Tesco calls its assessment centre a Discovery Centre, and says it is for you to judge Tesco too

Prep sites and candidates describe a gamified or psychometric online assessment before Tesco's video interview, sometimes with maths or judgement questions. Our reasoning test is a fair warm-up for any numerical and logical items you meet there, and for reading scenarios quickly and accurately.

Tesco does not describe the content of its online assessment in what we read, and candidates describe games and scenario questions as often as reasoning. Our test cannot rehearse the video interview or the Discovery Centre group work, which are the stages Tesco itself describes.

Tesco lets you apply for only one programme in each yearly intake. Its application asks why Tesco, why this programme and about one relevant experience. With a single shot, the programme choice and those answers carry real weight. Name the programme's actual work in your answer, using Tesco's own description of the first year, rather than praising the brand in general.

If you have worked with customers, even part time, use it: a concrete example of solving a customer or stock problem is stronger than a general statement of interest in retail.

Tesco does not describe the content of its online assessment on the pages we found. Candidates and prep sites describe a gamified or psychometric assessment, sometimes including maths questions or scenarios about motivation, judgement and problem solving. One guide says Tesco counts the online assessment and the video interview as a single stage.

A sensible plan covers both possibilities. Do one sitting of our free reasoning test for numbers and logic, then read our game-based assessments guide so that a game format does not throw you.

A guide reports recorded questions with 30 seconds to think and 3 minutes to answer, though another older account describes ten questions with a minute each. If you get three minutes, the risk is rambling rather than running short. Plan two clear points and an example, and stop when you have made them; nobody is marked down for finishing early with a complete answer.

Sources disagree on scoring: one says software scores the videos and recommends who progresses, another says a Tesco team member reviews them. Either way, clear speech, a plain background and an answer that addresses the question are what count. Our video interview guide covers set-up.

Tesco describes the Discovery Centre as a virtual day of group tasks and individual work, and as a chance for you to decide whether Tesco is right for you while it assesses your fit for the programme. Candidate reports describe group icebreakers, a group discussion, an individual interview, a presentation and a group challenge, with one account giving a day from 9:00am to 3:30pm.

• Group tasks: speak early, build on others by name, and help the group reach a decision on time.
• Individual work: keep notes on paper so you can look at the camera while you speak.
• Questions for Tesco: prepare two about the programme itself; the day is meant for that.

Tesco tells candidates the outcome after the Discovery Centre. Finance graduate and apprenticeship applicants have a face-to-face interview after the Discovery Centre, and technology applicants have a technical video interview before it. Candidates report that Tesco follows a call with a written feedback report, which is worth keeping whatever the result.

Our retail, logistics and telecoms guide compares Tesco with Aldi, Amazon and others if you are applying to several retailers.

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

• Candidates and prep sites describe the online assessment as gamified or psychometric, sometimes with maths or scenario questions.
• A guide reports 30 seconds to think and 3 minutes to answer each recorded video question.
• One guide says video answers are scored by software, while another says a Tesco team member reviews them.
• A candidate report describes a virtual Discovery Centre from 9:00am to 3:30pm with three exercises.
• A UK guide lists a closing date of 22 December 2026 for the 2027 intake, which we could not verify on Tesco's pages.