Updated April 2026 · 11 min read · DISC-based PPA and GIA — widely used in UK SMEs and recruitment agencies
| Company | Thomas International Ltd |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Marlow, Buckinghamshire, UK |
| Core products | PPA (Personal Profile Analysis, DISC-based) · GIA (General Intelligence Assessment) · TEIQue (Emotional Intelligence) · HPTI (High Performance Traits Indicator) |
| Major use cases | UK SME hiring, recruitment agencies, sales and leadership roles, team development |
Thomas International is a UK-based assessment company best known for the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) — a DISC-based personality questionnaire — and the General Intelligence Assessment (GIA), a timed aptitude battery. Thomas assessments are widely used by UK recruitment agencies, SMEs, and mid-market companies, particularly for sales, management, and customer-facing roles. You're more likely to encounter Thomas assessments through a recruitment agency than directly from a large employer.
The PPA is a 24-item forced-choice questionnaire based on the DISC model (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance). Takes 8–10 minutes. For each group of four adjectives, you select which most and least describes you. The result is a DISC profile — four bars showing your relative levels of each trait — and a narrative report interpreting your working style, motivators, and behavioural tendencies. There are no "right" answers, but employers screen for profiles matching the role's requirements (e.g. high Dominance and Influence for sales leadership; high Compliance for quality assurance).
A timed aptitude battery testing five cognitive dimensions: reasoning, perceptual speed, spatial visualisation, number speed and accuracy, and word meaning. Strictly timed (varies by section but typically 2–5 minutes each). The GIA produces a score from 1–9 (STE score — Standard Ten) for each dimension and an overall GIA score, compared to a working age norm. Employers typically set minimum GIA thresholds for specific roles — a GIA of 6+ (60th percentile or above) is commonly required for managerial roles.
Numerical reasoning on Thomas International 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 Thomas International 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 Thomas International 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 Thomas International assessments in their hiring process.