Royal Mail tells you to practise first. Here is what the tests are and what to practise

Royal Mail says its online tests assess numerical, logical and verbal reasoning, plus personality. Our reasoning test covers numerical tables and verbal passages, which are two of those three.

Royal Mail also tests logical reasoning, and trade press reports checking tests for accuracy and attention to detail; neither is in our reasoning test. Reported timings are much shorter per question than ours. The tests used for frontline roles may differ from those for graduate schemes.

Royal Mail is two recruiters in one. The frontline process, for deliveries, sorting and driving, runs through a short application and online questionnaires that its recruitment overview says take no more than 30 minutes. The graduate and early careers process adds a proper assessment centre. The tests are different sizes for different jobs.

AssessmentDay says the numerical and verbal reasoning tests are specifically tied to corporate and professional programmes, with the mix for other roles varying and sometimes including a situational judgement test. That is a prep site, so read it as a guide and not a rule. What Royal Mail itself says is simpler: online tests assess numerical, logical and verbal reasoning, and personality, and practice runs are recommended.

On its My Future site, Royal Mail recommends a few practice trial runs and links one. That is unusually direct. Take it at its word. Do the link before anything else, because it is the only practice that uses the same interface and question style you will meet.

Then use the free test above to build the habit the practice link will not give you: working steadily against a clock through a long run of questions. Royal Mail's own tests are reported as much shorter than ours, so a full run here is deliberately harder than the real thing.

Royal Mail is reported to use tests from Talent Q. A trade press story on a recruitment overhaul said the company was adding a personality questionnaire plus verbal, numerical and checking tests to hire large numbers of workers every year. That story is old, and providers change, so we cannot say Talent Q is still in use.

Prep sites describe the numerical test as tables of data with instructions, where the time allowed shrinks for each question, starting with about 90 seconds for the first. They describe the verbal test as a couple of paragraphs on a sometimes unusual topic, with a True, False or Cannot say style question. One prep site puts the whole thing at about 12 minutes. These are reports, not facts, and they may describe a particular role.

If the clock shrinks as the test goes on, the lesson is to answer the early questions quickly but carefully. You cannot bank time, because the allowance falls for every question anyway.

Trade press reported checking tests added for accuracy and attention to detail. Those ask you to compare two strings of letters, numbers or addresses quickly and mark any difference. Our reasoning test does not include them, and no amount of table practice builds the skill.

If your invitation names a checking test, practise by comparing two columns of codes against a stopwatch for five minutes a day. It is simple, repetitive and effective.

The practice test above has 25 numerical questions and 25 verbal ones. If your Royal Mail tests include either, that is useful. For the numerical half, say what is being asked before you look at the table. For the verbal half, answer from the passage only. Our verbal reasoning questions and numerical reasoning questions pages set out the method.

Royal Mail says online tests cannot be reused from a previous application because its selection criteria are reviewed and updated constantly. If you applied before and did not progress, you sit them again. That makes practice worth more, because the test you took last time may not be the one you meet now.

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

• AssessmentDay says Royal Mail's numerical and verbal reasoning tests are tied to corporate and professional programmes, with the mix varying by role.
• Trade press reported Royal Mail adding a personality questionnaire and verbal, numerical and checking tests in a recruitment overhaul aimed at hiring thousands of workers a year. It named Talent Q as the supplier of the new tests.
• Prep sites describe the Talent Q numerical test as data tables with instructions and a time allowance that shrinks from about 90 seconds for the first question; one puts the whole test at about 12 minutes.
• Prep sites describe the verbal test as paragraphs followed by a True, False or Cannot say question. Another lists a logical test as well.