are completely free):
Free Aptitude Test | Free Psychometric Test | Free Numerical Reasoning Test | Free Verbal Reasoning Test | Free Cognitive Test | Free Critical Thinking Test | Free Abstract Reasoning Test | Free Spatial Reasoning Test | Free Personality Test | Free Inductive Test | Free Mechanical Reasoning Test
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