What Is the Mettl Test? Mercer | Mettl Assessments Explained
The Mettl test is Mercer | Mettl's online hiring assessment platform. See what its cognitive ability tests measure, their formats, and how proctoring works.
Dr. Russell T. WarneChief Scientist
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The Mettl test is not one test. Mercer | Mettl is an online assessment platform whose library spans cognitive ability, personality, coding, and technical skills, delivered in the browser under AI-based remote proctoring. When an employer sends you "a Mettl test," it is usually one of the platform's cognitive assessments: the flagship ready-to-use version runs 44 questions in 60 minutes and targets "critical thinking" and "abstract reasoning." This article covers what the tests contain, how the proctoring works, who owns the company, and what a Mettl score can and cannot tell you about intelligence.
What a Mettl cognitive test looks like
Mettl's cognitive line frames mental ability broadly, as "perception, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and verbal skills," and packages it into role-targeted tests. The flagship Cognitive Ability Test is 44 questions in 60 minutes at moderate difficulty, aimed at early-career hiring, and is offered in about ten languages. Around it sits a catalog of narrower modules, as listed by the vendor:
• Numerical reasoning: 21 questions, 30 minutes.
• Abstract reasoning: 33 questions, 40 minutes.
• Critical thinking: 30 questions, 30 minutes, built around drawing conclusions, evaluating arguments, and recognizing assumptions.
• Cognitive speed: 196 rapid items in 75 minutes.
• Verbal reasoning and verbal ability: 10 questions in 15 minutes, or 36 in 60 for the longer form.
Employers can also configure custom batteries, so the version you meet may differ from any public spec sheet. Mettl revises its catalog often; the numbers above are the vendor's own listings as of this writing.
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Mettl tests are taken remotely on a computer or smart device, and the platform leans heavily on anti-cheating technology: an AI proctoring system the vendor calls "SecureProctor" watches the webcam feed for extra faces and wandering eyes, and a lockdown tool, "Mettl Secure Browser," blocks other applications during the test. The company says its assessments are used by more than 6,000 clients across corporate hiring and university examinations. If you are scheduled for one, expect an identity check, a webcam requirement, and a quiet room.
Who is behind Mettl
Mettl was founded in 2010 in Gurgaon, India, by Ketan Kapoor and Tonmoy Shingal, and grew into one of India's largest online assessment companies. In October 2018 the consulting firm Mercer, part of Marsh & McLennan, acquired Mettl as its first purchase in the talent-assessment market, and the product has traded as Mercer | Mettl since. That put Mettl in the same corporate arena as SHL, Kenexa, and the other big employment-testing brands, though Mettl's center of gravity remains high-volume online screening and proctored examinations.
Is the Mettl test an IQ test?
No. Mettl's cognitive tests sample real mental abilities, and composites of numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning are classic measures of general cognitive ability, the trait a century of industrial psychology finds among the best predictors of job performance. But a role-targeted screen scored against an applicant pool is not an IQ test: Mettl publishes no public technical manual, no reliability coefficients, and no nationally representative norms, so a Mettl result tells an employer how you compared to other candidates, not where you stand on the IQ scale. Treat any "average Mettl score" table on a prep site as invented; none of it comes from the vendor.
If you want an actual cognitive profile rather than a pass-fail screen, the Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test from RIOT IQ measures six abilities separately with norms from real test-takers, and you can take a free IQ test to see it end to end. For the general category these screens belong to, see our guide to what an aptitude test is.
Frequently asked questions
What is on the Mettl cognitive ability test?
The vendor's ready-to-use version has 44 questions in 60 minutes covering critical thinking and abstract reasoning. Employers can swap in other modules, from numerical reasoning to cognitive speed, so formats vary by company.
Is the Mettl test proctored?
Almost always. Mettl's SecureProctor AI monitors the webcam and microphone, and the Mettl Secure Browser locks down your machine. Flags go to a human reviewer or the employer.
Who owns Mettl?
Mercer, the consulting arm of Marsh & McLennan, which acquired the company in October 2018. The brand is now Mercer | Mettl.
Is the Mettl test hard?
The vendor rates the flagship cognitive test "moderate." The practical difficulty is time pressure, a little over a minute per question, which is typical of employment screens like the CCAT and the Wonderlic.
Does a Mettl score tell me my IQ?
No. It is scored against the employer's applicant or benchmark group, not IQ norms, and no conversion to IQ is published or possible.
References
1. Mercer | Mettl. (2026). Cognitive Ability Test for hiring. mettl.com
2. Mercer | Mettl. (2026). Cognitive assessments: Test library and proctoring. mettl.com
3. Mercer. (2018, October 8). Mercer invests in global talent assessment market with acquisition of Mettl in India [Press release]. fccihk.com
4. Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.262
Photo: U.S. Navy (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Regina L. Brown), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
