Clevry Assessment: Ability and Personality

Clevry is a UK assessment platform, formerly Criterion Partnership, that employers use to send ability tests, a personality questionnaire and situational judgement tests to applicants. A typical Clevry assessment combines one to three short ability tests of 16 questions each, with time limits from 9 to 45 minutes depending on the test and level, plus a personality questionnaire. This guide sets out what each Clevry test contains, how the levels differ, and gives original practice questions with worked answers. It is based on Clevry's own help centre and on established prep sources, not on a first-hand sitting.

Key facts

Clevry tests at each level

Clevry's help centre lists the item counts and time limits below. The average completion time is shorter than the limit in every case, which tells you the tests are designed to be finishable if you keep moving.

Two points matter for preparation. The numerical test gives you roughly a minute per item, so it rewards accuracy over raw speed. And the Expert abstract test allows 45 minutes for 16 items: AssessmentDay notes that the Utopia series (which Clevry's help centre links to the Expert level) uses "generous time limits" to test reasoning power rather than speed, so expect harder puzzles.

Sources disagree: GraduatesFirst says the tests take "around 9 minutes to answer 16 questions", which matches only the shortest verbal test. Trust your start screen.

What a Clevry assessment looks like

The employer sends you a link to the Clevry candidate platform (my.Clevry). Each test opens with instructions and practice questions that do not count. The scored part then runs under one countdown for the whole test. Clevry does not publish whether you can move back to earlier items, so assume you cannot and answer each item before moving on.

After the tests, Clevry provides feedback, and you can ask for a test reset if a technical error interrupts you (GraduatesFirst).

Question types with original examples

Verbal Ability

You read a short business passage and judge each statement as true, false or cannot say, based only on the passage. The format is the classic one covered in the verbal reasoning guide.

Passage (original): "The county library service replaced staffed returns desks with self-service kiosks at its six largest branches last spring. Staff hours freed up by the change were moved to children's reading sessions, which now run twice a week at those branches instead of once. Smaller branches kept their staffed desks because their visitor numbers did not justify the cost of a kiosk."

Statement 1: Children's reading sessions now run more often at the six largest branches. Answer: True. They moved from once to twice a week at those branches.

Statement 2: The kiosks have reduced the total staff costs of the library service. Answer: Cannot say. The passage says hours were moved to reading sessions, not that costs fell.

Statement 3: Every branch now uses self-service kiosks for returns. Answer: False. Smaller branches kept their staffed desks.

Numerical Ability

AssessmentDay describes the Clevry numerical content as basic arithmetic, averages, percentages and ratios, answered in multiple choice. Practise these without a spreadsheet but with a basic calculator, since you must bring your own.

Practice 1. A regional office had 240 staff in January. During the year 15% of them left and 30 new staff joined. How many staff did the office have at the end of the year? A) 204 B) 228 C) 234 D) 246 E) 270

Answer: C) 234. 15% of 240 = 36 leavers, so 240 − 36 = 204, then 204 + 30 = 234. Option A is the trap if you forget the new joiners.

Practice 2. A training and equipment budget of £18,000 is split in the ratio 5 : 4. The equipment share is then cut by 12.5%. What is the new equipment budget? A) £7,000 B) £7,875 C) £8,000 D) £8,750 E) £9,000

Answer: A) £7,000. 18,000 ÷ 9 = 2,000 per part, so equipment = 4 × 2,000 = £8,000. A 12.5% cut removes £1,000, leaving £7,000.

Abstract Reasoning

You see a series of figures and pick the one that comes next. The rule types (rotation, counting, alternation, position) are covered in the abstract reasoning guide.

Practice (original, described in words). Figure 1: an arrow pointing up, with 1 dot beside it. Figure 2: an arrow pointing right, with 2 dots. Figure 3: an arrow pointing down, with 3 dots. Figure 4: an arrow pointing left, with 4 dots. Which is Figure 5? A) Arrow up, 5 dots B) Arrow right, 5 dots C) Arrow up, 4 dots D) Arrow down, 5 dots

Answer: A. The arrow turns 90° clockwise each step, so after left it points up again. The number of dots rises by one each step, giving 5.

Checking Test

The checking test asks you to compare reference material with a copy and spot errors. Practise with the drills in the attention to detail guide.

Practice (original). How many rows contain at least one difference?

A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4

Answer: C) 3. Row 1 swaps the last two digits, row 3 swaps "17" for "71", and row 5 adds a full stop. Punctuation differences count.

Mechanical Reasoning

Used at the Essential level for production and engineering roles: gears, levers, pulleys and forces, in multiple choice.

Practice (original). Gear A (20 teeth) turns clockwise and drives gear B (40 teeth), which drives gear C (20 teeth). Which way does C turn, and how fast compared with A? A) Clockwise, same speed B) Anticlockwise, same speed C) Clockwise, half speed D) Anticlockwise, twice the speed

Answer: A. Meshed gears reverse direction, so B turns anticlockwise and C clockwise. B turns at half A's speed (twice the teeth), and C, with half B's teeth, turns at twice B's speed, which brings it back to A's speed.

The Clevry personality test and SJTs

Clevry's personality questionnaire asks you to rate how strongly you agree or disagree with statements about your behaviour at work. Sources describe it differently. AssessmentDay calls it a scales library from which employers choose among 46 scales. GraduatesFirst names fixed versions: Clevry Core (21 scales), Clevry Enhanced (30 scales, with a leadership report) and a Workforce version for blue-collar roles. The same platform calls its questionnaire the CPQ. In practice the employer picks the scales, so the number of statements varies.

Clevry also offers SJTs: bespoke SJTs built for one employer, off-the-shelf SJTs, and "Message Me" SJTs presented as messages, typically used in graduate hiring (GraduatesFirst). You choose the most appropriate action in a workplace scenario. See the SJT guide and the personality test guide for how these formats are scored.

For both, answer honestly and consistently, and read the employer's values first.

Traps and how to avoid them

• Forgetting the second step. Clevry numerical items often chain two operations (a percentage, then a ratio). Write down the intermediate result.
• Bringing your own calculator. The test does not supply one. Have a basic calculator on the desk before you start, not your phone.
• Outside knowledge in verbal items. A statement can be true in real life and still be "cannot say" from the passage.
• Punctuation in checking items. Full stops, spaces and swapped digits all count as differences.
• Pacing the Expert abstract test. With about 2.8 minutes per item, a full minute on a hard puzzle is fine.

How to prepare

1. Find out the level. Going by the older series descriptions, graduate and professional roles are likely to get the Expert (Utopia) level and customer service or team-leader roles the Enhanced level. Ask the recruiter if the invitation does not say.
2. Week before: one timed set per test you will sit. Numerical: 16 items in your level's time. Verbal: 16 statements in 9 to 11 minutes.
3. Two days before: review your errors by type (percentages, ratios, "cannot say" confusion, rotation rules).
4. On the day: quiet room, laptop, your own calculator, rough paper. Do the practice questions properly; they show the exact layout.

Sources

• Clevry help centre, "What Ability Tests do Clevry Offer?" (tests, levels, items, time limits, calculator rule, practice questions)
• Clevry help centre, psychometric properties of Utopia Expert (link between the Expert level and Utopia)
• AssessmentDay, "Clevry (Criterion Partnership)" (history, rebrand, series names, content of numerical tests, scales library)
• GraduatesFirst, Clevry guide (user sectors, personality versions, SJT types, "around 9 minutes" claim)

Escrito por

Adrian, especialista

MSc em Psicologia, 7 anos a fazer testes.

Última atualização: Oct 1, 2026