Reynolds and Reynolds Assessment Tests

Reynolds & Reynolds Online Tests: Practice Questions (2026) Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an information security assistant. You argued that laptop encryption checks should be monthly rather than quarterly, and after a heated discussion the team voted to keep them quarterly. Two people were sharp with you and it has not been cleared up. The review that decides the schedule meets again in six weeks and you are on the invitation list. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop attending the review after that, since the people who voted for quarterly checks can own the schedule and whatever comes of it in six weeks.
   2. Keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again, so the next discussion is about the schedule.
   3. Keep attending but do not raise encryption again, since the team has voted on it and reopening a heated argument would sour the review for everybody.
   4. Ask to be taken off the review invitation and send your view in writing instead, so the argument is on record without the two of them in the room.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again, so the next discussion is about the schedule.

   Least effective: A. Stop attending the review after that, since the people who voted for quarterly checks can own the schedule and whatever comes of it in six weeks.

   A: Withdraws from the forum after losing: the argument for monthly checks now has nobody to make it, and the two sharp exchanges stay unresolved.

   C: Keeps the seat and gives up the argument: quarterly may turn out to be wrong, and the person who thought so has agreed in advance not to say.

   D: Removes yourself to avoid two people: the written view carries less than a voice in the room, and the sharpness is never addressed.

   The most effective response is to keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again. Two separate things went wrong, a vote you lost and an exchange that was sharp, and only the second is worth fixing. It beats keeping your seat but agreeing never to raise encryption again, because the schedule may need revisiting on evidence in six weeks and you have agreed in advance not to be the one who raises it. It beats asking to be taken off the invitation and sending your view in writing, because a written submission carries less weight than being in the room and leaves the sharpness untouched. The least effective response is leaving the people who voted for quarterly checks to own the schedule: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep you connected, while this removes the only person arguing for monthly checks in response to a vote that went fairly against you. The principle: separate the decision you lost from the way people spoke to you, address the second directly, and keep your seat for the first.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a graduate software engineer. Your team has been told that nothing goes out between Friday and Tuesday, because the finance team is closing the year and the system must not move under them. A one-line fix you have written would remove an error message that confuses about a dozen users a day. It is small and you are confident about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the one-line fix out now, since the freeze was plainly written for large changes and a dozen confused users a day is a real cost nobody is counting.
   2. Ask the finance team directly whether they would mind, and go ahead if they say it is fine, since they are the people the freeze exists to protect anyway.
   3. Leave it until Wednesday and say nothing to anybody, since four days of an error message will not hurt and the instruction you were given is perfectly clear.
   4. Raise it with your team lead today and say what the fix does and what the message costs users, so that whoever owns the freeze decides on the exception.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Raise it with your team lead today and say what the fix does and what the message costs users, so that whoever owns the freeze decides on the exception.

   Least effective: A. Put the one-line fix out now, since the freeze was plainly written for large changes and a dozen confused users a day is a real cost nobody is counting.

   A: Decides which rules count: the freeze protects a team closing a year, and this is the option that reads a rule with a stated reason as advice about size.

   B: Gets permission from the wrong people: finance can say whether they mind, but they did not set the freeze and cannot see what else is riding on it.

   C: Treats a clear rule as a reason to stay quiet: following the freeze is right, but nobody learns that it is costing a dozen users a day while it runs.

   The most effective response is to raise it with your team lead today and say what the fix does and what the message costs users. Whether a freeze admits exceptions is a question for the person who set it, and the size of the fix and the cost is what lets them answer. It beats asking the finance team whether they would mind and going ahead if they say it is fine, because they are who the freeze protects, not who imposed it, and their agreement does not cover the risks they cannot see. It beats leaving it until Wednesday and saying nothing, because obeying the freeze is right but silence means the cost of obeying is never weighed. The least effective response is putting the one-line fix out now: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the decision with somebody other than you, asked wrongly or not asked at all, while this takes a rule with a stated purpose and decides it does not apply. The principle: when a rule blocks something worth doing, take the case to whoever owns the rule, and never grade yourself an exception.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a junior data engineer. A supplier who provides a daily data feed has told you their file will be late every day for the next fortnight while they move systems. The team that publishes the morning figures depends on that feed and has committed to a customer deadline of nine o’clock each day. Nobody outside your inbox knows. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep pressing the supplier every day to deliver on time. It is their commitment to meet, and chasing them is the fastest route back to a nine o'clock file.
   2. Tell the publishing team that the feed may be late occasionally over the next two weeks, without going into the supplier's system move or the full fortnight.
   3. Tell the publishing team today that the feed will be late every day for a fortnight, and ask what they need from you to protect their nine o'clock commitment.
   4. Put a note in the shared channel about the supplier's system move, so that anybody depending on the feed can see it and plan around it themselves.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the publishing team today that the feed will be late every day for a fortnight, and ask what they need from you to protect their nine o'clock commitment.

   Least effective: A. Keep pressing the supplier every day to deliver on time. It is their commitment to meet, and chasing them is the fastest route back to a nine o'clock file.

   A: Passes the problem on without owning it: the supplier has already said a fortnight, and the team promising nine o'clock still does not know it is at risk.

   B: Softens a warning until it cannot be planned with: occasionally and a fortnight every day are different problems and only one of them can be prepared for.

   D: Publishes to nobody in particular: the team with the nine o'clock commitment has no reason to be reading that channel this morning.

   The most effective response is to tell the publishing team today that the feed will be late every day for a fortnight, and ask what they need to protect their nine o’clock commitment. A fortnight of late files against a daily deadline is their problem to solve, and they can only solve it knowing the shape of it. It beats telling them the feed may be late occasionally over the next two weeks, because that produces no plan and every day for two weeks is a different problem. It beats putting a note in the shared channel about the supplier’s system move, because that is not the same as telling the people with a customer commitment. The least effective response is pressing the supplier every day to deliver on time: it is worse than either of the other two, because both put something in front of the affected team, while this spends a fortnight chasing a supplier who has already given their answer. The principle: when a supplier’s problem lands on somebody else’s promise, tell the people who made the promise first.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a security analyst. Three weeks ago a colleague in another team asked you to look at how her team’s data is stored. You meant to reply and did not. She has not chased. You have since heard that her team is about to sign a contract that depends on getting that storage arrangement right. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave it where it is, since three weeks without a chase means she has almost certainly found somebody else and would say so if she had not.
   2. Reply today, apologise for the three weeks, ask whether she still needs it, and say you can look this week if the contract turns on the storage.
   3. Ask around your own team whether anybody else picked her question up, and reply to her only if it turns out that nobody did.
   4. Look at the storage arrangement now and send her a full assessment, without asking first whether the question is still live for her.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Reply today, apologise for the three weeks, ask whether she still needs it, and say you can look this week if the contract turns on the storage.

   Least effective: A. Leave it where it is, since three weeks without a chase means she has almost certainly found somebody else and would say so if she had not.

   A: Assumes the silence away: she may have stopped asking rather than found an answer, and a contract is about to be signed on whichever it is.

   C: Checks the wrong side of the silence: she is the one person who knows whether she still needs an answer, and asking her is quicker.

   D: Answers a question that may have moved: three weeks on, the contract may have changed shape, and the work could be aimed at the wrong thing.

   The most effective response is to reply today, apologise for the three weeks, ask whether she still needs it, and say you can look this week if the contract turns on the storage. Only she knows whether the question is live, the apology costs nothing, and the timescale gives her something to plan with. It beats asking around your own team whether anybody picked her question up, because they cannot tell you whether she still needs an answer and she can. It beats looking at the storage arrangement now and sending a full assessment, because three weeks is long enough for the contract to have changed. The least effective response is leaving it on the basis that she has almost certainly found somebody else: it is worse than either of the other two, because both try to close the gap, while this reads her silence as resolution when it is at least as likely to be her giving up on you. The principle: an unanswered request that has gone quiet is a reason to ask, because silence is evidence of nothing except silence.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a support analyst. You were asked to ring twenty customers affected by last week’s outage and record what each said. You reached fourteen; six did not answer and you did not try again. In this morning’s meeting the person writing the report to the customers asks whether the calls are done, and there are eleven other items on the agenda. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say fourteen were reached and six were not, and give a day for the six, so that the report is written on the number of customers who actually spoke to you.
   2. Say the calls are done and ring the remaining six straight after the meeting, so that the answer you gave becomes true before the report is written up.
   3. Say the calls are done, even though you know six were never reached. Fourteen of twenty is a good rate for an outage, and the six are unlikely to have said anything different.
   4. Say the calls went well and offer to send the detail round afterwards, rather than holding up a meeting with eleven other items on its agenda.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Say fourteen were reached and six were not, and give a day for the six, so that the report is written on the number of customers who actually spoke to you.

   Least effective: C. Say the calls are done, even though you know six were never reached. Fourteen of twenty is a good rate for an outage, and the six are unlikely to have said anything different.

   B: Makes a claim you intend to make true later: the room agrees the report now, and six of the twenty had not been reached when you said they had.

   C: Asserts a result for work that was not finished: six customers count as consulted on the reasoning that they would probably have agreed.

   D: Gives an impression instead of a number: went well is not fourteen of twenty, and the detail arrives after the report has been agreed.

   The most effective response is to say fourteen were reached and six were not, and give a day for the six. One sentence gives the writer the real denominator, which is what the report rests on, and a date turns the shortfall into something the room can hold. It beats saying the calls are done and ringing the remaining six straight afterwards, because the report is agreed in the meeting, so a claim made true later was false when it was acted on. It beats saying the calls went well and offering to send the detail round, because a good impression is not a response rate. The least effective response is saying the calls are done when six were never reached: it is worse than either of the other two, because both end with the six being reached or the detail circulated, while this closes the question by reasoning about what six unreached customers would probably have said. The principle: when asked whether something is finished, give the number you reached and the number you did not, with a date on the remainder.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a build engineer. Last week you told the programme office that the average build takes nine minutes. Since a change on Monday it takes twenty-six. The programme office is publishing a paper this afternoon that uses the nine-minute figure to argue against buying more capacity. Your team lead is in interviews all day and has asked not to be disturbed. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing to anybody until your team lead is out of interviews, and raise the corrected figure with her then rather than going round her to the programme office.
   2. Send the corrected figure to the programme office now and copy your team lead, so that the paper is written on twenty-six minutes rather than on nine.
   3. Interrupt the interviews to tell your team lead, since a paper going to the programme board on a wrong figure is more urgent than an hour of an interview.
   4. Send the programme office a note saying the figure may have moved and that they should check it before publishing anything this afternoon.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Send the corrected figure to the programme office now and copy your team lead, so that the paper is written on twenty-six minutes rather than on nine.

   Least effective: A. Say nothing to anybody until your team lead is out of interviews, and raise the corrected figure with her then rather than going round her to the programme office.

   A: Stays silent while waiting for a route: the paper publishes this afternoon and the interviews run until the end of the day.

   C: Escalates past a stated instruction when a direct route exists: the programme office can be told without disturbing anybody.

   D: Hedges a fact you are certain of: you know it is twenty-six, and may have moved leaves them deciding whether to believe their own paper.

   The most effective response is to send the corrected figure to the programme office now and copy your team lead. They own the paper, they can be reached directly, and the copy means nothing is done behind her back while she is unavailable. It beats interrupting the interviews to tell her, because that is unnecessary when the people publishing the paper can be told in one email. It beats sending the programme office a note saying the figure may have moved, because you are certain it is twenty-six, and that passes your certainty on as doubt. The least effective response is saying nothing until she is out of interviews: it is worse than either of the other two, because both reach somebody before the paper publishes, while this waits for a route that will not open until after the argument has been made on a figure you know is wrong. The principle: when a decision is being taken this afternoon on a number you know has changed, go to whoever holds the document and copy the people who should know.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a technical support adviser. Your team is choosing between two companies to supply replacement laptops, and you have been asked to write up how each one handled a trial. A salesperson from one of them offers you a pair of tickets to a match this weekend, and says it has nothing whatever to do with the trial. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Accept the gift of the tickets and keep your write-up neutral. The match has nothing to do with the trial, and refusing would make an issue of an ordinary kindness.
   2. Refuse the tickets politely and keep the approach to yourself, so the salesperson is not embarrassed and the trial carries on exactly as it was.
   3. Decline the tickets, and tell whoever is running the choice that they were offered, so that your write-up can be read without anyone wondering about it.
   4. Accept the tickets but ask to be taken off the write-up, so that somebody with no connection at all to the salesperson does the assessment instead.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Decline the tickets, and tell whoever is running the choice that they were offered, so that your write-up can be read without anyone wondering about it.

   Least effective: A. Accept the gift of the tickets and keep your write-up neutral. The match has nothing to do with the trial, and refusing would make an issue of an ordinary kindness.

   A: Takes an advantage the role forbids: your write-up decides which of them wins, and its value depends on nobody having given you anything at all.

   B: Leaves an approach nobody else can weigh: declining is right, but the firm that made the offer is assessed by people who never learn it was made.

   D: Keeps the benefit and hands away the duty: the team loses the person who actually watched both trials, and you are still holding the tickets.

   The most effective response is to decline the tickets, and tell whoever is running the choice that they were offered. Your write-up is the input to the decision, so its worth depends on being visibly uninfluenced, and saying the offer was made costs nothing. It beats refusing the tickets politely and keeping the approach to yourself, because the offer itself is information the people choosing would want. It beats accepting the tickets but asking to be taken off the write-up, because stepping aside costs the team its only witness to both trials while you keep the thing that created the problem. The least effective response is accepting the tickets and keeping your write-up neutral: it is worse than either of the other two, because both end with you uninfluenced or off the decision, while this has you taking a personal benefit from a firm whose fate you are about to write up. The principle: when you hold a say in who wins, decline what is offered and tell the people who own the choice that it was offered.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a security analyst. A team leader emails asking whether her team can be given access to a shared folder of contracts, and copies four of her own staff. Access to that system belongs to a different team. You know from a conversation last week that the folder is being restructured next month, which will change the answer. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send her email straight to the team who own the system and drop off the thread, since the access decision is theirs and they will reply to her when they reach it.
   2. Reply to her alone with the right team's address, and leave the four copied staff out of it so that a routing detail does not go to five people.
   3. Reply to all saying the request is with the right team, without mentioning the restructure, which is not settled and would only complicate a simple question.
   4. Reply to all today, name the team who own the access, say the folder is being restructured next month so the answer may change, and introduce her to them.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Reply to all today, name the team who own the access, say the folder is being restructured next month so the answer may change, and introduce her to them.

   Least effective: A. Send her email straight to the team who own the system and drop off the thread, since the access decision is theirs and they will reply to her when they reach it.

   A: Passes the problem on without owning it: she wrote to you, gets no reply from you, and the restructure that changes her answer is mentioned to nobody.

   B: Narrows the audience she chose: she copied four people deliberately, and they are left watching a question that appears to have gone unanswered.

   C: Withholds the fact that changes the answer: her team may be given access next month to a folder that will not exist in that form.

   The most effective response is to reply to all today, name the team who own the access, say the folder is being restructured next month so the answer may change, and introduce her to them. She needs the right owner, an introduction and the restructure, and the people she copied need them too. It beats replying to her alone with the right team’s address, because she chose to copy four colleagues and dropping them leaves four people with an unanswered question. It beats replying to all without mentioning the restructure, because that is the fact that makes next month’s answer different. The least effective response is sending her email straight to the team who own the system and dropping off the thread: it is worse than either of the other two, because both reply to her, while this leaves the thread entirely and takes the restructure with it. The principle: reply to the audience the question was asked in front of, name the owner, and pass on the fact that changes the answer.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a support analyst. You agreed to sit with a customer’s new starter at eleven to set up her account, after two written guides confused her. At half past ten you are asked to join a call about next month’s rota, expected to last an hour. A colleague is free at eleven and has never met her. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say you have an eleven o'clock with a customer who has already been confused twice, and ask whether the rota call can take you afterwards instead.
   2. Join the rota call and email her now offering twelve o'clock instead, apologising for moving an appointment at half an hour's notice.
   3. Ask a colleague to take the eleven o'clock instead, since he is free at that time and she at least gets somebody at the hour she was promised.
   4. Start the setup at eleven and leave the rota call after twenty minutes, so that both of them get some of your time this morning.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Say you have an eleven o'clock with a customer who has already been confused twice, and ask whether the rota call can take you afterwards instead.

   Least effective: C. Ask a colleague to take the eleven o'clock instead, since he is free at that time and she at least gets somebody at the hour she was promised.

   B: Moves the customer rather than the internal call: it is honest, and the person who has already been failed twice absorbs the inconvenience again.

   C: Passes the customer to somebody with no context: two guides have already failed her, and this makes the third attempt another fresh start.

   D: Splits an hour neither task can spare: she gets a hurried start and the rota discussion loses you before it reaches next month.

   The most effective response is to say you have an eleven o’clock with a customer who has already been confused twice, and ask whether the rota call can take you afterwards. The rota call is about next month, the eleven o’clock is a third attempt at something that has failed twice, and the person who called the meeting cannot weigh that without being told. It beats joining the rota call and offering her twelve o’clock instead, because moving her again is cheapest for the team and most expensive for her. It beats starting the setup at eleven and leaving the rota call after twenty minutes, because a hurried setup is the same failure as the two guides. The least effective response is asking a colleague to take the eleven o’clock: it is worse than either of the other two, because one tells her honestly and the other keeps the person she needs, while this hands somebody confused twice to a colleague who has never met her. The principle: when a customer commitment collides with an internal meeting, take the collision to whoever called the meeting, with the history that makes it one.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a build engineer. Changes to the payments service need a second engineer’s approval before they go out, and the only other engineer who knows it is on annual leave for a week. A change is waiting that a customer has been promised for Friday. Your team lead is contactable but has not been asked about any of this. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Wait the week for the second engineer to return, and let Friday go past without saying anything to the customer until there is something to tell them.
    2. Ask a colleague from another team to give the approval, on the basis that a second pair of eyes is a second pair of eyes whoever they happen to belong to.
    3. Put the change out with only your own approval, since the second signature is a formality when there is nobody available to give it and Friday was promised.
    4. Take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide between a substitute and moving the date.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide between a substitute and moving the date.

    Least effective: C. Put the change out with only your own approval, since the second signature is a formality when there is nobody available to give it and Friday was promised.

    A: Absorbs a broken promise in silence: waiting is the safe technical choice and the customer finds out by Friday arriving with nothing on it.

    B: Satisfies the form and not the purpose: the rule asks for somebody who knows payments, and this produces an approval from somebody who does not.

    C: Breaches a control to make a date: the rule exists precisely for the week when the other engineer is away, and the promise was made without checking it.

    The most effective response is to take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide. There are two live problems, an approval that cannot be given and a promise that cannot be kept, and both belong to somebody who has not been told either exists. It beats waiting the week for the second engineer and letting Friday pass without telling the customer, because that turns a schedule problem into a broken commitment. It beats asking a colleague from another team to give the approval, because it is meant to come from somebody who knows the payments service. The least effective response is putting the change out with only your own approval: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the control intact, expensively or imperfectly, while this decides that a rule written for exactly this week does not apply. The principle: when a control blocks a promise, both belong to whoever owns them, and neither is yours to set aside.