Revelian is an Australian assessment publisher, originally known as Onetest, whose tests are still used widely across Australia and New Zealand. The brand itself no longer trades independently: Criteria acquired Revelian in 2020, the two businesses were brought under the single Criteria name from 2022, and revelian.com now redirects to Criteria’s site. When a recruiter or a job advert says “Revelian test”, they almost always mean the Revelian Cognitive Ability Test (RCAT), which asks 51 questions in 20 minutes across verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning.
That works out at just over 23 seconds a question, which is what makes the RCAT hard. The content is not especially advanced. The pace is.
Who publishes the Revelian tests now
Criteria acquired Revelian in 2020 and brought Revelian and Alcami Interactive under one brand from the start of 2022. For a candidate the practical differences are small: your invitation may arrive from Criteria rather than Revelian, the platform may be branded Criteria on screen, and the range you might be assigned now also includes Criteria’s own assessments. Employers and recruiters in Australia still commonly use the older name, so both can appear in the same process.
Assessments you may be invited to take under either name include:
- Cognitive ability, most often the RCAT
- Game based assessments, principally Cognify and Emotify
- Personality and work preferences questionnaires
- Values and culture fit
- Reliability and integrity
- Skills tests
What is in the RCAT
The RCAT draws a random selection of questions from a large bank, so no two candidates sit quite the same paper, and the questions get harder as you work through them. There are three question types.
Verbal reasoning. Antonyms and synonyms, word swap, analogies and word logic problems, presented in multiple-choice format. This is standard verbal reasoning territory, tested at speed.
Numerical reasoning. Word problems, and number series questions where you work out the next number in a sequence. The answers are not multiple choice, and you are expected to do the working with pen and paper rather than a calculator, so fluency with basic arithmetic matters more here than on most numerical reasoning tests.
Abstract reasoning. You are shown a small set of figures, which may be geometric shapes or drawings, and asked to identify the ones that break the pattern the rest of the set shares. This is conventional abstract reasoning, again under time pressure.
How the RCAT is scored
You score one point for each correct answer and lose nothing for a wrong one, so there is no reason to leave a question blank while the clock is running. Your raw score is then converted into a percentile against norm groups: a role specific group, a job level group, and a broader general group.
The employer sets its own cut off against those percentiles, which is why there is no fixed pass mark, and why the same raw score can clear one process and not another. The publisher’s own guidance has long been that most candidates do not answer every question in the time allowed, so an unfinished test is normal rather than a failure in itself.
Cognitive ability is not a subject you can revise the way you would revise for an exam, but pace, familiarity and test technique all move the score. Here are ten things worth doing.
1. Know the test
If the role you are applying for requires candidates to take pre-employment screening tests, you can sometimes find this information in the job description. If not, you will be contacted by the recruitment team when you have applied with details of the tests that you will need to take.
Finding out which specific test you will be taking as early as possible will give you the opportunity to make the most of your practice time.
2. Take practice tests
The content of the Revelian tests is not what makes them difficult. The layout, the structure and the time limit are.
Practice on the individual aptitudes always helps, but it is worth seeking out Revelian style practice tests so that you become familiar with the wording of the questions, the way the test is structured, and how each answer has to be entered. The numerical section catches people out precisely because the answer box is not a set of options.
Because the RCAT mixes all three question types into one timed run, general cognitive ability tests are the closest single match to the real thing. The publisher also puts official practice questions on its own site, which remain the most accurate guide to question style.
3. Make your practice realistic
Realistic practice is what makes the real test feel ordinary. Sit somewhere quiet, set a timer for the full length of the test rather than pausing between questions, and make sure you will not be interrupted, with your phone on silent and out of reach. A run of free aptitude tests taken under a strict clock is far better preparation than twice as many taken at your own pace.
4. Brush up on relevant skills
For the verbal questions, make sure you know what a synonym is, what an antonym is, and what an analogy is. It is beneficial to practice recognising logic in an argument too.
In the numerical questions, you will be expected to perform basic calculations using simple operators like multiplication and division; these need to be completed on paper, not using a calculator.
With the abstract questions, you can think a bit laterally for skills revision. Exercises like simple ‘spot the difference’ will help get you thinking about the relationships between pictures and shapes.
5. Look after yourself
Tests can be nerve-wracking, so making sure that you are mentally and physically prepared for them will help you to feel more confident and improve your performance.
Get enough sleep in the days running up to the assessment, and on the day have a good breakfast and drink plenty of fluids. The more awake and nourished you are, the better you will perform.
6. Prepare your test area
The Revelian tests are delivered online, so make sure that your laptop (if you are using one) is fully charged, your internet connection is fast and stable, and you have downloaded any software you will need.
During the test, be somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed, and remove any distractions like your mobile phone. Similarly, be sure that you have everything you need to hand, like a pen and paper and a drink.
7. Read the instructions
The instructions provided with the test will give you all the information that you need to answer the questions appropriately.
Whether the test instructions are included as an introduction to the test, or there are more specific instructions for each question, take some time to make sure that you understand what is expected of you.
8. Pace yourself, and answer rather than skip
With just over 23 seconds a question on average, the danger is at both ends: rushing produces careless errors on questions you could have banked, and dwelling on one hard question costs you two easy ones later.
Because there is no penalty for a wrong answer, a question you cannot solve is still worth an answer. Eliminate what you can, choose, and move on. Leaving it blank guarantees nothing, and a considered guess does not.
9. Remember the questions get harder
The questions get harder as the test progresses, so a comfortable start is not a signal that you can slow down. Bank the early questions quickly and keep the time for the ones that need it.
10. Stay calm
Taking tests makes most people anxious, and panic costs accuracy on exactly the questions you would otherwise get right. Enough realistic practice removes most of it, because by the time you sit the real test there is nothing left to be surprised by.
If you reach the end of the time with questions unanswered, that is the normal experience of this test rather than a sign that you have failed it. Your score is judged against how other candidates performed, and most of them did not finish either.
