There is a range of help available to help you prepare for psychometric assessments:

• Help with aptitude/ability tests
• Help with personality and occupational questionnaires
• External organisations

Help with aptitude/ability tests

1. Practice aptitude tests

We are now able to offer an online version of the paper and pencil tests. Register using the online form and details of how to access the programme will be emailed to you (usually within two working days). Follow the links here to find out more and register.

The tests, usually referred to as Aptitude Tests, are multiple choice and time-limited and your scores are compared with those of a group of undergraduate students to indicate your ability level. The numerical and verbal tests are similar to ones most frequently used by employers in their selection procedures.

Taking the tests will give you experience for the future and will also help you to identify areas of strength and weakness that you could work on before taking the tests with an employer.

What are the benefits?

The results will enable you to understand more fully your levels of aptitude for verbal and numerical reasoning. This is useful in itself for helping you to decide on career direction but can also provide an insight into the kind of of procedures that many employers now use in recruitment and selection.

2. Help with numeracy tests

Maths Help tutors offer one-to-one advice for students who want to improve their Maths, stats or numeracy skills either as part of their course or for future employment. These sessions can be particularly helpful for students wanting to brush up on their maths skills for numeracy tests.

The Maths Help tutor can help you identify ways to improve these skills by talking through examples, demonstrating techniques and suggesting useful resources for further development.

Visit the website for more details.

3. Practice leaflets, resources and reference books

There is a range of reference material about psychometric tests in the Student Development Zone in the Library, including example papers.

We have a selection of reference books on psychometric tests with lots of practice questions and answers. A list of books on psychometric tests can be found on the interview resources page.

Leaflets relating to maths are available in the Student Development Zone or on the website.

4. Websites with practice tests

Visit the psychometric resources page for details of websites that offer example tests and practice tests.

Help with personality and occupational questionnaires

A questionnaire is available that will help you to start the process of career planning and are described below.

Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)

The Occupational Personality Questionnaire is a questionnaire which is concerned with not what you can do but with how and why you do things in a particular way. The main areas of analysis are relationships with people, the way you think and your emotional reactions. It aims to explore the way you typically react when faced with situations. There are no 'right' or 'wrong' answers and you will get the most accurate and useful results by answering the questions as honestly as possible.

What are the benefits?

The results will enable you to understand better your preferences towards a particular type of behaviour and therefore help you to identify the following:

• your preferred leadership style;
• your preferred way of working;
• areas of behaviour you are likely to find difficult;
• your emotional style.

Your self-awareness will be raised as a step towards future goal-setting. The emphasis is on discovering the full extent of your assets rather than matching them with a particular job.

How long does it take?

The whole process should take about two hours; about an hour to complete the questionnaire (there is no time limit), followed by an hour's feedback interview with a careers adviser at a later date.

How do I book?

Book an appointment to take the Occupational Personality Questionnaire. There is a charge of £7.50 for students and £15.00 for staff to take this assessment (to cover the costs of the materials). Ask at the Student Development Zone Helpdesk for more details.

External organisations

Many external organisations offer opportunities to take assessments online. Follow the links here for useful websites.