Your Full Guide to Understanding Your PI Scores

The PI Cognitive Assessment is comprised of fifty numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning questions that measure cognitive and problem-solving ability. Your score depends on how many of these questions you can answer correctly in 12 minutes, and the number of answers you get right, 20/50 for example, is referred to as your raw score.

Your raw score is then compared to the scores of over 288,000 previous test takers who compose what's known as the norm group or reference group. The Predictive Index Cognitive Assessment scoring is based on comparing your raw score with the scores of the norm group - providing your scaled score. The scaled score ranges from 100 to 450 and represents where your raw score ranks in terms of percentile when compared to the scores of the norm group.

The reason scaled scores are used in Predictive Index Cognitive Assessment scoring is that raw scores can't always be compared fairly between test takers. For instance, a person with extended time won't gain an unfair advantage over someone who takes the fast-paced 12-minute version. 

Another important aspect of Predictive Index Cognitive Assessment scoring is that unlike many cognitive ability tests the scoring is criterion based, not normative. This means that PI scores are compared to preset criteria or minimum score required for a specific position, as opposed to comparing one candidate's score to the next one's. 

The PI Cognitive Assessment average score was calculated based on the scores of the norm group, and taking into account approximately 288,000 scores, the average PI Cognitive Assessment average score (raw) is just under 20 correct answers. In scale score, this translates to 250 out of 450 (the lowest score being 100). To put this into perspective, getting forty answers right gives you a 98th-percentile score!

As a personality test, the PI results for the Behavioural Assessment have a fundamentally different meaning and theory behind them. In the PI Behavioural Assessment, you must select adjectives from a list of 86 words and create two lists - one that describes how you perceive your behaviour, and another that describes how you perceive what the expected behaviour is at work. Through the words you select, as well as other factors such as the number of words and the ratio between the two lists, your PI Behavioural Assessment results are calculated.

Similarly to the PI Cognitive Assessment results, a norm group is used in order to calculate the results. In this case, the norm group is made of approximately 10,000 respondents representing over 126 countries around the world in order to avoid cultural bias. Each of the PI results is calculated according to its relative score in four factors representing related personality traits: dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality.

Then, a hierarchy, or ranking, is created between the four factors that determine your profile type.

Below is an example of how a different hierarchy between the four factors, creates 2 distinct personality profiles.

The left profile describes people who naturally take charge and lead, but sometimes can move too fast for others. They are very proactive and see risk as an opportunity.

The profile on the right describes a person who easily accepts others’ decisions and focuses on getting things done in a self-disciplined and proper way. 

PI Behavioural Assessment scores are grouped into 17 different types of personality profiles, each with its own work style, social attitudes, strengths, and weaknesses. Read more about them in our guide!

Predictive Index are a leading psychometric assessment company from the United States which was founded over sixty years ago in 1955.

Although Predictive Index began as a company that offers behavioural assessments (PI Behavioural Assessment), they have since grown and now also offer a leading cognitive assessment tool (PI Cognitive Assessment) as well as a tool used by organizations in their hiring process to internally analyze their positions and the attributes they’re looking for in applicants (Predictive Index Job Assessment).

These three assessments together mean that Predictive Index offer tools for comprehensive, in-depth analysis when it comes to a company’s recruitment process needs, and it’s no surprise that these are used by some of the job market’s leading employers, including IBM, Canon, Nissan, and more.

The company provides assessments in the UK, the United States (PI Behavioral and Cognitive), and other places around the world.

The Predictive Index Test is as tough as it is respected, so being well-prepared is crucial. Our test development team have learned the tests in and out to make sure that we can offer accurate and thorough Predictive Index prep which guarantees you get the score you need through study guides, practice test, and more.