National Grid puts the video interview before the games, and both run on HireVue

National Grid's online stages are a recorded video interview and short HireVue games measuring cognitive, emotional and social traits. None is a reasoning paper. Our reasoning test is offered only as a general warm-up for the cognitive side and for the practical activities at the assessment centre.

Game-based assessments do not use multiple-choice questions like ours, and National Grid does not say what each game measures in detail or how it is scored. Practising our test will not reproduce the games. HireVue's candidate support pages, which National Grid links to, are the better guide to the format.

Most employers that use both put the games first and the video later. National Grid's careers pages list the recorded video interview as stage two and the game-based assessments as stage three, so your spoken answers are heard before your game results are seen.

That ordering makes the video a real filter. Treat it as seriously as a live interview: plan your examples, find a quiet room with good light, and do it when you are fresh rather than squeezed between other tasks.

National Grid says the recorded questions are competency-based and assess personality and workstyle, and that you can complete them at any time. Competency questions ask for evidence: a specific time you did something, what you did and what happened.

Prepare examples on safety, teamwork, problem solving and learning from a mistake, which suit an engineering and energy business. National Grid links to HireVue's video interview tips, which are worth a read before you start.

The games are short and measure cognitive, emotional and social traits. They do not test what you know about energy or engineering. You need an internet-connected device and a quiet space, and HireVue's candidate support centre handles technical problems.

There is no answer key to learn. Read each game's instructions, play steadily and avoid trying to guess what the employer wants, which tends to make behaviour inconsistent. Our game-based assessments guide explains how employers use these tools.

National Grid says applications typically open in late November and that many programmes fill quickly, so it advises applying early. Each application covers one programme only, so read the programme pages and choose the best fit before you start.

The form takes about an hour and can be saved and finished later. It asks for some knowledge of National Grid, so read about the business first: what it owns, what it runs and how the energy transition affects it.

The assessment centre includes practical activities. National Grid's pages say it may be virtual or in person, depending on the guidance at the time, and they do not list the exercises.

Many graduate assessment centres combine group work, a presentation or case, and an interview, so prepare for all three until your invitation says otherwise. Practising reading a short brief with figures and presenting a recommendation is the most transferable preparation; our free reasoning test helps with reading data quickly.