Santander UK opens with games and a video interview. Know which tests might still appear

Santander UK says its first stage is game-based, testing cognitive abilities and conscientiousness, and its advice page says you may also meet a situational judgement test, a numerical test or a verbal reasoning test. Our reasoning test covers the numerical and verbal pair.

Santander does not name the games, the test provider or the order of any reasoning tests. Games and personality-style scales cannot be rehearsed with tables and passages. Treat the reasoning test as preparation for one possible stage rather than the stage itself.

Santander UK says the assessment starts online with three short games and a recorded interview, and that this stage can take up to four weeks. That timescale is not the time you spend: it is the window in which the process runs, from your application to a decision to continue.

The practical reading is that you should keep the window clear. Do not apply in a week with exams, a house move or a heavy shift pattern. A recorded interview done on a bad day cannot be redone.

Santander describes the games as measuring cognitive abilities and conscientiousness. Cognitive games usually ask you to remember, match, count or react quickly on screen. Conscientiousness measures usually ask how carefully and reliably you work. Neither resembles a table of sales figures.

So there is little point in grinding. Sleep properly, use a device that does not lag, close other tabs, and read each instruction fully before the clock starts. If a demo or example round is offered, take it seriously, since that is the only practice you will get.

The tips page says you may be asked to take a situational judgement test, a numerical test or a verbal reasoning test. It does not say you will, and it promises details only on invitation. That is an invitation to prepare lightly, not heavily.

A good compromise is one sitting of the free reasoning test above to learn how quickly you work with tables and passages, then a review of the weakest half. Our how to pass reasoning tests guide shows the methods. Stop there unless your invitation names a numerical or verbal test.

Santander's pre-recorded interview has four to five questions. With a count that small, each answer carries real weight, and generic answers stand out. Prepare one example each for working with others, handling a problem, learning something fast, and why this bank.

Record a practice answer on your phone, watch it once, and fix one thing: pace, eye line or the first sentence. Then stop. Over-rehearsed answers sound recited.

For 2026 Santander UK lists graduate programmes in Global Retail and in Data and AI, reviewed on a rolling basis, with a warning that the window may close early if applications are heavy. It asks for a degree and 112 UCAS points, and says graduate roles are not eligible for sponsorship, so you need existing right to work.

Rolling review rewards speed, but not carelessness. Apply early in the window, with your documents ready, and give the online stage the full uninterrupted time it needs.