Cappfinity Assessment Explained: Strengths Tests and Tips

Graduate scheme applications in the UK often have a stage that does not look like a normal aptitude test. Questions ask what you enjoy as well as what you would do, you may be asked to rank responses or record a short video, and a numerical section turns up halfway through a scenario. If the invite came from Cappfinity, or from a platform branded "Preparation Plus", that is the strengths-based approach at work.

This guide explains what Cappfinity is, how it defines a "strength", which question formats it uses, how the cognitive sections are timed, what a strengths-based interview involves, and how to prepare honestly. It includes worked examples of what each format is looking for. It does not include answers, because the behavioural sections have no fixed answer key you could copy, and trying to reverse-engineer one usually backfires.

Who Is Cappfinity?

Cappfinity is a talent assessment and development company with its roots in London. Many candidates still know it as Capp (Capp & Co), the name it traded under for years; older guides and university careers pages often use that name. In late 2018 Capp bought the predictive hiring technology of Koru, a US company, as reported by EdSurge in January 2019.

Cappfinity's own preparation site describes the core idea simply. Every skill is looked at in three ways:

  • Performance: how well you perform the skill.
  • Energy: how energised or motivated you feel when using it.
  • Use: how often you use it.

A skill that is performed well, used regularly and enjoyed counts as a strength. On its main site Cappfinity frames this as "can do, love to", and its Skills and Strengths Assessment covers 80 behavioural skills. The point for you as a candidate: Cappfinity is measuring motivation as well as ability. A skill you are good at but find draining is not treated the same as one you are good at and enjoy.

Who Uses Cappfinity?

Cappfinity does not publish a client list on its candidate pages, and employers rarely name their assessment provider. Two things can be said with sources. First, Cappfinity's preparation hub describes its approach as aimed especially at people starting their career, exploring what motivates you rather than leaning on experience. Second, an EY student recruitment presentation from November 2022 listed "CAPP Assessments" under its online assessment stage, naming situational strengths, numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and critical reasoning. EY's current UK pages describe "skills-led" online assessments without naming a provider, so check your own invitation.

Prep sites name several Big Four firms and banks as Cappfinity users. Treat those as candidate reports. The reliable test is simple: if the invitation, login page or support link mentions Cappfinity or Preparation Plus, this guide applies.

What the Assessment Looks Like

Cappfinity calls its approach "blended": different assessment types are combined so the experience resembles the role you applied for. Its preparation hub says you may be assessed on three types of skill, depending on the employer:

  • Behavioural skills, such as collaboration or adaptability.
  • Cognitive skills, such as working with numbers, recognising patterns and verbal reasoning.
  • Technical skills for specific jobs, for example proficiency in Excel.

Behavioural questions: the formats

Cappfinity lists the response formats you may meet. You may be asked to:

  • Rank responses from the approach you would be most to least likely to take, or from most to least like you.
  • Select the most appropriate response to a scenario.
  • Place yourself on a scale for an action or view.
  • Sort responses into different categories.
  • Write a short response.
  • Record a video response.
  • Rate statements on how well you can do something and how much you love doing it.

The scenario-based versions are what prep sites call the "situational strengths test". It resembles a situational judgement test, with one difference: you are often asked what you would be likely to do, or what sounds like you, not only what is "best".

Cognitive questions

Cappfinity says it typically assesses critical, numerical, verbal and diagrammatic reasoning, depending on the role. One detail is easy to miss: its cognitive assessments are sometimes time recorded, meaning the time you take can count towards your score. The instructions tell you when this applies, and Cappfinity advises working as quickly and accurately as possible in that case.

In blended assessments, candidates commonly report that numerical or verbal questions appear inside a role scenario (an email from a manager with a table attached, for example) rather than as a separate test.

Timing and pausing

Cappfinity's FAQ says some assessments have no time limit, while others set one for the whole assessment or per question. Most untimed assessments let you return later if you are interrupted, though Cappfinity recommends completing each in one sitting and taking breaks between separate assessments.

Strengths-based interviews and assessment centres

Later stages may include a strengths-based interview. Cappfinity contrasts these with competency-based interviews: rather than focusing only on past experience, they assess your potential and what motivates you, whether or not you already have experience in an area. Assessment or development centres can add individual, paired or group exercises.

Worked Examples: What Each Format Is Looking For

These examples are written by us to illustrate the formats. They are not Cappfinity items, and we are deliberately not presenting a "correct" ranking as if it were Cappfinity's key.

Example 1: ranking a scenario

Scenario: You are two weeks into a project team. The team leader has given you a task with a deadline on Friday. On Wednesday, a colleague asks for urgent help with a client problem that would take most of Thursday.

Responses to rank, most to least likely: (a) help the colleague and tell the team leader your task may slip; (b) explain you have a deadline and suggest someone else; (c) ask the team leader which priority comes first; (d) help in the evening so both get done.

What is assessed: how you weigh ownership, collaboration and communication. There are defensible orders; what weakens a profile is an order that clashes with how you answered similar dilemmas earlier. If you genuinely tend to check priorities with your manager, rank (c) high and stay consistent.

Example 2: "most like me"

Statements: "I enjoy turning a messy problem into a clear plan." "I'm at my best meeting new people." "I like checking work until it is exactly right."

What is assessed: energy, not just ability. If you are good at checking but it drains you, the honest ranking puts it lower. Strengths models are built to spot the difference, and an interview later will probe whatever you ranked first.

Example 3: rating "can do" and "love to"

Statement: "Presenting ideas to a group."

You rate how well you do it and how much you enjoy it separately. A common mistake is rating everything high on both. That produces a flat profile with no visible strengths, which is less useful to an employer than an honest profile with clear peaks.

Example 4: a time-recorded numerical item

Our example: a table shows a team's monthly sales of £42,000 in March and £46,200 in April. What is the percentage increase? (46,200 − 42,000) / 42,000 = 4,200 / 42,000 = 10%.

What is assessed: accuracy and, when the section is time recorded, speed. Practise percentage change, ratios and reading tables until they are automatic. Our numerical reasoning guide for graduate jobs covers the typical item types.

Example 5: a video or written response

Prompt: "Tell us about something you did recently that gave you energy."

What is assessed: motivation and self-awareness. A strong answer names a specific activity, explains what about it energised you, and links that to the role. "I organised our society's careers fair and loved getting thirty employers and two hundred students in the same room" says more than "I like working with people".

Example 6: a strengths interview question

Question: "What do you find yourself doing when you have free time?" or "When do you feel at your best?"

These questions have no preparation-proof answer, which is the point. Interviewers listen for genuine enthusiasm and detail. Our guide to the greatest strength interview question and the competency-based interview questions guide show how strengths and competency styles differ.

How to Prepare Honestly

Read your strengths before the test. Spend twenty minutes listing activities you do well and enjoy, do well but find draining, and enjoy but are still learning. That makes consistent answering much easier, because you are reporting a picture you have already thought about.

Learn the formats, not the answers. Cappfinity's preparation hub offers practice questions and says those practice results are never shared with employers. Use them to get used to ranking and rating, so the formats do not slow you down.

Research the role. Blended assessments simulate the job. Knowing what the role involves day to day helps you read scenarios the way the employer intends.

Drill the cognitive basics. If numerical, verbal or diagrammatic reasoning is included, timed practice helps, especially if the section is time recorded. Our all-tests package covers these formats with explanations.

Set up properly. Cappfinity recommends a desktop where possible and an up-to-date Chrome browser, and says you will be told if you need a camera or microphone. Find a quiet space where you will not be disturbed.

Ask for adjustments early. Cappfinity says requests for adjustments, for example for dyslexia, autism, low vision or deafness, should go to the employer with details of your needs.

Common Mistakes

  • Answering as the "ideal graduate". Candidates who rate everything as a strength produce flat, unconvincing profiles. Peaks and troughs are normal.
  • Ignoring the energy dimension. Choosing what you think you should enjoy instead of what you do enjoy is the most common strengths-test error.
  • Rushing the scenario text. Small details (a deadline, who asked, what the client was promised) change which response fits. Read the whole scenario.
  • Forgetting a section is time recorded. If the instructions say speed counts, don't linger over an easy calculation.
  • Preparing a competency script for a strengths interview. Long STAR stories about the past miss questions about what motivates you.

How Cappfinity Compares With Other Publishers

Cappfinity's emphasis on motivation sets it apart from ability-first publishers such as SHL, Saville and Talogy. Its blended, scenario-based style is closer to Sova. If your process also includes a game-based stage, see our Arctic Shores guide; for a recorded video interview, our HireVue guide. Candidates applying internationally may also meet Mercer | Mettl or a personality questionnaire such as Hogan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Cappfinity assessment?

An online assessment built by Cappfinity, the UK company formerly known as Capp. It measures skills in terms of how well you perform them, how energised you feel using them and how often you use them, and often combines behavioural, cognitive and sometimes technical questions in one blended process.

Is the Cappfinity assessment timed?

It depends on the section. Cappfinity says some assessments have no time limit while others set one for the whole assessment or per question, and its cognitive tests are sometimes time recorded, so your speed can count. The instructions always tell you which applies.

Can you fail a Cappfinity assessment?

Yes, in the sense that employers use the results to decide who moves forward. There is no universal pass mark, though. Each employer weighs the skills that matter for its role, so the best approach is to answer as you genuinely behave.

Are there Cappfinity assessment answers?

No legitimate answer sheets exist. The behavioural questions ask how you would act and what energises you, and consistency across many questions matters. Practising the formats helps; memorising someone else's answers does not.

Which device should I use?

Cappfinity recommends a desktop where possible and the latest version of Google Chrome, with Firefox, Edge, Opera or Safari on a Mac as alternatives. You will be told in advance if you need a camera or microphone.

About the author

Ingmar van Maurik is a specialist in test and interview preparation who helps candidates perform better in recruitment processes.

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