Updated April 2026 · 12 min read · Wave personality suite, Swift aptitude tests, and Work Strengths
| Company | Saville Assessment (part of Willis Towers Watson) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Guildford, United Kingdom |
| Core products | Wave Personality (Focus, Professional, Leadership) · Swift aptitude tests · Work Strengths |
| Major clients | Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Rolls-Royce, Virgin Media, PepsiCo, Compass Group |
| Assessment delivery | Online, browser-based · All tests have fixed time limits |
Saville Assessment is a UK-based psychometric test publisher known for its Wave personality questionnaire suite and the Swift family of aptitude tests. Founded by Peter Saville (one of the original creators of SHL's OPQ), Saville Assessment competes directly with SHL, Kenexa, and Talogy. Its assessments are used by law firms, financial services, FMCG companies, and engineering organisations globally.
Swift tests are Saville's family of timed cognitive ability assessments. They are shorter and faster than SHL Verify, making them popular as initial screening tools. Three key tests:
| Test | Questions | Time | Measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swift Executive Aptitude | 30 | 15 minutes | Verbal, numerical, and diagrammatic reasoning combined |
| Swift Comprehension Aptitude | 24 | 12 minutes | Verbal reasoning — reading comprehension and inference |
| Swift Analysis Aptitude | 18 | 10 minutes | Numerical reasoning — chart and table interpretation |
The Swift Executive Aptitude is the most commonly encountered Saville test in graduate recruitment. 30 questions in 15 minutes — approximately 30 seconds per question — is significantly faster than SHL or Kenexa. Questions are shorter but the speed pressure is higher. Verbal questions in Swift are word analogies, sentence completion, and short passage comprehension (1–3 sentences, not long passages). Numerical questions are simpler arithmetic (no multi-step ratio calculations) but timed very tightly.
Wave Focus: A shorter personality assessment (~25 minutes) commonly used as an initial personality screen at the application stage. 72 statements rated on a 1–9 scale. Measures 9 personality facets relevant to professional roles.
Wave Professional: The full personality questionnaire (~40 minutes). Assesses 36 dimensions grouped under 12 sections and 4 broad clusters (Thought, Influence, Adaptability, Delivery). Highly validated and commonly used as a development tool as well as selection. If you're taking a Wave Professional for a senior or managerial role, be aware that the detailed report is often used in a feedback discussion — your profile will be discussed with you, not just used to filter you.
Wave Leadership: Senior-level personality assessment specifically designed for C-suite and executive selection. Same format as Wave Professional but calibrated against leadership norm groups.
Saville's Work Strengths assessment identifies which of 72 different workplace strengths a candidate naturally excels at and enjoys. Rather than measuring personality traits, it identifies concrete behavioural strengths — "Numerate", "Persuasive", "Methodical", "Creative", "Empathetic". Used by employers in conjunction with strengths-based interviewing. If you receive a Work Strengths assessment, reflect genuinely on your natural tendencies — the system is validated against job performance data and designed to detect over-claiming.
Numerical reasoning on Saville tests is almost always table-based: two or three small tables of financial, sales, or operational data, followed by a question that requires a multi-step calculation and a unit conversion.
Q. A retail chain sells three product lines. Units sold last quarter were 660 (Line A), 1,140 (Line B) and 310 (Line C). Average selling price was £1.00, £1.00 and £1.00 respectively. Total revenue to the nearest £ was:
A) £1,780 B) £1,950 C) £2,048 D) £2,110
A. Sum the units: 660 + 1,140 + 310 = 2,110. Answer: D.
The actual Saville question adds distractors: prices in pence rather than pounds, mixed currencies, unit ambiguity (per pack vs per item). Candidates who rush the unit check pick C or B despite nailing the arithmetic.
Standard Saville Verify numerical assessments give 18 questions in 18 minutes — about 60 seconds per question. That sounds generous but each question has 3–5 numbers to read, a calculation (often multi-step), and a unit conversion.
If you're past 75 seconds and still unsure, flag and move on — you can't recover four lost minutes from one stubborn question.
If you want a shortcut: TestSolve reads each test question on your screen and sends the answer to your phone in about 5 seconds. Free first solve, no signup. Pricing.
These companies commonly include Saville assessments in their hiring process.