The short version
BCG uses online assessments "for some positions", after your application is reviewed and before interviews. What you get depends on where you applied. The main formats named on BCG's pages in 2026 are:
- Casey, officially the Online Case Experience: a chatbot-led business case of about 30 to 35 minutes, run on the HireQuotient platform.
- The Consulting Career Assessment (CCA), built by SHL: a mix of behavioural questions and short reasoning items.
- Numerical, logical and cognitive tests in some European offices and in Australia and New Zealand.
Your invitation will name the test. If it says "online case" or mentions Casey, read the Casey guide. If it says Consulting Career Assessment or SHL, you're taking the CCA.
What BCG says, by office
This table is built from BCG's own recruiting pages for each location, read in September 2026. It covers the offices whose pages describe the step; many offices don't say.
| Office or track | What BCG's page describes |
|---|---|
| United States, Associate | Every applicant takes the CCA (about 30 to 35 minutes, due within 48 hours). Selected candidates then take the online case with Casey (about 35 minutes). |
| US and Canada, advanced degree | The CCA; the US also asks for a video cover letter. No online case is mentioned. |
| Mexico | The Online Case Experience with Casey (about 30 minutes), plus the CCA for Associate applicants. |
| Australia and New Zealand | An online case, then a numerical test for shortlisted candidates. |
| United Kingdom | A short numerical assessment. Casey isn't mentioned. |
| Germany, Austria and Switzerland | A 30-minute cognitive test covering numerical, verbal and logical reasoning, with no tools allowed. |
| Nordics, Visiting Associate | A logical reasoning test: 80 questions in 30 minutes, no calculator. |
Offices change their process between cycles, and a page can lag behind. Your invitation beats this table.
Casey, the chatbot case
Casey is real and current; BCG names it on its Mexico page as the chatbot that guides the Online Case Experience. You work through one business case in a chat window. Casey gives you context and exhibits, then asks questions one at a time. BCG gives about 30 minutes (Mexico) or about 35 minutes (US).
Prep sites that have collected candidate reports broadly agree on the rest:
- Usually 8 to 10 questions in one case, though a couple of sites say 6 to 8.
- Question types include single and multiple choice, typing a number (sometimes with rounding instructions), short written answers, and reading charts or tables.
- You can use your own calculator; none is provided.
- You can't go back or pause. Each answer is final.
- It ends with a recorded video recommendation of about one minute, in one take. Reports differ on how long you get to prepare it: some say about 60 seconds, others a final section of about five minutes.
BCG doesn't publish how Casey is scored. It does say, in general terms, that AI is never used to make hiring decisions. The BCG Casey guide walks through a full case we wrote ourselves.
The Consulting Career Assessment (CCA)
The CCA is the most common first screen for US applicants, by BCG's own account, and it gets much less attention than Casey. BCG's US page says every Associate applicant takes it, it takes about 30 to 35 minutes, and it must be completed within 48 hours of the invitation.
Prep sites describe a sandwich: a behavioural section, then a short block of reasoning questions (about 8 in about 12 minutes, according to one detailed source), then a second behavioural section. The behavioural parts ask how you tend to work; there are no right answers to game, and answering consistently matters more than trying to guess the profile BCG wants. We haven't seen the exact question counts confirmed by two independent sources, so treat them as approximate.
Cognitive and numerical tests
In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, BCG describes a 30-minute test covering numerical, verbal and logical reasoning, mostly multiple choice, with no calculator or other tools. Prep sites put it at around 80 questions, which means well under half a minute each. BCG says it includes a verbal part; two prep sites say it doesn't. Go with BCG, and expect all three.
The UK and the Australia and New Zealand pages describe a numerical test without much detail. Standard numerical reasoning practice (tables, charts, percentages and ratios under time pressure) is the sensible preparation.
What's retired: the Potential Test and Pymetrics
The BCG Potential Test, a paper-style numerical and business reasoning test, still shows up in search results and old forum threads. Several prep sites now describe it as retired, and no current BCG page mentions it. Pymetrics, a set of short behavioural games, was used by some BCG offices in the past; no BCG page we read in 2026 mentions it either, and prep sites disagree on whether any office still uses it. If your invitation names one of these, follow the invitation.
How to prepare
- Find out which test you have. The invitation names it. If you're in the US and haven't heard, expect the CCA first.
- For Casey: practise case math on paper with a calculator: growth rates, margins, break-even, market sizing from a table. Then practise saying a recommendation out loud in under a minute, and record yourself once.
- For the CCA: do a few timed numerical and logical sets so the reasoning block doesn't surprise you, and answer the behavioural parts honestly and consistently.
- For a cognitive test with no calculator: drill mental arithmetic and fast estimation. Speed matters more than depth here.
The numerical and logical skills overlap heavily with our Bain practice sections, which you can use now. Dedicated BCG practice isn't built yet; BCG practice explains what's planned and lets you ask to be told when it launches.
FAQ
What online test does BCG use in 2026?
It depends on the office and role. BCG's pages describe the Casey chatbot case (Online Case Experience), SHL's Consulting Career Assessment, and numerical, logical or cognitive tests in some European offices and in Australia and New Zealand. Your invitation names the test.
Is BCG Casey used in every office?
No. BCG's own pages show Casey in the US (for selected candidates after the CCA), Mexico, and Australia and New Zealand, while the UK, the Nordics and the German-speaking offices describe other tests.
How long is the BCG Casey online case?
BCG gives about 30 minutes on its Mexico page and about 35 minutes on its US page. It ends with a short recorded video recommendation.
What is the BCG Consulting Career Assessment?
An online assessment built by SHL that BCG's US page says every Associate applicant takes. It takes about 30 to 35 minutes and mixes behavioural questions with a short block of reasoning questions.
Does BCG still use the Potential Test or Pymetrics?
Neither appears on BCG's current careers pages. Several prep sites describe the Potential Test as retired and Pymetrics as used only in the past or in a few offices. Follow your invitation if it says otherwise.
Can I use a calculator on BCG's online tests?
For Casey, prep sites agree you can use your own. For the cognitive test in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, BCG says no tools are allowed, and the Nordics logical test is described as no calculator.
Keep going
The BCG Casey guide has the full format and a worked case, with more on Casey math and the final recommendation. The other formats: the Consulting Career Assessment, the cognitive test, and what happened to the Potential Test and Pymetrics. Applying to more than one firm: the three MBB online assessments compared. The other firms: McKinsey Solve and Bain's online test.
Sources we checked for this page: BCG's careers pages for the United States, advanced degree candidates, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and Austria and the Nordics, BCG's application FAQ and its page on AI in hiring, and prep-site reports from MyConsultingCoach, IGotAnOffer, Hacking the Case Interview, MConsultingPrep, Road to Offer, Management Consulted, Prepmatter, StrategyCase and PrepLounge. Where they disagree we've said so above.
SolveForge is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Boston Consulting Group, HireQuotient or SHL. Our guides are written from public information; they contain no real test items. "BCG" and "Boston Consulting Group" are trademarks of their owner. Nothing here guarantees any assessment result.