Network Rail builds your online tests around the scheme you pick. Here is how to prepare for the reasoning part

Network Rail says its online tests always have an ability element, such as numerical or logical reasoning items. Our reasoning test covers the numerical side with tables and charts, and the CCAT practice test covers number series and logic under a harder clock.

Network Rail does not say how many questions you get, how long each activity runs or which items belong to which scheme. Some activities add behavioural questions, which no reasoning drill can rehearse. The tests are also remotely invigilated, which our practice test is not.

Network Rail runs graduate schemes in areas as different as civil engineering, finance, operations management, IT and network strategy. Its application guidance says the online tests relate to the scheme you are applying for. In practice that means two applicants to the same employer can sit different activities on the same day.

What stays constant is the ability element. Network Rail says the tests always include numerical or logical reasoning items, and that some also carry behavioural questions. It does not publish counts or timings in the pages we read, so we will not guess them. What you can do is prepare for the one thing that is certain, then read your invitation for the rest.

Numerical items in tests like these usually give you a table or chart and ask for a percentage, a change or a ratio. Logical items usually give you a rule hidden in a sequence or a set of statements. The two need different habits: the first rewards a tidy method for sums, the second rewards patience in spotting the rule before you answer.

Take the reasoning test above for the numerical habit. Then try the CCAT practice test for the logical one, because its number series and deduction questions are the closest we have to rule-spotting under pressure. Aim to finish both with a minute to spare rather than to score perfectly. Finishing comfortably is what carries over to a short timed activity you have not seen.

Network Rail says the online tests are remotely invigilated and that, if it cannot verify your identity, it will not be able to consider your application. It recommends a laptop rather than a mobile, a stable connection, and a working webcam and microphone. Treat that as part of the test.

The week before, open the webcam and microphone in another app and confirm that both work. Choose a room where nobody will walk in, clear the desk, and have photo identification within reach. These checks cost ten minutes and remove the most avoidable reason for a failed attempt.

Network Rail tells candidates to use no AI on the online testing component. That is a rule about the live tests, not about how you prepare. Using a chatbot to explain a method you missed in practice is a different act from using one during a test, and the first is the more useful of the two.

The risk is dependence. If you only ever practise with help beside you, the live test will feel slower than it should. Do your final two practice runs closed-book and on the clock, then review.

Some Network Rail activities carry behavioural questions, which are about how you would act at work. There is nothing to calculate. Read each statement for what it assumes about safety, teamwork and responsibility, then answer as you would act. The pages we read do not say how the answers are scored, so the safest preparation is to answer as you would really act.

The video interview asks about motivation and experience. Choose two or three real examples from projects, placements or part-time work, and practise telling each in a minute. For the centre, which may include a presentation, ask the recruiter how long you will have and what the topic is, because the format varies by scheme.