Aon (cut-e) Test 2026: scales and smartPlayer

An Aon test is an online ability test from Aon's assessment business, which grew out of the German test publisher cut-e (Aon bought it in 2017). Employers pick modules from a large catalogue called scales, plus a set of short game-like "challenges". The modules most graduates meet are inductive reasoning (scales clx), verbal reasoning (scales verbal) and numerical reasoning (scales numerical). Each one is short and fast: in an application round in autumn 2026, the inductive test and the verbal test each ran for exactly 6 minutes.

Key facts

The scales family and the challenges

cut-e built its catalogue around short, single-construct tests named "scales" plus a product code. Aon's candidate help centre lists, among others:

The employer decides which modules you get and in which language. Your invitation e-mail usually names them, often only in plain words ("Inductive Reasoning"), so match the description, not the code.

One Aon candidate guide (for a university admissions test on the same platform) gives the verbal and numerical tests as 18 statements in 6 minutes, says that "not everyone will be able to complete all 18", and warns you not to refresh the page or use the browser back button. The verbal test observed in the 2026 round matched that format exactly.

What it looks like: the smartPlayer

Inductive reasoning (scales clx)

• Header: employer name and section, for example "<Employer> // BEISPIEL" on practice screens and "<Employer> // Abstrakt-logisches Denken (Induktiv)" on scored screens.
• Practice: 3 untimed example items before the timer starts.
• Timer: one countdown at the top right for the whole block, starting at 6:00. There is no item counter, only the clock.
• Layout: the left panel ("Regel entsprechend" in German, i.e. "following the rule") shows two 3×3 example grids that obey a hidden rule. The right panel asks "Welche zwei Gitter entsprechen der Regel?" ("Which two grids follow the rule?") and shows four 3×3 candidate grids in a 2×2 layout. You click exactly two, then the "»" button to move on.
• Symbols: every cell holds one of four symbols: circle, triangle, cross (plus sign) and square. Each symbol always has the same colour, so colour never carries extra information.
• Pace: 57 items were reached in the 6 minutes and the clock ran out, so the block may contain more. That is about 6 seconds per item.

The rules seen fall into a handful of families:

Verbal reasoning (scales verbal)

• Tutorial: an interactive introduction ("EINLEITUNG") with a coach-mark popup asking you to press an answer button, then 3 practice statements on a short three-tab text.
• Scored block: 18 statements (counter "n/18" at the top right) about one fictitious company, with 6:00 on the clock.
• The brief is split across six icon tabs (topics such as company structure, strategy, governance principles, products, locations and the management board). Only one tab is visible at a time; you open a tab by clicking its icon.
• Answer buttons: "wahr", "falsch", "unbestimmt" (true, false, cannot say). The selected button changes colour.
• Navigation: up and down arrows move between statements, a list icon opens an overview, and answered statements get a tick. You can go back and change answers while the clock runs.
• Scrolling: each tab's text panel scrolls on its own, and on some tabs the last line fades out at the bottom edge. A line of text can sit below the fold.

Eighteen statements in six minutes is 20 seconds each: enough for one full pass of about three minutes plus a review pass.

Scoring

The feedback report from that round (an Aon "Feedback Report") gave two things per test: a performance score that takes both correct and incorrect answers into account, shown as a band relative to people with a similar educational background, and a processing style that splits speed (how many items you completed) from accuracy (how many of those were right). The exact formula is not published. The practical reading: wrong answers are not free, so random clicking in the last seconds can hurt the accuracy side.

Question types with original examples

All items below are original and follow the real formats. Grids are written row by row: C = circle, T = triangle, X = cross, S = square.

scales clx item 1: counting

Example 1     Example 2
T T X         S S C
T S T         X S S
C T T         S S T

A        B        C        D
C C X    X X T    T T S    S X S
C T C    X X X    T C T    S S S
S C C    S X X    T T S    T S C

Answer: A and D.

1. Count the majority symbol in each example: six triangles in example 1, six squares in example 2. The other three cells hold three different symbols. So the rule is 6+1+1+1.
2. A: six circles plus X, T, S. Fits.
3. B: seven crosses plus T and S, so 7+1+1. One cell off.
4. C: six triangles, but the rest is S, S, C, so 6+2+1. One cell off.
5. D: six squares plus X, T, C. Fits.

Which symbol is in the majority does not matter. Only the structure carries over.

scales clx item 2: rival rules

Example 1     Example 2
X C T         S T C
S X C         C S X
T S X         X T S

A        B        C        D
T C X    C X S    X T S    S C T
S T C    T S X    C X T    X T C
X S T    S C C    S T X    T X T

Answer: A and C.

1. Both examples have the same symbol three times on the main diagonal (top-left to bottom-right). Both also happen to have a 3+2+2+2 count.
2. Test the count rule: only A is 3+2+2+2. One match is not two, so the count rule is wrong.
3. Test the diagonal rule: A has T-T-T, C has X-X-X. B (C-S-C) and D (S-T-T) fail.
4. D is a decoy: its anti-diagonal is uniform. Check which diagonal the examples use.

The "exactly two" constraint is a free checking tool. If your rule picks one or three grids, it is the wrong rule.

scales clx item 3: the shared decoy

Example 1     Example 2
T C X         C X S
S S S         T T T
X C T         S X C

A        B        C        D
X S T    S C T    C T S    T X C
C C C    X X X    X T X    S S S
T S X    S C T    S T C    T X C

Answer: A and C.

1. The obvious shared feature is a uniform middle row. But A, B and D all have one, and three is not two.
2. Look again: each example reads the same after a 180° rotation (top-left matches bottom-right, top-middle matches bottom-middle, and so on).
3. A and C are point-symmetric. B and D are not: B's top-left square faces a triangle at the bottom right.

Verbal (true / false / cannot say) with tabs

Tab "Routes": Kestrel Ferries operates four routes. Two run all year; the other two run only from April to October. Every all-year route calls at Port Ardon. Night sailings are offered on some of the seasonal routes.

Tab "Fleet": The fleet has six vessels. The two newest have battery-hybrid engines and are used only on all-year routes. Older vessels are refitted one at a time; a refit takes about five months and is always scheduled in winter.

Tab "Policy": Pets may travel on all sailings, but only in vehicles or in the pet lounge. Passengers who book more than 30 days ahead get a discount, except on night sailings.

1. The battery-hybrid vessels call at Port Ardon.
2. Kestrel Ferries runs night sailings in January.
3. A passenger who books a night sailing 40 days ahead receives the early-booking discount.
4. Pets may travel in passenger cabins.
5. Refits are scheduled in winter because demand is lower then.

Answers:

1. True. Fleet tab: the hybrids are used only on all-year routes. Routes tab: every all-year route calls at Port Ardon. You need two tabs.
2. Cannot say. Night sailings run on some seasonal routes, but nothing says they run only there. An all-year route might have them too.
3. False. Night sailings are explicitly excluded from the discount.
4. False. "Only in vehicles or in the pet lounge" rules out cabins.
5. Cannot say. The text gives the timing, not the reason. Read "because" as a red flag.

Numerical (scales numerical style)

Data sheet 1: Passengers 2025 (thousands): Route A 420, Route B 380, Route C 150, Route D 90. Data sheet 2: Average ticket price 2025: A €18, B €22, C €35, D €40.

1. Route B earned more ticket revenue than Route A in 2025.
2. Routes C and D together carried more than a quarter of all passengers.
3. Route D's ticket revenue grew compared with 2024.

Answers: 1. True (B: 380 × 22 = 8,360k; A: 420 × 18 = 7,560k). 2. False (240 of 1,040 = 23 %). 3. Cannot say (there is no 2024 data).

Traps and how to avoid them

• One-cell distractors (clx). Wrong grids usually differ from a correct one by a single cell: 6+1+1+1 becomes 5+2+1+1, or a uniform column gets one odd symbol. Count the majority symbol first, then check how the rest splits.
• Shared but irrelevant features (clx). The two examples often share something eye-catching (a full middle line, a uniform column) that is not the rule. Test every hypothesis against "exactly two".
• Rival rules (clx). Occasionally two rules each select exactly two grids. Prefer the one that explains everything in the examples; if still unsure, pick and move on.
• The wrong tab (verbal). The tab whose title looks relevant is often not the one holding the fact. If you answer "cannot say" while the wrong tab is open, you lose points you should have had. Spend 30–40 seconds at the start opening all six tabs, so you know where each topic lives.
• Text below the fold (verbal). Scroll every tab to the end at least once.
• Keyword traps (verbal). "only", "exclusively" (false if the text lists more); "among others" plus a detail the text never names (cannot say); a cause the text never gives (cannot say); "possibly" (true if the text makes it possible, where the plain claim would be cannot say); a conditional read backwards (cannot say); two swapped details, such as countries or roles (false); synonyms (often true).
• Clicking at the buzzer. Wrong answers count against you, so answer quickly but don't spray clicks in the last seconds.

How to prepare

Five-day plan (about 4 hours in total):

1. Day 1 (45 min): Read this guide and the format descriptions on Aon's candidate pages. Try Aon's own demos where they are offered, to see the interface.
2. Day 2 (60 min): Inductive drills. Write out the rule families above on a card. Do 3×3 symbol-grid sets untimed until you can name the rule family on sight.
3. Day 3 (45 min): Timed clx practice at 8–10 seconds per item, then push towards 6. Practise the order: count the majority, check the split, then look at position (columns, diagonals, corners, symmetry).
4. Day 4 (60 min): Verbal: practise true/false/cannot-say with texts split over several sections. Train the habit "open every tab first". Aim for about 15 seconds per statement on a first pass, then a review pass.
5. Day 5 (30 min): One full mock of each module, timed, in one sitting, in the language of your test.

Setup tips:

• Use a laptop or desktop with a mouse. The candidate guide lists phones and tablets as allowed, but fast clicking is easier with a mouse, and so is scrolling the text panels.
• Use a window size where all four clx grids and both answer areas are visible without scrolling.
• Have scrap paper and a calculator ready for numerical. You don't need them for clx.
• Don't refresh the page or use the browser's back button during a test.

Sources

• Aon Assessment help centre, ability test overview (module names, constructs, time limits)
• Aon, *Candidate Guide on Aon Assessments* for the SMU Admissions Test (scales verbal/numerical: 18 statements in 6 minutes; scales cls: 12 items in 12 minutes; navigation warnings)
• Aon press release, "Aon Acquires Leading Provider of Talent Measurement and Psychometric Assessment" (cut-e acquisition, May 2017)

Rédigé par

Adrian, spécialiste

MSc Psychologie, 7 ans de tests passés.

Dernière mise à jour : Oct 1, 2026