SHL G+ practice · AD5, AD7 and AST3 internal competitions
The most accurate SHL practice for the Commission’s internal competitions.
Accurate where it counts: the interface and the difficulty. Twenty-four questions in thirty-six minutes, answered by dragging, adjusting and clicking, in the format candidates describe from the September 2026 sittings, with questions pitched at the level of the real test. Then see exactly where your score lands among the timed scores on record.
One test free, no card. Then five full tests, unlimited retakes and your standing against the scores on record for £29.99. One payment, nothing renews.
Your standing
See where your score lands. Nobody else shows you this.
The real assessment does not give you a mark out of 24. It gives you a percentile, and the 60th is the reported cut. So the number that matters is not how many you got right. It is where that puts you among everyone else.
No negative marking is reported, so every question gets an answer. We mark the same way.
Every timed test you sit here is placed against 970 timed scores on record, test by test, the moment you submit. Sit the free test and you can see that your standing is ready. Premium shows you the number, on every test, every time.
Measured against the timed scores on record here. Nobody outside the process has the official benchmark population.
- Questions
- 24
- Time
- 36 min
- Split
- 8 · 8 · 8
- To pass
- 60th pct
Numerical, inductive and deductive reasoning, adaptive, scored as a percentile. The AD5 and AD7 line is the 60th percentile; a staff union's briefing puts the AST3 line at the 40th. Built on the feedback of candidates who sat it and on what that union has published, since the Commission itself does not publish the notice.
Practise on the interface you will actually sit.
Candidates and a staff union's briefing describe interactive items: drag a point to a value, resize the bars of a chart, adjust a pie chart to a described split, select dates on a month calendar, schedule tasks into a day with blocked slots, place people in rooms, complete a pattern. Multiple-choice practice trains none of that. Every question here is interactive, in the item types they describe and in the same eight-eight-eight split the paid SHL mock is sold with. Try one below.
Drag each point to plot the completion rate for that unit.
| Unit | Staff | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Unit A | 200 | 150 |
| Unit B | 180 | 54 |
| Unit C | 240 | 216 |
| Unit D | 160 | 96 |
| Unit E | 300 | 210 |
All points placed. Drag to adjust, or use ↑/↓ when focused.
Free, then one payment. Then it just ends.
Sit the free test first, with no payment details. If it is worth it to you, one payment buys Premium for a fixed period, with every test retaken as often as you like. A paid SHL mock elsewhere is one sitting, with no retake and no pause. There is no subscription here and nothing renews.
Free
£0.00
for one full timed test
- One full-length timed test, 24 questions in 36 minutes
- Your score and a right-or-wrong map
- No card, no payment details
Premium
£29.99
for 1 month
- See where your score lands, against other test takers
- All five full-length tests, 120 questions, interactive throughout
- Unlimited timed retakes for the whole period
- Practice mode with a worked explanation for every question
- Drills by section and question type: numerical, inductive, deductive
- One payment. No subscription. Nothing renews.
Common questions
Is this for the external EPSO AD5 2026 competition too?
No. The names collide, but EPSO's external competitions use the classic verbal, numerical and abstract multiple-choice battery, which EPSO's own FAQ describes. This site is built for the adaptive cognitive assessment used at stage one of the Commission's internal competitions, which candidates and prep providers report as 24 interactive questions in 36 minutes.
How close is this to the real test?
It is built to match what candidates report: the same question types, the same clock, the same drag and arrow controls on the charts. One difference is worth knowing. The real assessment hides some information until you click a person or a tab, and our tests show it on screen, as the practice test in the invitation does. Our page on what candidates report has the detail.
Are these the real questions?
No, and nobody outside the process has them. What transfers is the format: the same item types candidates describe, on the same clock, with the same forward-only rules. That is what you practise here.
Is there negative marking in the cognitive assessment?
None is reported. A Commission staff union's briefing slides for the AD5 and AST3 competitions both say wrong answers do not cost points and advise finishing every question. This site marks the same way: a wrong answer and a blank both score zero.
Is the AST3 cognitive test the same as the AD5 one?
The same staff union's briefing describes it as the same exam as AD5 or AD7 with a lower threshold, reported at the 40th percentile rather than the 60th. That is a single source, so check your own notice. The test itself is reported as identical: adaptive, 24 questions in 36 minutes, numerical, inductive and deductive.
Which language should I practise in?
Prep providers report the assessment is sat in your language 2, which the notice restricts to English, French or German. Check your own competition notice. Practice here is in English.
Is there a subscription?
No. One payment buys a fixed period of access and then it simply ends. Nothing renews, and you are never charged again unless you choose to buy again.
Concours Coach SHL is an independent practice platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the European Commission, the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), any other EU institution, body or agency, or SHL Group. Nothing here is the real assessment, and no result here predicts your result in a competition. Always follow the instructions in your own invitation.