Good introduction to mechanical reasoning
Clearly worded questions with simple but effective diagrams. Provides an indication of the principles and attributes required by such tests
Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test
Pulleys, levers, gears, hydraulics and forces, in the format Pearson sets: 55 questions in 25 minutes. Three worked examples below, with the reasoning explained.
- 8 practice tests in the Mechanical Reasoning pack
- 66 questions, all solved
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- 8
- Mechanical Reasoning tests
- 66
- questions, all solved
What is the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test?
The Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test (BMCT) measures how well you understand mechanical concepts and apply them to solve problems. It is a multiple-choice test built from images and diagrams, drawing on four areas: mechanical comprehension, spatial visualisation, knowledge of basic mechanical and physical laws, and deducing how things work.
It was first published in 1940 by the Psychological Corporation, now Pearson Education, which makes it one of the longest-running tests still in use. As a recruitment tool it is a proven predictor of performance in industries that depend on technical aptitude. Some employers also use it after hiring, either to identify what a new starter needs training in or as a risk-management check, since a low scorer may not suit a role where mistakes are dangerous.
Which jobs use the Bennett test?
The BMCT is used in application and retention processes at a number of multinational companies, concentrated in work that is physical and technical:
- Emergency services, especially the fire service
- Skilled trades such as gas, electric and water service, repair and installation
- Machine operation, in factories and on heavy plant
- Airline mechanics and engineers
- Manufacturing operators
- Automobile mechanics
It also appears alongside other types of aptitude test when an employer is assessing for managerial or multi-functional roles.
What is the format of the BMCT?
A typical BMCT is 55 questions in 25 minutes, which is about 30 seconds each. The questions themselves are straightforward, so the clock is the real constraint. Two untimed practice questions come first, so you can settle into the layout and the wording before the timer starts. Every question is a graphic followed by a multiple-choice question.
The topics, roughly in order of how many questions they carry:
- Pulleys and levers
- Hydraulics
- Resolution of forces, centrifugal force and inertia
- Structures, planes and slopes
- Gears and belt drives
- Gravity and velocity
- Acoustics and optics
- Centre of gravity
- Electricity
- Heat
- Shape and volume
The weighting is uneven and worth knowing: around 68% of the questions on a typical BMCT-II concern force and movement, velocity and fluid mechanics, and pulleys and levers carry more questions than any other single topic.
How is the BMCT scored?
Pearson sends the employer a score report carrying your raw score and a percentile ranking against a normative group, so there is no fixed pass mark: the threshold moves with the role. An airline engineering post will be pitched higher than a manufacturing operative post. Broadly, the bands read as follows.
- 0 to 19. Not a pass for almost any application. Some grasp of mechanical reasoning, but close supervision and extra training would be needed.
- 20 to 39. A basic ability to apply mechanical reasoning. Enough to stay in contention if the rest of the application is strong.
- 40 to 59. A hiring range for many roles: steady learning and sound application of mechanical principles.
- 60 to 79. A strong result for technical roles, and enough for a hiring manager to be confident about your grasp of the principles.
- 80 and above. A firm command of mechanical principles and excellent spatial awareness, a very good score for even the most technical roles.
From score to percentile
- Your scorePoints earned on the test.
- Comparison groupResults from people taking a comparable test.
- Your percentileWhere your result sits within that group.
Three worked Bennett practice questions
The three questions below use the BMCT’s most heavily weighted topics. Work them before reading the solutions.
Question 1. What force is required to lift this weight?
A) 30kg B) 50kg C) 100kg D) 150kg
Question 2. If two cogs are turning together, one with 30 teeth and the other with 20, how many revolutions would the smaller cog have turned once the larger cog has rotated 15 times?
A) 21 B) 21.5 C) 22 D) 22.5
Question 3. Which container is represented by this graph as it fills with water?
Solutions.
Question 1 is B, 50kg. Six sections of rope support the weight, so divide the total by six: 300 / 6 = 50kg.
Question 2 is D, 22.5. The larger cog has 1.5 times as many teeth, so the smaller one turns 1.5 times faster: 15 x 1.5 = 22.5.
Question 3 is B. The steepest parts of the graph are where the container is narrowest, because a narrow section fills fastest. The graph describes a container that starts narrow, widens, then narrows again at the top.
Video tutorials
The methods behind the questions above, from our team
Frequently asked questions
What candidates ask us most often
Is the BMCT hard?
The structure and the language are not meant to be difficult, and the test is pitched at around a sixth-grade reading level. The difficulty is applying that fairly basic knowledge at speed, with roughly 30 seconds per question.
What is the difference between the BMCT-I and the BMCT-II?
The BMCT-I was the paper-and-pencil version. It has been largely superseded by the BMCT-II, which is taken online and is the form most candidates now sit. The subject matter is the same.
Which mechanical principles does the BMCT cover?
Pulleys; force and movement, meaning Newton’s three laws, friction and gravity; fluids, meaning hydraulics, the ideal gas law and Bernoulli’s principle; thermodynamics, covering heating, cooling, evaporation and condensation; electricity, meaning Ohm’s law and circuits; wheels, covering rotational and linear velocity and the relationship between wheel size and speed; gears, meaning direction of rotation and gear ratio; acoustics, covering refraction, reflection, the Doppler effect and attenuation; and optics, meaning the principles of light, reflection and sight.
How do you prepare for a Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test?
The BMCT does not test what you have learned recently, so there is nothing to revise in the exam sense, but brushing up basic physics and mechanics pays off. Because pulleys and levers carry the most questions, that is the topic worth understanding properly first. Beyond the content, practice buys familiarity with the layout and the pace, which is where most marks are lost. Our guide to passing mechanical reasoning tests covers the sequence.
Who publishes the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test?
Pearson, which acquired the Psychological Corporation, the publisher that first released the test in 1940. Pearson produces the score report the employer receives, giving your raw score alongside a percentile ranking.
Reviews
Rated 4.8 out of 5 across 229 reviews. A selection:
Great introduction to pulleys
The test is easy to introduce you into pulleys and calculating the amount of force needed to lift/pull the weight!
I need to review some basic principles
I got stumped on some fundamental questions I assumed I remembered. Great refresher for concepts in physics, mechanics, optics, and chemistry.
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