Cadet pilot tests check your maths, then your hands: coordination and multitasking tasks decide many selections

Cadet pilot selection almost always includes mental maths and a technical or reasoning test, and often a checking test, alongside coordination tasks. The numerical and logical parts of our reasoning test train quick arithmetic and rule-following under time pressure, and the AFOQT practice test adds aviation-flavoured maths, physical science and table reading.

The parts that decide most cadet selections, such as hand-eye tracking, multitasking with rising workload, spatial orientation in an aircraft and the group exercises and interview, are not in our tests. Use them for the maths and reasoning only, and practise coordination and multitasking with dedicated tools.

Pilot aptitude batteries split into two kinds of task. The first kind looks like any graduate test: mental arithmetic, technical and physics reasoning, reading and checking. The second kind is specific to flying: following a moving target with a joystick, keeping several displays in check while responding to sounds, or judging an aircraft's attitude from its instruments.

Most candidates over-prepare the first half and under-prepare the second. Both matter, and the coordination tasks often get harder as you get better, which is designed to find your limit rather than to let you finish comfortably.

Mental maths in pilot tests is about speed and accuracy: fuel burn, time en route, speed and distance, percentages and unit conversions. Questions are usually simple in principle and tight in time. Candidates report a calculator was allowed in one Speedbird arithmetic test, but do not count on it elsewhere.

Practise until you can multiply and divide two-digit numbers in your head quickly and convert between hours and minutes without thinking. Our AFOQT practice test has aviation-style maths and physical science, and the numerical reasoning test adds data-based questions.

Prep sites name several test systems used across airlines and flight schools. PILAPT is described as known for hand-eye tracking tasks with rising workload. COMPASS, from the pilot testing firm EPST, has a cadet version and an advanced version for experienced pilots, with a session reported at 90 minutes to two hours. cut-e (now part of Aon) and ADAPT are also named.

Which one you sit depends on the scheme and its partner school, and airlines do not always say. Ask, or read recent candidate accounts for your scheme. If you cannot find out, practise the common types: tracking, multitasking, spatial orientation, instrument reading, maths and memory.

Generation easyJet is run with CAE. easyJet describes aptitude testing with motor and spatial tests and computer-based maths and technical tests, and CAE says the assessment is free and that unsuccessful applicants can reapply. Prep and recruitment sites describe a three-step path of application, aptitude testing, then group exercises and interview.

The BA Speedbird Pilot Academy is a fully funded scheme run with partner flight schools, including Skyborne. Candidates report an online first stage with maths, a checking test and a judgement test, a flight-school stage of further aptitude tests, interview and group exercises, then a final assessment with BA. Skyborne showed the scheme closed to applications when we checked, so watch for the next window.

Yes, to a point. Familiarity with the task type removes the shock of the first attempt, and a few hours with tracking and multitasking practice software usually lifts scores. Beyond that, gains come slowly. Sleep, a calm warm-up and a comfortable seat and joystick position matter on the day.

Avoid overdoing it in the week before. Fatigue shows up in tracking tasks faster than anywhere else.

These come from anonymous reviews, university careers pages and prep guides. They often disagree, and Cadet pilot (UK and Europe) has not confirmed them. Read them as leads, not rules.

• Prep sites say the PILAPT battery is used by several airlines and is known for hand-eye tracking with rising workload; one prep site says British Airways uses its own test for some routes, so accounts conflict.
• A candidate report describes the Speedbird first stage as a timed, calculator-allowed arithmetic test and an online checking test.
• Prep sites describe COMPASS sessions as lasting 90 minutes to two hours.