A Skills Assessment Test Free PDF Should Match Why You Are Testing

Search skills assessment test free PDF and the results mix two kinds of document. One is a basic skills test, which checks the reading, grammar and math you learned in school. The other is a skills worksheet, which asks you to list what you can do and rate yourself on it. They do different jobs, and printing the wrong one can waste a week of practice.

What Can I Expect from a Skills Assessment Test?

If a trade school, a training program or an employer sent you a test link, expect a short, timed, multiple-choice test. The two you are most likely to meet:

• Wonderlic Basic Skills Test (WBST): a verbal section of 50 questions and a quantitative section of 45, 20 minutes each, with four answer choices per question. Official scores for each section run from 0 to 500.
• Criteria Basic Skills Test (CBST): 40 questions in 20 minutes covering spelling, grammar, vocabulary, reading and arithmetic, reported as a raw count out of 40 plus a percentile.

Both are speed tests, so your score depends on pace as much as on what you know. Colleges admitting adults without a high school diploma often use a third test instead: ACCUPLACER is on the federal list of approved ability-to-benefit tests, which decides who can get federal student aid without a diploma.

How Do I Test My Skills?

Start with who needs the answer. If someone else needs proof of learned skills, take a timed practice test under test conditions and score it against a key. If the answer is for you, fill in a skills assessment worksheet PDF, then back each rating with evidence: a project you finished, feedback you got, a task someone relied on you for. A 4 out of 5 with no example behind it is a guess.

Printable Skills Assessment Worksheet PDF: Rate It, Prove It, Then Choose

The rows below are the ten basic skills O*NET uses to describe every job. Rate each from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong). The evidence column is not optional: a rating with no example gets crossed out. This is also a working transferable skills assessment worksheet PDF, because these ten skills carry into almost any job.

1. Reading comprehension: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
2. Active listening: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
3. Writing: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
4. Speaking: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
5. Mathematics: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
6. Science: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
7. Critical thinking: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
8. Active learning: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
9. Learning strategies: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________
10. Monitoring: rating 1 2 3 4 5 · evidence (required): ________________

Tiebreak. Where two skills got the same number, settle it with a forced choice. Both options are fine; pick the one you would rather do on a Monday morning:

1. Explain a process to a new coworker or Fix a mistake in a spreadsheet?
2. Read a long manual before starting or Start and learn by trying?
3. Talk an upset customer through a problem or Check a column of figures?
4. Write the summary email after a meeting or Run the meeting itself?

Neither document tells you what you are naturally strongest at, or which work would still suit you in five years. A practice test measures recall under a clock. A worksheet measures your self-image on the afternoon you fill it in. The sections further down cover what measures the rest.

These 22 questions are our own, modeled on the WBST and CBST. They are not real test items, and no publisher releases its live questions. Eleven are verbal and eleven are math, and three of the math items make you read a small table, the way the real quantitative section does.

Download the free skills assessment test PDF (4 pages: all 22 questions, the answer key with a reason for each answer, and the skills inventory worksheet). Print it, fold the key under, and time yourself.

Match the real pace. The WBST gives you 20 minutes for 50 verbal questions and 20 minutes for 45 math questions, about 24 and 27 seconds a question. Give yourself 5 minutes for each set of eleven below: pencil and scrap paper, no calculator.

Verbal: basic skills test sample questions

1. Which word means nearly the same as RELUCTANT? (a) unwilling (b) eager (c) tired (d) careful
2. Which sentence is correct? (a) Each of the drivers have a license. (b) Each of the drivers has a license. (c) Each of the drivers having a license. (d) Each of the drivers were licensed.
3. Which word is spelled correctly? (a) recieve (b) seperate (c) necessary (d) occurence
4. A workshop sign reads: Return all tools to the cage by 4:30 p.m. Late returns are logged. You return a drill at 4:45 p.m. What happens? (a) Nothing (b) The drill is replaced (c) You lose cage access (d) Your return is logged as late
5. Pick the word that fits: The instructions were so ____ that three people asked the same question. (a) clear (b) brief (c) vague (d) accurate
6. Which word means the opposite of SCARCE? (a) rare (b) plentiful (c) small (d) costly
7. Choose the correct words: The manager asked ____ to finish the report. (a) Maria and I (b) Maria and me (c) Maria and myself (d) Maria and mine
8. Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly? (a) The companys policy changed. (b) The company's policy changed. (c) The companys' policy changed. (d) The company policy's changed.
9. A notice reads: Leave requests need two weeks' notice, but a request for one day or less needs only 48 hours. Jon wants Friday off. What is the latest day he can ask? (a) Two weeks before (b) Wednesday (c) Thursday (d) Friday morning
10. Which word is spelled correctly? (a) accomodate (b) definately (c) maintenance (d) embarass
11. Pick the word that fits: She was ____ about the figures and checked them three times. (a) careless (b) meticulous (c) indifferent (d) brief

Math: quantitative sample questions

1. What is three quarters of 48? (a) 12 (b) 32 (c) 36 (d) 40
2. A jacket priced at $24 is marked down 25 percent. What does it cost now? (a) $6 (b) $18 (c) $19 (d) $20
3. If 2x + 7 = 19, what is x? (a) 6 (b) 5 (c) 7 (d) 13
4. A shift pays $18.50 an hour. What do you earn for 6 hours? (a) $101 (b) $108 (c) $114 (d) $111
5. A store took 12 orders on Monday, 18 on Tuesday and 15 on Wednesday. What was the average per day? (a) 14 (b) 15 (c) 16 (d) 45
6. Which is largest? (a) 0.6 (b) 5/8 (c) 58% (d) 3/5
7. A recipe uses 3 cups of flour for 12 muffins. How many cups for 30 muffins? (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 7.5 (d) 9
8. You earn $15 an hour and 1.5 times that for every hour over 40. What do you earn for 44 hours? (a) $660 (b) $675 (c) $690 (d) $720

Table reading: weekly orders at a small warehouse

• Week 1: 120 orders
• Week 2: 150 orders
• Week 3: 90 orders
• Week 4: 140 orders

1. Use the orders table. Which week had the fewest orders? (a) Week 1 (b) Week 2 (c) Week 3 (d) Week 4
2. Use the orders table. By what percent did orders rise from Week 1 to Week 2? (a) 20% (b) 25% (c) 30% (d) 15%
3. Use the orders table. How many orders came in across all four weeks? (a) 450 (b) 500 (c) 510 (d) 540

Answer key, with the reason for each answer:

1. 1 a. Reluctant means you do not want to do something.
2. 2 b. The subject is each, which is singular, so the verb is has.
3. 3 c. The others should read receive, separate and occurrence.
4. 4 d. The sign names one result for a late return: it is logged.
5. 5 c. Only unclear instructions would make three people ask the same thing.
6. 6 b. Scarce means in short supply, so the opposite is plentiful.
7. 7 b. The pair receives the action, so it takes the object form me.
8. 8 b. One company owns the policy, so the apostrophe goes before the s.
9. 9 b. One day off needs 48 hours, and 48 hours before Friday is Wednesday.
10. 10 c. The others should read accommodate, definitely and embarrass.
11. 11 b. Checking three times shows great care, which is what meticulous means.
12. 12 c. 48 divided by 4 is 12, and 12 times 3 is 36.
13. 13 b. 25 percent of $24 is $6, and $24 minus $6 is $18.
14. 14 a. Take 7 from both sides to get 2x = 12, so x = 6.
15. 15 d. 6 times $18 is $108, plus 6 times 50 cents is $3, for $111.
16. 16 b. The total is 45, and 45 divided by 3 days is 15.
17. 17 b. 5/8 is 0.625; the others are 0.6, 0.58 and 0.6.
18. 18 c. That is a quarter cup per muffin, and 30 quarters make 7.5.
19. 19 c. 40 hours pay $600, and 4 overtime hours at $22.50 pay $90.
20. 20 c. Week 3 has 90, the smallest number in the column.
21. 21 b. The rise is 30 orders, and 30 is a quarter of 120.
22. 22 b. 120 + 150 + 90 + 140 = 500.

Questions 1 to 3, 6 to 8 and 10 test word meaning, grammar and spelling directly. Questions 4 and 9 put reading inside a work task. Questions 12 to 19 are arithmetic and simple algebra, and 20 to 22 are table reading. If most of your misses fall in one group, that is where your practice time goes.

Can I Use a Calculator on the Basic Skills Test?

Not on the WBST. Wonderlic's test administrator manual says that under no circumstances may test takers use a calculator, a phone, a computer or any other problem-solving device, and using one counts as cheating. For the CBST, calculator rules depend on who gives the test, so ask the person who sent you the link. Either way, practice without one. Free arithmetic practice on Khan Academy covers fractions, percents and decimals, where most people run short of time.

How Long Is the WBST and How Many Sections Does It Have?

The WBST has two sections, verbal and quantitative, with a 20 minute limit on each. The verbal section has 50 questions and the quantitative section has 45. Add time for filling in the answer sheet and a few practice items, and the whole sitting takes a little under an hour. The verbal section covers word meaning, grammar and reading. The quantitative section covers arithmetic, simple algebra and reading numbers from tables and charts.

Free WBST and CBST Practice PDFs From the Test Makers

Once you have worked the set above, move to the official material:

• WBST verbal practice test, Form VS-B and WBST quantitative practice test, Form QS-A, both Wonderlic booklets posted by South Seattle College, with answers inside the back cover.
• Wonderlic's own WBST page, which describes what each section covers.
• Criteria's free practice tests, the publisher's own warm-up for its math and verbal screens.
• The 123test competency test, a free online self-assessment if you want a rating of workplace competencies rather than a school-skills test.

Scoring a paper test takes five minutes, and done carefully it tells you more than the final number. Here is how to score a skills assessment test PDF so the result points to your next practice session.

1. Mark against the key. Count correct answers only. Blank and wrong answers both score zero.
2. Work out two percentages. Divide correct answers by the total number of questions. That is your score. Then divide correct answers by the number you attempted. That is your accuracy.
3. Read the two together. High accuracy with few attempted means you know the material and need speed. Many attempted with low accuracy means you are rushing. Low on both means go back to the content first.
4. Tally misses by type. Sort each miss into word meaning, grammar, reading, arithmetic, algebra or tables. The biggest pile is your first study topic.

A percent on a practice sheet is a rough guide, not an official result. Official WBST scores run from 0 to 500 for each section, as Wonderlic's manual sets out, and Wonderlic converts your answers to that scale from its own norms. You cannot rebuild that conversion at your kitchen table.

What Is a Passing Score on the Basic Skills Test?

No single pass mark applies everywhere. The program or employer that asks for the test sets its own cut-off, and it can change by role. Typical bars you will meet:

• CBST:Criteria's product page gives an example cut-off of 28 out of 40, which is 70 percent. The CBST score report also shows a percentile, so an employer may compare you with other applicants instead.
• ACCUPLACER for federal aid: the federal list sets Reading 233, Writing 235 and Arithmetic 230.
• WBST for program entry: anywhere from the old federal floor of 200 verbal and 210 quantitative up to 325 and 315, the bar Smith Chason College sets for its bachelor's programs.

Use 70 percent on the practice set above as your target, then ask for the real number in writing.

What Is a Passing Score on the WBST?

For federal aid it used to be fixed: 200 on the verbal section and 210 on the quantitative section, earned in the same sitting. That rule ended with the WBST's federal approval. The Department of Education's notice lists the WBST as approved for ability-to-benefit use from October 25, 1996 through March 31, 2023, and no longer approved after that. Schools and employers that still use it now set their own bar.

Retakes. Wonderlic's rules let you retest on the alternate form the same day, after a break. The same form can be repeated only after 60 days, and only once in 12 months. Schools add their own limits, so ask before you book.

How Do I Find a Skill I'm Good At?

Look for the tasks you finish quicker than others do and with less strain, the questions coworkers bring to you, and the problems you pick up when nobody asked. Those three places show strengths more honestly than a list of skills you would like to have.

Rating scales make this harder than it looks. People filling in a 1 to 5 worksheet drift toward the answer that sounds good, a habit researchers call social desirability bias. A forced-choice question removes that pull, because both options sound fine and you still have to pick one. That is why the worksheet above ends with tiebreak pairs: one honest choice says more than two 4s.

The search for a skills assessment test free PDF brings in four kinds of reader, and each one needs a different part of this guide.

Trade school and program applicants

An apprenticeship, a nursing assistant course or a trade program asked for a basic skills score. Work the sample questions under a timer, score them with the steps above, and ask admissions for their cut-off. If the program uses a different test, our guide to academic skills assessment tests covers the TEAS and the Praxis Core.

Entry-level job seekers with a test link

A clerical, warehouse or customer service employer sent a CBST or a similar screen. Twenty minutes, 40 questions, no second chances. Practice pace more than content, since most people know the material and lose points to the clock.

Career changers taking stock

You have ten or more years of work behind you and want to know what carries over. A transferable skills assessment worksheet PDF is a sound first step: the worksheet near the top of this page lists the ten basic skills every job draws on, with an evidence column and tiebreaks. Our piece on which transferable skills travel helps you sort them, and the CareerOneStop skills assessment turns self-ratings into job matches for free. This is also the reader Pigment was built for; the median Pigment user has around thirteen years of work experience.

Counselors, teachers and managers printing for a group

You need one sheet a whole room can take and score. The PDF prints on four pages, with the key on its own sheet, and the scoring steps work as a class exercise. For workplace reviews, a free employee skills assessment template with a scoring rubric fits better.

How Long Do I Need to Prepare for a Skills Assessment Test?

Most people with a high school education need about a week of 30 to 45 minute sessions. Here is a free seven-day plan built on the 22 questions above:

1. Day 1: Take both sets cold, timed, and score them with the four steps.
2. Day 2: Fractions, decimals and percents, 30 minutes, no calculator.
3. Day 3: Grammar: subject and verb agreement, pronouns, apostrophes, spelling.
4. Day 4: Word problems, overtime and markdown sums, one-step equations.
5. Day 5: Reading short passages, tables and charts, then answering in under 30 seconds.
6. Day 6: One full official practice booklet from the links above, timed. Tally misses by type.
7. Day 7: Light review of your biggest pile of misses, then rest.

If Day 1 lands under half, give yourself two weeks and repeat Days 2 to 5.

Is a Free Skills Assessment Test PDF Accurate?

As practice, yes, if the questions match the real test's format and you keep to the time limit. As a prediction, only roughly. Official scores are scaled against large norm groups, and a free sheet of twenty or forty items cannot reproduce that. A self-rated worksheet is less exact again, because the only person grading it is you.

Where Can I Download a Free Basic Skills Assessment Test PDF With Answers?

Our free PDF has 22 questions, an explained key and a worksheet. For full-length sets, use the Wonderlic booklets South Seattle College posts, linked in the sample questions section. Some document sites host copies of older sample sheets, though many sit behind an account wall. If the test is about software rather than reading and math, try our basic computer skills assessment PDF, which has its own answer key.

Take the Next Step After Your Skills Assessment Test PDF

With the test done, one question remains: which of the skills you proved do you want to spend your working days on, and in what kind of workplace? A practice sheet has no answer for that, and a second sheet will not help. The Pigment career test takes it on directly. It does not test aptitude and it is not for hiring, and researchers have not yet finished formally validating it, so weigh it alongside conversations with people who do the work you are eyeing.

Know What Your Skills Are For

Your practice score shows what you learned. Pigment's career test has no answer key and no rating scale: each question makes you give up one reasonable option to keep another, such as a steady routine against a new problem every day. It then reports how you work and the jobs worth a look. $79.99.

See the Pigment career test