Bain Sova did not go so well

Question

I just completed the Bain Sova test for the True North programme (so suited to penulmitate year undergrads) in the London office. After asking for a CV and responses to 2 questions, they invite everyone to complete a Sova test for personality, numerical reasoning and logical reasoning. They say it should take 40 mins. Obviously personality is to just see whether you are a good fit, which I hope I didn't bomb too badly.

But numerical and logical reasoning shocked me. The numerical reasoning was much harder than what I was expecting, especially because i did practice and I used a resource our uni provides which is supposed to fairly accurately simulate the difficulty of sova. The first question in numerical reasoning was fine, as was the second, but the third was much harder and I didn't understand what was going on at all with the table, so flunked the 3 questions associated with it (and spent a great deal of time on it!). The next 2 questions I got were much more manageable. They told us that the assessments were adaptive, so if you were doing well in them, they would bump you up to higher level questions. Perhaps this was the case, but i really flunked that one question, which probably led to being bumped down a difficulty. How would this impact my score? Will I still be competitive?

I saw on threads here that to pass the sova, you need to get 70/80% in each segment, which I am not confident I did. For the 5 numerical questions, i think out of the 3 subsections I got 3/3,2/3,0/3(completely guessed, was so lost and spent so much time),2/3, 3,3. So I reckon I got 10/15 which is 67%

The logical reasoning was slightly better than numerical. Some were slightly more difficult than the ones I have encountered in practice, and others were fine but does this mean I just didn't reach the upper bands of question difficulty because I did not answer them correctly? I would say I probably got 11 or 12 out of 15.

For reference the numerical reasoning took me around 18 minutes I believe and the logical reasoning took me just under 15.

How likely is it that I will be invited onto the programme? I am quite stressed as I really devoted quite a bit of time to this, with my CV and responses to questions and preparation for the assessment. They invite 50 people to the programme, and I assume the Sova component is quite a significant aspect of the selection criteria. I am not sure how many people apply, but I assume it is pretty competitive. Do you think I did well in the Sova assessment based on my responses and does anyone have any insight on the way Sova is assessed?

Answer 1

It’s tough to say definitively, but based on your breakdown, you’re likely on the borderline, not a clear fail, but not a clear pass either.

Numerical: 10/15 (~67%) could be enough if others also found it challenging. The adaptive nature means one bad section doesn’t necessarily sink your score.
Logical: 11–12/15 is solid and should help balance things out.
Personality: As long as you didn’t contradict Bain’s core traits (collaborative, analytical, structured), you’re likely okay there.

Sova scoring isn’t just about raw accuracy: speed, consistency, and profile fit all play a role. If your CV and open responses were strong, that could offset a slightly lower test score.

TL;DR: You may still be competitive. It’s not a clear rejection territory, so don’t count yourself out yet. Fingers crossed!

Answer 2

It sounds like you handled the test better than you think. 75–80% in logical is ok, although 67% for numerical may be a bit below what they are looking for, but does not necessarily rule you out, especially given the adaptive format which adjusts based on performance. One tough section likely won’t outweigh your stronger areas. Bain looks at the whole picture—CV, written responses, and overall fit—so a small dip in one section isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker. If your prep and application were strong, you’re definitely still in the running.

Answer 3

Hello there,

I agree with Pedro. And to that point, it may be good for you to start preparing for the case and fit interview in case you have passed the test.
Keep us posted, fingers crossed!

Best,

Mari