There are two Accenture assessments. Work out which one you are sitting before you practise

Candidate reports of Accenture's fresher "cognitive and technical" assessment describe aptitude and reasoning, verbal ability and logical questions on a tight clock. The CCAT practice test mixes verbal, math, logic and spatial questions under a hard time limit, which is the nearest free rehearsal of that cognitive block.

Accenture's own careers page describes a coding-based technical assessment, taken in one sitting, with HackerRank for practice. Reported fresher tests also include pseudo-code, MS Office, networking and cloud questions and a spoken communication test. A CCAT-style test covers none of that. Which assessment you get depends on country and role.

The first thing to settle is which test is coming. Accenture's careers page describes an online technical assessment: a coding environment designed to resemble real engineering tasks, taken in one sitting, usually within 72 hours, with a time limit between roughly 30 and 90 minutes. It says these assessments check problem-solving, logical reasoning and applied technical knowledge.

Separately, guides and candidate reports describe an Accenture fresher process that opens with a cognitive and technical assessment of about 90 minutes, then a coding round, a spoken-English test and a short interview. The cognitive block is aptitude and reasoning plus verbal ability. The technical block is MS Office, pseudo-code and IT fundamentals.

The invitation names your assessment. If it says HackerRank or a coding challenge, your preparation is mostly code. If it says cognitive and technical, or lists aptitude, reasoning and verbal sections, then a timed cognitive practice test is a sensible part of the plan.

Candidates describe questions on aptitude and reasoning and on verbal ability, taken against a fixed clock. The CCAT practice test is a free, fully timed test of exactly that mix: verbal, math, logic and spatial questions, 50 of them in 15 minutes. It is harder on time than a typical fresher section, which makes it a good stretch.

It will not tell you how many questions Accenture sets or where your cut-off sits, because Accenture does not publish either. Guides say that question counts, timers and cut-offs change between drives and locations. What the CCAT can do is show you which of verbal, math and logic loses you the most points, so you know where to spend the week.

Accenture's careers page says external AI tools are not allowed in the assessment, and that using AI to complete it is not permitted unless explicitly stated. Some coding questions may include a built-in AI assistant, which is visibly labelled. If one is labelled, it is part of the test. If none is, nothing else is allowed.

Use AI to learn while you prepare, then do your final practice runs without it, so you know where you stand.

If you do not pass, Accenture says you must wait at least 90 days before retaking the same assessment, and that applies even if you apply for a different role that requires it. Three months is a long time in a hiring season.

That is the strongest argument for treating the real assessment as the exam and the practice as the rehearsal. Do the sample test on HackerRank that Accenture links, a full timed cognitive run, and a pseudo-code session before you open the invitation, not after.

Pseudo-code, networking basics, cloud and cybersecurity fundamentals and MS Office questions are described by candidates for the fresher assessment. A reasoning test does nothing for these. The shortest route is to read a short primer for each and do a few dozen practice questions, treating them as a separate task with its own evening.

For the coding side, Accenture's advice is to use HackerRank to get used to the interface. Reviewers care about how you approach problems and build your solution, not only whether the final answer is correct, so leave comments and work in readable steps.

Accenture's careers page states that no one is ever required to pay for employment at Accenture. If anyone asks you for money to sit an assessment or secure a role, it is not Accenture. Use only the careers site and the email addresses on it.

These come from anonymous reviews, university careers pages and prep guides. They often disagree, and Accenture has not confirmed them. Read them as leads, not rules.

• Several guides describe a 90-minute online, proctored cognitive and technical assessment for freshers, followed by a coding round, a spoken communication test and an interview.
• Guides and candidates report aptitude and reasoning, verbal ability, proficiency in common software such as MS Office, pseudo-code analysis, and basics of networking, cybersecurity and cloud.
• One guide says the Associate Software Engineer track is the mass-hiring role with a lower cut-off and the Analyst track has fewer seats and a higher one. These are not Accenture figures.
• Guides note that exact section counts, timers and cut-offs change between drives, so treat any fixed number from a forum as indicative.