Aptitude Testing for Crown Commercial Service

Aptitude testing at the OASC is the only gateway of the selection process that directly assesses the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills across different specialisations that involve complex operations, high risks of human errors and potential dire consequences for errors made. The OASC aptitude test system consists of a range of computer-based tests. Each test design reflects the various operational requirements and each test measures specifically the cognitive abilities that have been identified as important to training and operational success through detailed task analysis studies. The tests broadly measure seven aptitude domains with Symbolic Reasoning (SR) being one of them. SR is mainly concerned with system diagnosis – the ability to evaluate verbal/numerical information and dynamic scenario (e.g. sequence of events/incidents) to solve problems, make assumptions, draw conclusions and decide on the correct course of action. There are currently two Symbolic Reasoning tests which are primarily concerned with verbal and numerical reasoning. They are well structured with all relevant task information being clear and concise. However, it has been identified through a series of task analyses that a dynamic SR Test, which involves a complex changing system to specifically assess decisiveness, mental agility and practical problem solving, needs to be developed to cover logical reasoning elements currently not covered by the OASC suite of SR test to fully address training requirements across the different specialist branches.