KPMG 2028 online assessment guide

Key facts

• Assessment: Two online assessments on SHL, sent automatically once you submit your application: a skills assessment, then a cognitive assessment.^2,3,4
• Skills assessment: Scenarios about how you would think, feel or respond at work, where you pick the answer most like you. There is no clock; allow about 20 minutes.²
• Cognitive assessment: Numerical and logical reasoning: you interpret information, complete numerical calculations and draw logical conclusions, against a 36-minute clock.^2,4
• Time in all: KPMG allows about 60 minutes for the two assessments together, with practice questions and examples right before the live test.^3,2
• Device: Take it on a desktop or laptop with a good, stable connection. Most browsers work; KPMG recommends Chrome.²
• Feedback: Everyone who completes the assessment receives a personalized skills feedback report, based on the KPMG skills it assessed.^2,5
• Rules: By taking the assessments you confirm you work alone, without help from others or AI. KPMG says it re-tests elements of the online assessments.²
• Next step: Interview selections typically come within two weeks of applying. If your application progresses, you have two live video interviews with business leaders.¹

KPMG reads its assessments against twelve KPMG skills, from career motivation, learning and curiosity, and resilience to critical thinking, inclusive collaboration and integrity.³

What the KPMG online assessment looks like

1. 1

   The invite

   Once you submit your application, the invitation to two online assessments comes automatically. KPMG recruits on a rolling basis and considers candidates as they apply, so take the assessment soon after it arrives rather than near a deadline.^2,1

2. 2

   Practice first

   Practice tests and examples come right before the live assessment, and KPMG points to SHL's behavior-based and general ability practice tests as the most relevant. Do them: the live cognitive test feels like SHL's interactive practice tests. Use a desktop or laptop, Chrome if you can, and a stable connection.^2,5

3. 3

   Part one: the skills assessment

   Scenarios about you at work: how you would think, feel or respond, picking the answer most like you. It shows statements about how you work and asks which describes you best, even when all of them, or none, feel exactly right. There is no clock and no right answer; allow about 20 minutes.^2,4

4. 4

   Part two: the cognitive assessment

   24 questions of numerical and logical reasoning in 36 minutes, about 90 seconds each. The questions are interactive: you rank six people from a chart by dragging number badges, place people into rooms under a set of rules, or complete a sequence of shapes or codes. Most applicants don't finish all 24, so keep moving.^2,5,4,7

5. 5

   Your own work

   By completing the assessments you confirm you did them alone, without help from others or AI. Applicants found sharing assessment content, or using content others shared, are withdrawn, and KPMG says it re-tests elements of the online assessments.²

6. 6

   After you submit

   You receive a personalized skills feedback report on the KPMG skills assessed. Interview selections typically come within two weeks of applying, and if you progress, two live video interviews with business leaders follow within one to two weeks.^2,5,1

Before you open the link

• Apply when you can sit the assessment within a few days: the invite comes automatically once you submit.
• Allow an hour of quiet time: about 20 minutes for the skills assessment and 36 for the cognitive test.
• Use a desktop or laptop with a stable connection, in Chrome if you can.
• Pen and paper ready for the cognitive test: the badges and rooms are only where the answer goes.
• Do the practice questions before the live test, and try SHL's interactive practice tests first.
• Close AI tools and work alone: KPMG does not allow help from either.

The sections, one by one

The two parts look at different things. The skills assessment reads how you work against the KPMG skills; the cognitive assessment measures numerical and logical reasoning, which SHL scores as general ability across inductive, numerical and deductive reasoning, set against a comparison group.^2,3,8

• Most like you: Statements about how you work, and you pick the one that describes you best.
• Rankings: Rank people or items from a chart or figures by dragging number badges into order.
• Rooms and schedules: Place people into rooms or slots so every rule is met.
• Sequences: Complete a sequence of shapes or letter-and-number codes by finding the rule.

Here is each part as it appears in Intervyo, on SHL's player in KPMG's frame. The skills assessment has no clock and no right answers; the cognitive assessment has one clock for the whole test and a right answer to every question.^2,4

1.Skills assessmentUntimed, about 20 min

Scenarios about you at work, where you choose how you would think, feel or respond. It shows statements about how you work and asks which describes you best, and the choice can feel forced: all of them may fit, or none. There is no clock; KPMG suggests allowing 20 minutes.^2,3,4

What it measures: How you prefer to work, read against the KPMG skills, such as learning and curiosity, resilience, initiative, results focus and integrity. There are no right answers, but it is assessed: KPMG reads it against its skills, and it builds your skills feedback report.

How to answer it well

1. 1Think of yourself at work, a job, a club or a group project, as KPMG asks, not of yourself at your best.
2. 2Pick what people who work with you would notice first, not the statement that sounds most like an accountant.
3. 3Statements come back in different company. A steady picture of yourself reads more clearly than one that swings.
4. 4Keep a brisk pace and save your focus for the timed test that follows.

Best guessExpect three statements at a time: the one most like you, then the better of the two left. That is SHL's card in the one public image of this test, and how Intervyo builds it.

2.Cognitive assessment24 questions in 36 min

SHL's interactive reasoning test: 24 questions in 36 minutes, about 90 seconds each. There are no options to pick. You drag number badges to rank people from a chart, click people to see their skills and place them in rooms under a set of rules, or complete a sequence of shapes or codes.^2,5,4,7,8

What it measures: Interpreting information, numerical calculation and logical conclusions, scored as general ability across inductive, numerical and deductive reasoning against a comparison group.

How to answer it well

1. 1Work the numbers on paper first. The badges and rooms are only where you put the answer, so set them once.
2. 2On a rooms question, place the person with the fewest options first, then apply the "cannot work together" rules.
3. 3On a sequence, test one rule on every step already shown before you fill the gap.
4. 4Keep to about 90 seconds a question, and press on rather than stall on one.

Practice items and how to answer them

Practice for KPMG with Intervyo

Start free to practice KPMG questions and track when it opens. Go deeper on KPMG with the pack, or cover every firm you apply to with the Season Pass.

How long to hear back after the online assessment

The test comes straight after you apply, and the wait is after it: KPMG makes interview selections as quickly as possible, typically within two weeks of applying, and interviews follow within one to two weeks of selection.^2,1

1. Aug 14, 2025 (2027 internships)

   Audit and Tax interns

   KPMG's 2027 Audit and Tax internship roles opened.⁹

2. 2025 (2026 intake)

   Graduate applicants

   The cognitive test was 24 questions in 36 minutes on SHL, close to SHL's interactive practice tests. Feedback came for the skills part only, and one applicant then had an email asking for more information before KPMG could proceed.⁵

3. Feb 2025 (summer 2025)

   M&A Summer Analyst, New York

   A video interview and a set of psychometric assessments first; those who passed went straight to a day of back-to-back interviews with an M&A case. Under a month in all.⁶

You can hold at most two active applications and interview for one position at a time, so take the assessment for the role you most want.¹

Best guessIf two weeks pass after the assessment with no interview invite, check your candidate profile and spam folder, then contact the KPMG campus recruiter for your school.

What happens after the online assessment

1. Online application

   About 10 minutes, a resume and an unofficial transcript, and two active applications at most.¹

2. Online assessmentYou are here

   This page. Two online assessments on SHL, sent automatically once you apply: an untimed skills assessment (allow about 20 minutes) and a 36-minute cognitive assessment of numerical and logical reasoning.²

3. Two live video interviews

   With business leaders, usually within one to two weeks of being selected. Laptop or tablet, not a phone.¹

4. Office visit, some offices

   After the video interviews, some offices invite you to visit in person before a decision: you meet your potential colleagues, explore the office and see the culture. Specifics vary by office.¹

5. Offer

   Most decisions are made within two weeks of interviewing.¹

FAQ

Online assessment at other firms

• EY online assessment
• PwC online assessment
• Deloitte online assessment
• Accenture online assessment