The BCG Quantitative Reasoning Test: guide and practice questions

Overview

The BCG Quantitative Reasoning Test (often just called the BCG Quant) is BCG's numeracy screen. It is a short, tightly timed written assessment that checks whether you can do the kind of fast, accurate mental arithmetic and data interpretation a consultant relies on every day, percentages, ratios, growth rates, reading charts and tables, and translating a word problem into a calculation. In substance it is essentially equivalent to the GRE Quantitative Reasoning section: the same building blocks (algebra, geometry, averages, interpreted graphs), the same level of difficulty, and the same pressure to be both correct and quick. The difference is context, BCG wraps the questions in business framing (revenue, costs, travellers, production lines) so they feel like a slice of the job.

Where you'll meet it

The BCG Quant is especially popular in BCG's London office, where it is used as a first-round screen for experienced hires and MBA hires. If you're applying to London, or to a role that routes through London, you should expect this test to appear early in the process, usually before you get to a live case interview. It lets BCG filter a large candidate pool quickly and objectively on raw quantitative fluency before investing consultant time in interviews. For experienced hires coming from industry, it's often the step that decides whether you advance to the case round; for MBA candidates it sits alongside the CV review as the gateway to first-round interviews. Whenever yours arrives, you can rehearse the full 20-question format in our BCG Quant simulation before test day.

Format & timing

• 20 questions in total.
• 40 minutes, roughly 2 minutes per question, so pace is decisive.
• Most questions require a single numerical entry, you type the answer into a box, rounded as the question instructs (e.g. round to the nearest pound, to 1 decimal place, or as the smallest common fraction).
• Some questions are built around graphical or tabulated data, a bar chart, line graph, or table you must read before you can compute the answer. The data is shown alongside the question.
• Calculators are typically not permitted; scratch paper is. The numbers are chosen to be workable by hand under time pressure.

Question types

The question bank draws on a handful of recurring families. Recognising the family fast is half the battle. Each one links to a worked example further down.

1. Percentages & percentage change. Successive rises and falls, percentage of a percentage, working back to an original figure. Worked example.
2. Algebra / word problems. Translate a sentence into an equation and solve (e.g. two people earning the same amount, find the sales). Often the longest to read, skim for the relationship first. Worked example.
3. Fractions & simplification. Simplify a nested fraction or give an answer as a common fraction. Know your fraction arithmetic cold. Worked example.
4. Geometry. Distance/shortest-path and simple area/volume. Scaling matters: doubling every dimension of a shape multiplies volume by 2³ = 8. Worked example.
5. Averages & cumulative averages. Given an average over part of a period, find the average over the rest. Set up the total-sum equation and solve. Worked example.
6. Graphs / chart reading. Extract values from a bar chart, line graph, or stacked bar, then do a percentage or comparison. Read the axis units (thousands, percentages) before computing. Worked example.
7. CAGR / interest. Compound growth and simple interest. For 2%/year over 3 years, compound; don't just multiply the rate by the years. Worked example.
8. Rates & work. People painting a house, machines producing bottles, trains crossing, combine rates and solve for time or quantity. Worked example.
9. Scenario arithmetic. A bus with passengers getting on and off at each stop, a cafeteria selling cakes per tray per weekday, track the running total carefully. Worked example.

Practice questions with answers

Start with the three below: type your answer and check it on the page, the way the real test takes a single typed number. Then work through one example of each question type. Give yourself two minutes a question, no calculator, and open the method only once you have an answer.

How it's scored

The BCG Quant is scored on number of correct answers, there is no penalty for wrong responses, so you should never leave a blank. The bar to advance is generally high; BCG uses a cut-off that varies by intake, but candidates report needing roughly 70–80%+ correct to clear the screen comfortably. Because the test is short and every question is worth the same, one or two avoidable errors can be the difference between advancing and not, accuracy under fatigue is what the test really measures.

How hard is the BCG Quant test?

The maths itself is school level. What makes it hard is the clock and the missing calculator: about two minutes a question, every answer typed with no options to check against, and arithmetic you would normally hand to a spreadsheet. Candidates who prepared with the GMAT or GRE usually find the content familiar and the pace a step tighter. Here is how the formats compare.

Two differences matter most for preparation. The typed answer means you cannot work backwards from options or eliminate wrong ones, so every calculation has to be finished. And the lack of a calculator rewards a stock of known values: fractions as percentages (1/8 = 12.5%, 1/6 ≈ 16.7%), squares to 20, and growth factors such as 1.1² = 1.21. If you are also sitting the GMAT, its Data Insights section (which replaced Integrated Reasoning) practises the chart and table reading, but it allows a calculator, so do your BCG practice without one.

Strategy and common mistakes

1. Flag and move on. The real test lets you flag a question to revisit. If a question hasn't cracked in ~90 seconds, flag it, guess, and keep moving, you can reclaim the time later on easier questions.
2. Read the rounding instruction. Nearest pound, 1 decimal place, or smallest common fraction: a mathematically correct answer in the wrong form is marked wrong. Underline the instruction before you compute.
3. Estimate first. For chart questions, eyeball the values and estimate the answer before calculating. It catches order-of-magnitude mistakes (thousands vs millions).
4. Set up the equation, then solve. For word problems, write the relationship (e.g. Sarah = 4000 + 0.2·S, Ben = 0.3·S) before touching numbers. Algebra errors beat arithmetic errors.
5. Watch the units. Charts often label axes in thousands ('000s) or as percentages. A correct calculation on the wrong unit is the single most common error.
6. Practise to the clock. 2 minutes per question is unforgiving. The only way to internalise the pace is to sit full 40-minute, 20-question mocks under real conditions, exactly what our simulation provides.

Beyond the unit and rounding slips above, three mistakes come up again and again in practice runs:

• Treating growth as simple. Several years at a rate compound. Three years at 4% is 12.49%, not 12%; ten years at 7% roughly doubles a figure, not adds 70%.
• Reversing a percentage the wrong way. A price after a 25% rise is 125% of the original, so you divide by 1.25 to go back. Taking 25% off the new price undershoots.
• Answering a different question. Absolute change against percentage change, share of the total against change in share, per day against per week. Re-read the last line of the question before you type.

A 7-day prep plan

A week is enough if your school maths is sound and the gap is speed. Spend about an hour a day, and keep 15 minutes of it for mental arithmetic, on the free consulting maths trainer or on paper.

1. Day 1: find your gaps. Answer the nine worked questions above under two minutes each, before opening any method. Note which families cost you time or marks.
2. Day 2: build your number stock. Learn fractions as percentages to twelfths, squares to 20, and the growth factors 1.05², 1.1² and 1.1³. Drill percentage change both ways.
3. Day 3: word problems and averages. Practise writing the equation before any arithmetic, and the total-sum method for averages.
4. Day 4: growth, interest and rates. Compound against simple, combined work rates, and speed, distance and time.
5. Day 5: charts and tables. Read the units first every time, then estimate before you calculate. Practise percentage against absolute comparisons.
6. Day 6: a full timed mock. Sit 20 questions in 40 minutes, no calculator, and review every miss by family.
7. Day 7: pace and rest. Fix your flag-and-move rule at 90 seconds, re-read the rounding traps, and stop early. A tired test-taker loses more marks than a rusty one.

The Quant test vs BCG's other tests

BCG does not use one test everywhere, and candidates often confuse the names. The office and role on your invitation decide which you sit; the invitation's own description is the one to trust.

If your invitation names the Quantitative Reasoning Test, prepare with this guide. If it says "Potential Test", the maths is similar but the format is multiple choice with more reading, so the worked questions above still help.

BCG Casey & what comes next

In several offices, and increasingly for experienced and MBA hires in London, the BCG Quant is paired with Casey, BCG's AI case-chatbot interview. Casey conducts a written, chat-based case interview: you're given a business scenario and you type your structure, maths, and recommendation back and forth with the bot. The Quant screen and Casey test complementary skills, raw numeracy vs. structured case thinking, so BCG often runs them as a one-two gateway to the live case round. If your invitation mentions both, prepare them together: use the Quant simulation to drill speed and accuracy, and save structured-case practice for Casey-style chat. Our BCG Casey guide covers that format.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use a calculator on the BCG Quant test?

No, not in the versions candidates report. You get scratch paper, and the numbers are chosen to be workable by hand. Practise without a calculator from the first day.

Is the BCG Quant test multiple choice?

Mostly not. Most questions ask you to type a single number, rounded as instructed, so you cannot eliminate options or work backwards from them. Some candidates report a few multiple-choice items; the instructions on your test screen are what count.

What score do you need to pass the BCG Quant test?

BCG does not publish a pass mark, and the cut-off varies by intake. Candidates report needing roughly 70 to 80% correct, which is 14 to 16 of the 20 questions, to advance comfortably.

How long is the BCG Quant test?

40 minutes for 20 questions, about two minutes each. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a question blank.

Which BCG offices use the Quant test?

Candidates report it mainly in London, where it screens experienced and MBA hires before the case rounds. Other offices use different screens, such as the Potential Test or Casey, so check your invitation.

How long should you prepare for the BCG Quant test?

One to two weeks is typical. If your arithmetic is rusty, start with daily mental maths; if it is sound, a week of timed question sets and one or two full mocks is usually enough. The 7-day plan above is a good default.

Is the BCG Quant test the same as the BCG Potential Test?

No. Both test business maths, but the Potential Test is multiple choice with more reading, while the Quant test asks for typed numerical answers against a tighter clock. They are used in different offices.