Saville Assessment: Tests, Examples & How It's Scored

Saville Assessment: Tests, Examples & How It's Scored

An invitation lands in your inbox: "please complete the Saville Assessment." There is a link, a deadline and very little else. Search for it and you find forum posts, prep sites and someone selling a PDF of "real answers". This is the calmer version: who Saville is, which test you are probably getting, what the questions look like, how scoring works and how to prepare.

Who Is Saville Assessment?

Saville Assessment is a UK-based publisher of psychometric tests. It was founded in 2004 as Saville Consulting by Professor Peter Saville, an occupational psychologist who had co-founded SHL back in 1977. If you have taken an SHL test before and the Saville one feels oddly familiar, that is not a coincidence: the same school of test design runs through both. Business-flavoured passages, data tables, norm-referenced scoring, strict timers. Our article on the SHL test covers that side of the family.

The ownership has changed twice. In 2015 Saville was bought by Towers Watson, which became Willis Towers Watson (now WTW). That is why older pages, including some prep sites, still describe Saville as "a Towers Watson company". That line is out of date: in April 2023 WTW sold Saville Assessment to Tenzing, a private equity investor, and Saville became independent again. WTW remains a preferred partner, so the names still appear together.

Two Saville products matter most to candidates. The first is Swift, a range of short combination aptitude tests launched in 2007. The second is Wave, a personality questionnaire launched in 2005. Most employers use one of the Swift tests, Wave, or both.

The Candidate Journey

Saville tests nearly always run online and unsupervised. The steps are predictable:

1. The invitation. The email names the employer, the deadline and usually the test. Look for words like "Analysis", "Comprehension", "Executive" or "Technical"; they tell you which range you are getting, and that matters (more below).

2. Practice questions. Saville publishes free practice tests for most of its ranges on its own website, and the live test usually starts with a few unscored examples. Saville itself says the point of practice is getting used to the format and the strict time limits, and that example questions do not necessarily match the difficulty of the real thing. Take that seriously in both directions.

3. The test itself. Each section has its own timer that keeps running once started. Several Swift tests are desktop only, so not one for the train. Find a quiet hour, a laptop, a calculator and scrap paper.

4. Wave, if requested. The personality questionnaire comes separately or right after the aptitude test.

5. The outcome. Usually you just hear whether you go through. Some employers share a feedback report; many do not. The Wave profile often resurfaces at interview.

Swift vs the Longer Tests: Which One Are You Getting?

This is where Saville differs most from other publishers, and where candidates get confused. Saville sorts its aptitude tests into ranges by job level, and within each range offers either a Swift combination test or separate single-ability tests.

The Analysis Aptitude range

Aimed at graduates, management trainees, professionals, managers and directors. It contains:

• Swift Analysis Aptitude: verbal, numerical and diagrammatic reasoning in one short test, each sub-test only a few minutes long.
• Swift Analysis Verbal & Numerical: the same idea without the diagrammatic part.
• Swift Executive Aptitude: a version for senior and leadership appointments.
• Single tests: Verbal Analysis, Numerical Analysis, Diagrammatic Analysis and Abstract Reasoning, each a longer test on one ability.

Saville describes the Swift Analysis combinations as taking roughly 18 to 24 minutes in total. That is the whole test, not each part.

The Comprehension Aptitude range

Aimed at administrative, customer service, commercial and operational roles. It contains Swift Comprehension Aptitude, Swift Comprehension Verbal & Numerical, and the single tests Verbal Comprehension, Numerical Comprehension and Error Checking. The material is more everyday and the totals are shorter; Saville quotes about nine and a half to 16 minutes for the combinations.

The naming trips people up: "Verbal Analysis" and "Verbal Comprehension" belong to different ranges for different job levels. If you are applying for a graduate scheme, practise Analysis material. If you are applying for a customer service or office role, practise Comprehension material.

The Technical range

Engineering, manufacturing and apprentice roles get a technical range (spatial, mechanical and diagrammatic reasoning), including Swift Technical Aptitude and Swift Apprentice Aptitude. For that one, see our Swift Technical Aptitude practice tests.

Why Swift feels harder than it is

The Swift idea is that several abilities can be measured reliably in a short time. For the candidate, that means you get only a few minutes per sub-test, and then the topic switches. You barely find your rhythm in the numerical part before you are reading a verbal passage. Candidates rarely say the questions were impossible; they say they ran out of time on every section. That is what to practise for, and why our Saville practice tests run each sub-test on its own short timer.

What the Questions Look Like (Our Own Examples)

The examples below are written by us to show the format. They are not real Saville items.

Verbal Analysis / Verbal Comprehension

You read a short business passage and judge a statement about it. The answer options are usually some form of true, false or cannot say on the basis of the passage alone.

Our example passage: "The company opened four new depots last year. Three of them are in the north of the country. All new depots run on renewable energy, although two of the older depots still rely partly on diesel generators."

Statement: "Most of the company's depots run on renewable energy."

Answer: cannot say. You know the four new depots are renewable, but you do not know how many depots the company has in total. Maybe six, maybe sixty. The trap is filling in the gap with what sounds plausible. Our guide to true, false, cannot say questions goes through the most common traps one by one.

Numerical Analysis / Numerical Comprehension

You get tables and charts and answer questions that need percentages, ratios, differences and sometimes currency conversion. A calculator is normally allowed.

Our example: a table shows a team's travel costs of €18,400 in Q1 and €15,640 in Q2. By what percentage did costs fall? (18,400 − 15,640) / 18,400 = 2,760 / 18,400 = 0.15, so 15%. The sum takes ten seconds; finding the right two numbers in a crowded table is what eats your time. Comprehension versions use simpler data, such as a rota or price list.

Diagrammatic Analysis

This is Saville's most distinctive section. You see a flowchart in which shapes or symbols pass through "operators" (small boxes that each apply a rule, such as rotate the figure, swap colours or remove the last element). You have to work out what an operator does or what comes out at the end.

Our example: a row of three symbols, circle-square-triangle, enters operator X and comes out as triangle-square-circle. The same row enters operator Y and comes out as circle-square. So X reverses the order and Y removes the last item. Question: what comes out if square-triangle-star passes through Y and then X? Y gives square-triangle; X reverses that to triangle-square.

The trick is to decode each operator once, write it down in two or three words, and then apply it mechanically. For more of this format, see our article on diagrammatic reasoning tests.

Abstract Reasoning

Here you look at groups of shapes and work out the rule that links them, then decide where a new shape fits. A common layout gives you two sets of figures with different rules and asks whether a test figure belongs to the first set, the second, or neither.

Our example: in set A every figure has an odd number of black dots; in set B every figure has a shaded triangle. A new figure with three black dots and no triangle belongs to set A. Two dots and no triangle: neither. Rules usually involve counting, position, rotation or shading, plus distractors that change without meaning anything.

Error Checking

In the Comprehension range: compare an original record with a copy and spot the differences. Pure speed plus accuracy; watch for transposed digits (4,718 versus 4,178).

The Wave Personality Questionnaire

Wave is Saville's personality questionnaire, and many employers send it alongside the aptitude test. The two versions you are likely to meet are Wave Professional Styles, the full version, and Wave Focus Styles, a shorter one. Saville gives about 35 and 13 minutes respectively.

The format is unusual. You get statements in blocks of six and rate each one on a nine-point scale from "very strongly disagree" to "very strongly agree". If you give several statements in a block the same rating, the system may then ask you which of them is most like you and which is least like you. Saville calls this "rate-rank".

That rank step makes faking hard: rate "I enjoy leading teams" and "I am very thorough with details" both at 9, and you still have to choose. Across dozens of blocks, your real priorities show. The best approach is the boring one: answer as you behave at work, not as you think the ideal candidate would. A profile that does not sound like you makes for an awkward interview.

How Saville Scores You

Your raw score, the number of correct answers, means little on its own. Saville compares it with a norm group: a large reference group of people who took the same test, ideally at a similar level, for instance graduates or managers. Your result is then expressed as a percentile or a band ("better than 65% of the comparison group").

A few practical consequences follow:

• The pass mark is set by the employer, not by Saville. One employer screens at the 30th percentile, another at the 60th. Nobody can tell you "the" passing score for a Saville test, because there isn't one.
• The norm group matters. The same raw score can look average against graduates and strong against a general population. You are rarely told which was used.
• Pacing beats perfection. Getting more questions right in the time is what counts. Getting stuck on one hard item costs you several easier ones. Check the instructions on wrong answers; usually an educated guess beats a blank.
• Every section counts. In a combination test, don't write off one part to save time for another. You do not know how the employer weighs the sections, so aim for a solid result on each.

About That "Saville Assessment Answers PDF"

It is one of the most searched phrases around this test, so let's be straight about it. PDFs promising "real Saville answers" exist. They do not help, for three reasons.

First, Saville draws its questions from randomised item banks. Two candidates applying for the same job do not see the same set of questions in the same order. A list of answers to someone else's test is a list of answers to questions you will not get.

Second, even if a few items matched, you would not have time to search a document with only a few minutes per section.

Third, the employer may check later. Strong online scores are sometimes verified with a supervised retest or a short test at the assessment centre. A big gap between the two results is exactly what that check is designed to spot.

What does work: understanding the question types and drilling them under realistic time pressure. That is less exciting than a secret answer key, but it actually moves your percentile.

A Practical Preparation Plan

Assuming you have about a week:

Day 1: identify your test. Check the invitation for the range: Analysis, Comprehension, Executive or Technical. Then do Saville's free practice test for that range, without preparation, to see where you stand.

Days 2–3: work on the formats. Go through each section without a timer. Verbal: "false" versus "cannot say". Numerical: percentage change and ratios. Diagrammatic: decoding operators. Understand every mistake.

Days 4–5: add time pressure. Now practise in sections with a strict timer, and especially practise switching between topics, because that is what Swift asks of you. Our Saville Assessment training gives you timed sub-tests with an explanation for every answer.

Day 6: full run. One complete test in one sitting, then review it.

Day 7: set up. Check laptop, browser, calculator and paper. Then take the real test while fresh, not at 11 pm before the deadline.

If Wave is part of the package, do not "prepare" answers. Just read through the format once, so the rank step does not surprise you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Saville Assessment?

A set of online aptitude tests and questionnaires published by Saville Assessment, a company founded in 2004 by Professor Peter Saville, co-founder of SHL. Employers usually combine a reasoning test with the Wave personality questionnaire.

What is the difference between Swift Analysis and Swift Comprehension?

Swift Analysis Aptitude is aimed at graduates, managers and professionals and mixes verbal, numerical and diagrammatic reasoning. Swift Comprehension Aptitude targets administrative, customer service, commercial and operational roles and covers verbal, numerical and error checking.

Is the Saville test hard?

The content is not advanced, but the Swift tests split a short total time into very short sub-tests, so you have little room to settle in. Most candidates find the pace harder than the questions.

Can I find Saville assessment answers in a PDF?

Files claiming to contain them circulate, but Saville draws questions from randomised item banks, so the PDF will not match your test. Practising the question types under time pressure is what actually raises your score.

Can you fail the Wave personality questionnaire?

There is no pass mark. Your profile is compared with what the role requires and is often used to guide the interview. Answer consistently and honestly; the rate-and-rank format makes a fake profile hard to build.

Conclusion

The Saville Assessment is less mysterious than the invitation suggests. Find out which range you are getting, learn each section's format, and practise what Swift really tests: staying accurate when the clock is short and the topic keeps changing. The questions are fair; the pace separates candidates.