Who uses the Sova assessment
Sova is used by a wide spread of consulting and finance employers, not just Bain. The most common sponsors candidates encounter in 2026 are Bain (most European & Middle East offices, especially London), BCG (selected offices), Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, and a long tail of FTSE 100 corporates and UK public-sector graduate schemes.
If you applied to a UK, French, Italian, Spanish, Benelux, or Middle Eastern Bain office, Sova is used across most European and Middle East offices (especially London). Several US offices and some European offices (e.g., Amsterdam) use TestGorilla instead — always trust your invitation email as the source of truth.
The four sections
Each section runs independently. You'll see roughly 15 questions per reasoning section, and the personality questionnaire runs about 40 blocks of four statements (formats vary — some versions use slider-style items and repeat rephrased questions as consistency checks).
- Verbal reasoning — read a business passage and judge each statement True, False, or Cannot Say.
- Numerical reasoning — multiple-choice math from charts and tables. A calculator is permitted.
- Logical reasoning — abstract shape sequences. Pick the next pattern.
- Personality questionnaire — forced-choice Most/Least items mapped to consulting traits.
How Sova is scored
Sova produces a section-by-section report that combines accuracy and speed, plus a personality-fit summary. Neither Sova nor Bain publishes a numeric cut-off or pass rate — results are used holistically alongside your CV. Candidate reports suggest aiming for roughly the top 20–30% of the applicant pool, with consistent performance across sections.
There is no published cut-off and the personality section is not pass/fail — it's used to flag fit with the employer's culture profile.
Put it into practice
The fastest way to internalize the format is timed practice that mirrors the real test.
Practice numerical reasoning free