AI in graduate assessments: what employers say you can do, and what they do themselves

Where employers address candidate AI use at all, they ban it for the assessment itself. Deloitte says online assessments must be completed independently and without AI assistance. Network Rail, Mott MacDonald and GCHQ say the same in their own words, and GCHQ adds that it may ask you to retake under controlled conditions.

The pattern in the table below is consistent. The ban covers the live test, and some employers extend it to interview answers and written responses. Treat the invitation email as the final word, because it can be stricter than a careers page.

Aldi is the clearest example: it says you are welcome to use AI tools to prepare for your interview, and it does not say AI is allowed on the online tests. That is a useful template. Preparation help is generally fine where the employer addresses it, and live-test help is generally not.

Be careful with the written parts. Pinsent Masons says AI-generated responses cannot be used in its blended assessment, including answers you have modified. Zurich UK says applications that use AI-generated responses will not be considered.

The employer-side statements are more varied. Lloyds says a person reviews video responses, with no AI scoring. Clifford Chance says it does not use AI to screen applications or make hiring decisions. BT Group says its five written answers are scored with AI support and a recruiter reviews the video answer.

BAE Systems describes graduate screening as automated decision-making against a pass or fail score. Mott MacDonald asks for your consent to automated decision-making before the assessment. Standard Chartered says an automated score is compared with a level set in advance by people.

If a human reads your video answer, clarity and warmth count. If AI supports the scoring of a written answer, as BT states, plain structure and specific detail serve you best: answer the question asked, give one concrete example and say what you did.

None of these statements tells you how a score is calculated, and we have not found any employer that does. Be wary of any site that claims to know exactly how an employer's AI marks answers.

Most employers on this site say nothing about AI in either direction. Silence is not permission. If your invitation does not mention it, assume the usual integrity expectation applies, and complete the work yourself.

If you need a reasonable adjustment, ask the employer rather than reaching for a tool. See the public sector guide for how several employers handle requests.