The cut-e / Aon Assessment: Complete Guide

You are shown two rows of coloured symbols and a set of operators. Your job is to identify which operator transformed the first row into the second. Later levels introduce a third row, and the operators combine.

The trick: compare the rows position by position before you look at the operators. Most operators are swaps or shifts, so establish what moved rather than what changed.

A dot lights up on a grid and you must hold its position in mind. Before you can recall it, an unrelated puzzle interrupts — an equation to verify, a shape to rotate, a pattern to check for symmetry. Several dots and several interruptions later, you reproduce the sequence in order.

The trick: encode the dots as a shape or a path rather than as separate squares, and answer the interrupting puzzle quickly. The interruption exists to overwrite your memory — dwelling on it is what costs you the sequence.

A token sits on a grid crowded with sliding blocks, and one exit. Move the blocks aside so the token can reach the exit — in as few moves as possible. Efficiency is scored, not just completion.

The trick: trace the route to the exit before touching anything, and identify which block is genuinely blocking you — it is often not the nearest one. If a grid resists for thirty seconds, move on; a solved grid elsewhere is worth more than a stubborn one here.

Rather than asking you to compute an answer, digitChallenge shows you the answer and removes digits from the calculation. You fill the gaps. The arithmetic is simple — addition, subtraction, multiplication — but inverted, which is what makes it hard at speed.

The trick: work backwards from the result, and use the units column to eliminate possibilities immediately. The last digit of the answer usually fixes one gap on its own.

Roughly 37 items in twelve minutes. Data is deliberately scattered across several tabbed tables and charts, and the difficulty is locating the right figure rather than calculating with it. Almost nobody finishes, and that is by design.

The trick: read the question first, decide which tab holds the answer, then go straight there. Most lost time is spent hunting, not computing.

Statements judged against passages spread across tabs, marked true, false or cannot say. As with the numerical test, the passages are structured so that finding the relevant sentence is most of the work.

The trick: judge only against the text, never against what you know to be true. "Cannot say" is correct far more often than candidates expect.

Ten grids of letters and numbers; six have already been sorted into two groups. Work out the rule that separates them, then classify the rest. One of Aon's most used and least intuitive tests.

The trick: count digits versus letters first — it is the single most common rule. And a rule that fits five of six sorted grids is the wrong rule.

A row of related figures follows a rule, and one breaks it. Rules cover count, rotation, shading and position, and change from item to item so no single strategy carries over.

The trick: check properties in a fixed order — count, then shape, then rotation, then shading. Counting elements resolves more items than anything else.

A matrix with one cell missing. Rules run along both rows and columns, and the answer must satisfy every one of them at once.

The trick: solve the row rule and the column rule separately, then intersect. Most wrong options satisfy one axis and fail the other.

Abstract premises with a conclusion to judge. No arithmetic and no general knowledge — purely holding a rule and applying it without slipping.

The trick: take the premises as true even when they are implausible, and ask what must follow rather than what probably does.

A short rule set, then a rapid stream of records to check for compliance. Simple in principle; the difficulty is holding several rules at once without drifting.

The trick: check the rules in the same order every single time. Most failures come from forgetting the least-used rule.

Symbol sequences and transformations with no language or arithmetic content, which makes the test culture- and language-neutral. Common as a general reasoning screen.

The trick: look for what stays constant before looking for what changes, then verify your rule against a second item.

Written English in a professional context: grammar and agreement, correct spelling, and business vocabulary. Common where written communication with clients or colleagues matters.

The trick: subject–verb agreement across a long clause is the most frequent trap. Where two options both sound acceptable, one is usually too informal.

Simple, repetitive comparisons over a continuous run. Each judgement is easy; the test is whether your accuracy holds as the task becomes monotonous.

The trick: find a steady rhythm rather than sprinting. Accuracy decay in the final minute is what this test is really measuring.

A flat cube net is shown with a symbol on each face, and you work out which of the folded cubes it makes. Each symbol has to land on the correct face at the correct rotation, so the options cannot be separated by eye. Common in engineering, technical and apprenticeship assessments.

The trick: faces that sit opposite each other in the net can never both be visible on one view of the cube — that alone eliminates most wrong options. Then work from a corner where three faces meet, since that fixes the whole orientation.

Gears, levers, pulleys, pressure and circuits applied to practical situations. Used in engineering, manufacturing and technical apprenticeship assessments — not usually in commercial hiring.

The trick: meshed gears turn in opposite directions, belted wheels turn the same way, and a longer lever arm trades force for distance. Sketch the arrows rather than holding them in your head.