BBC Assessment Tests

Careers at BBC

The BBC hires more than 200 new apprentices a year across journalism, production, engineering and operations, business, and digital technology and data, and it runs one application process for all of them. Applications open in two phases, October and December, and its assessment centres typically run between January and April.

The schemes run from advanced and higher apprenticeships at levels 3 to 5, through degree apprenticeships at level 6, to postgraduate level schemes at levels 6 and 7. You are not asked for a CV or a cover letter when you apply for an apprenticeship. Alongside them the BBC runs talent schemes for UK creative talent, Get In taster days and virtual work experience. It was named Graduate Employer of Choice for media at the Times Graduate Recruitment Awards 2025.

BBC online assessment exercises

What the BBC actually sets

The BBC does not publish a fixed test battery. It describes stage two as a short interactive assessment that varies by scheme, and it names three things that assessment can contain: strengths questions, situational judgement exercises, and coding tasks for its technical roles. You are given time to practise some questions before the real one, and the BBC says that for many of its online assessments you are sent a feedback report afterwards.

Strengths questions

A strengths assessment asks what you enjoy and what you are good at rather than what you have revised, so there is no syllabus. The BBC is explicit that it is not looking for past experience at this stage. Answer quickly and honestly: these formats are designed so that a considered, second-guessed answer reads worse than a true one.

Situational judgement

A situational judgement test gives you a workplace scenario and a set of possible responses, and asks which you would be most and least likely to take. The gap between the best and second best response is usually one detail in the scenario, so read it properly before you look at the options.

Reasoning tests

The BBC does not name numerical, verbal or diagrammatic reasoning among its published exercises, so treat any promise that it sets a specific battery with suspicion. If your scheme sets an online assessment whose shape you have not been told, general practice in numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning is the safest preparation, and analytical reasoning practice covers the same ground as most diagrammatic and logical reasoning formats.

The BBC video interview

Stage three is a recorded interview about you, your strengths and why you want the scheme. Most questions ask for a video answer and some for a written one, you can re-record as many times as you need, and some technical roles skip this stage entirely. The BBC says it is not scoring your performance on camera, so worry about what you say rather than how you look saying it, and check the room you film in.

The BBC assessment centre

Stage four is the assessment centre, usually held virtually. The BBC describes it as a series of exercises such as a group exercise and an interview, with the chance to meet BBC staff and ask questions. Some schemes set a pre-assessment task beforehand, linked to the skills the apprenticeship needs. There is no dress code beyond what you would normally wear. Our guide to assessment centres covers how a day like this is scored.