The text below provides a full candidate recruitment, assessment and preparation guide and practice for those applying to jobs, internships and graduate programs at British Airways in the UK.
Our website provides scientifically validated practice game-based assessments, assessments tests, interviews and assessment centre exercises that can be used to practice and prepare for the recruitment and assessment process.
If you are aiming to apply to British Airways or have a British Airways assessment test coming up, our text below is the best place to start.
Check here for Free and Premium aptitude assessment tests and video interviews to practice and prepare for British Airways recruitment.
Not sure if you should practice to prepare for British Airways assessments? According to research, 60-80% of candidates are rejected based on their aptitude tests results. It is proven that practice increases your chances of getting hired.
A recent study (Bradley et al, 2019) found that candidates who do not practise assessments, tend to fail at the first hurdle of psychometric assessments (54%-84%). This study looked at the Top 100 global employers.
In a nutshell:
How to pass the British Airways assessment process?
To pass your BA online application:
The British Airways Assessment Process consists of the following online assessments, which will depend on the job function and role you have applied for:
The only proven way to get to the next round is practice. 50-80% candidates get rejected at this stage.
Prepare for an online video interview by running mock interviews answering typical engineering interview questions. For British Airways interview practice, use:
Use the STAR method for your answers and practice each answer several times.
BA uses a competitive set of exercises during the virtual or in-person assessment centre across the various job functions which may include:
Hone your written and spoken communication technique. Research online, prepare and practice presentation of as many business case studies as possible.
For your final interview, use our video interview platform and record yourself answering the engineering questions using the STAR technique.
Be aware; not many get to this stage. The competition is very fierce.
Through this text we are aiming to answer some of the most critical questions such as:
Looking into assessments with British Airways, in the table below are the most relevant assessment tests that you may face during your BA Assessment Process. Practicing these assessments is just a click away.
If you decide to apply for British Airways, you can practice online aptitude tests with us to improve your results and get scores above their threshold.
But first, we’ll give you a little overview of who BA are and what they do.
British Airways is a global airline and the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, headquartered in Harmondsworth, United Kingdom. The main hub of BA is Heathrow Airport, with further hubs in Gatwick Airport and Billund Airport. BA attracts thousands of job applications each year from various backgrounds.
Below is an non-exhaustive list of the different job functions at BA which you can apply for right now.
Job functions at BA
Now that we’ve looked at some of the jobs at BA, let’s uncover how to apply to these roles.
The British Airways Assessments you will take during your application will depend on the job type and the career area you are applying for.
Contents
Therefore, we’ve split up the following article into the following three sections for each main job function:
First, let’s tackle the BA On the Ground assessment process.
BA employs people to manage the functions on the ground and organise various events. Keep reading to discover the recruitment process for the BA On the Ground Support employees.
The stages of the BA On the Ground Recruitment Process are:
What is the BA On the Ground Online Application?
The BA Online Application is your first step towards becoming a BA On the Ground Support Employee. This is the very first step where you can impress your employers with your communication skills. The Online application requires you to fill in the following details:
You will be required to upload your Resume and CV at this stage and answer some motivational questions. These are the two most important parts of this application form because they give you the chance to impress your recruiters with your communication skills and experience.
Let’s take a look at them one at a time, starting with the motivational questions.
BA On the Ground Support Online Application: Motivational Questions
Below are two of the motivational questions asked in the BA On the Ground online application window. Ensure you answer these questions honestly and refer to the key competencies required from the job description. Consider the British Airways core values and how you align yourself with these.
Looking for the best way to answer these application questions? We cover common BA application questions just like these in the On the Ground Support interview and Cabin Crew interview sections.
The next most important part of your online application at this stage is uploading your CV/Resume. Keep reading to check out our top BA Resume tips!
BA On the Ground Application: Uploading Resume/CV
To make your CV or Resume stand out at British Airways for on the ground roles, make sure to keep in mind the following tricks:
For more of our best tips on how you can build your perfect British Airways Resume/CV, don’t miss our super easy to follow CV writing guide to maximise your chances of getting hired with BA!
Watch the video below to know the 3 most common mistakes that you should not repeat while building a resume or CV.
For even more first-hand tips on CVs and Resumes, Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
BA Application Tip: Apply as early as possible. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. By doing so, you increase your chance of progressing through to the next stage of the recruitment process.
If your application gets shortlisted, you will be invited to a short Online Assessment round before you go for the British Airways Assessment Centre. What does this round hold for you? Let’s find out.
What are the BA On the Ground Support Online Assessments?
The BA On the Ground online assessments is the second stage of the On the Ground assessment process. This stage aims at assessing you on the basis of your cognitive skills. Depending on your application, you may be asked to complete different psychometric tests.
British Airways uses the following types of aptitude tests for the On the Ground Support:
Let’s discuss each of these British Airways online assessments in detail.
The BA On the Ground Situational Judgement Test (SJT) consists of real-life work scenarios or problems that you might encounter while working at BA. You will be required to analyse the problem proposed and choose the best and the worst courses of actions among the options given.
This BA Situational Judgement Test aims at assessing your problem-solving skills and your suitability to the role you have applied to by examining you on the basis of your thought process.
For example, you may be provided with a scenario where there is a safety concern regarding a passenger’s luggage. You will be provided with 4-5 decision options to choose from and assess which is the best decision to take and the worst.
Check out our short video below for more info on Situational Judgement tests:
So how do we ace this BA On the Ground situational judgement test? Don’t miss out on our best 5 tips to ace your SJT below.
Top 5 Tricks to Pass your BA Situational Judgement Test
Take a look at a BA-style Situational Judgement test sample that we’ve designed to provide you a sneak peek into what your BA on the ground situational judgement test may look like.
Got this question cracked? Practice many more SJT questions on our website.
To learn more about how to ace your Situational Judgement Test, visit our website or watch this short YouTube video:
Let’s move on to the next test you might have to go sit for during your BA On the Ground Assessment Process, i.e., the Numerical Reasoning Test.
The BA On the Ground Numerical Reasoning Test is a basic math test that aims to assess your cognitive ability to analyse numerical data. The BA Numerical Test will contain questions related to basic mathematical functions such as percentage, average, ratio-proportion, simple interest, compound interest, etc.
The BA On the Ground numerical reasoning test will expect you to read pie-charts, graphs, tables, etc. to analyse the information provided and perform mathematical functions to find answers under time pressure.
Don’t miss our short video where we give you all the quick facts on your BA-style Numerical Reasoning test:
BA Numerical Reasoning Test Tip: Revise basic math formulas before sitting for this BA assessment. Ensure you are ready with basic equipment such as a calculator, pencil, paper, etc. to make notes and calculations.
5 Tips to prepare for your BA Numerical Reasoning Test
Check out our below video for our 5 quick tips that you can do before your BA aptitude test:
Keep reading to discover our top quick tips to ace your BA On the Ground numerical reasoning test.
How to pass BA Numerical Reasoning Tests?
Use the above-mentioned tips to solve this BA-style Sample Numerical Reasoning Question!
Aced it? Check the answer to this question at the bottom of the page!
Practice even more FREE QUESTIONS similar to BA numerical assessment questions, sign-up with GF and take your FREE numerical reasoning test.
For further hints on how to pass a numerical reasoning test, visit our YouTube channel and watch this short video on Numerical Reasoning:
Many of the on the ground roles at BA will require employees to reason with written or spoken information. Many other job functions at BA such as pilots may require these skills too. As a result, BA will test many candidates on their verbal reasoning ability.
Let’s go through what you can expect in this BA verbal reasoning test below.
The BA Verbal ability tests or reasoning tests consist of unseen paragraphs and a set of questions attached to each unseen paragraph. The candidates are required to read and comprehend the paragraphs and answer the questions that follow based on the essence of the paragraph.
This test aims at examining the candidates on the basis of their comprehension, observation and attention to detail skills.
For more insight into these BA assessments, check out this short video on BA-style Verbal Reasoning tests:
How to pass BA’s Verbal Reasoning Test?
Want to practice BA-style Verbal Reasoning tests? We’ve got you covered!
Have a go at this Example BA-style Verbal Reasoning Test question!
Liked the question? Check whether you got this example question right with the answer at the bottom of the page.
Practice even more FREE QUESTIONS similar to British Airways assessment questions, sign-up with GF and take your FREE verbal reasoning test now!
For more of our top tips to ace BA-style verbal reasoning tests, don’t miss our below video:
You can find more such videos related to BA Verbal Reasoning Tests on our YouTube channel.
The tests will be timed and may be done online or in person, depending on your application. You may be asked to retake the test/s during the British Airways virtual assessment day to ensure the validity of your results.
You may also have a telephone interview before you get to the British Airways Assessment Centre depending on the job role.
If you do well in your BA Psychometric tests, you will be invited to the BA Assessment Centre. What’s that? Let’s find out.
The BA Assessment Centre is the final stage of your assessment. But don’t relax just yet, because this is where your behaviours and communication skills are tested. This stage of your assessment process is rigorous and challenging so gather all your energy and let’s get started.
This final stage of the selection process will take place in an in-person or virtual assessment centre. Here, your performance will be monitored in a range of exercises. Potential exercises are listed below.
Let us look at all these assessments one by one in detail and see what they hold for you.
BA On the Ground Support Group Exercise
The BA Group Exercise is basically a group discussion with your fellow candidates. Here, you are given a case study which is a real problem that has been solved previously by British Airways and now they want to see how you would solve the same problems.
In the BA Group discussion, you are required to go through the cases given to you and discuss the possible solutions with your teammates. Through all of this, a recruiter will be there to assess your behaviours with your teammates.
5 Tips to ace your BA Group Discussion
For more tips to practice and ace Group Discussions, check out our YouTube video below!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get even more such Assessment Centre tips!
Let’s move on to the next British Airways Assessment Centre Exercise, i.e. the BA Role-play exercise.
BA On the Ground Role-Play Exercise
The BA Role-play exercise often assess the ‘Communicating’ competency including non-verbal communication (body language). Other competencies may be assessed such as ‘Decision Making’ in terms of what to do with an unusual customer request and ‘Gathering Information’ to help resolve a customer query.
Discover more about competencies and how they will be assess by employers such as BA with this short video:
How to do well in the BA On the Ground Role Play exercise?
To get ahead in the BA Role-Play exercise, here are some tips:
What is the BA On the Ground Support Interview?
The BA On the Ground Support Interview is the last stage of your assessment process. This interview will be a blend of Technical and Competency-based questions. You will be sitting with two or three of your senior managers. They can also give you certain technical questions related to your field to solve in front of them.
The interview usually goes on for 45-60 minutes. This interview can consist of various tests of your knowledge in the field you have applied to. They will also ask you questions related to your resume.
7 example British Airways interview questions you might be asked in your Final Support Interview:
Check out some more common BA interview questions that you may be asked in our video below:
Looking for even more BA practice interview questions? Go Essential with GF and discover the top questions asked by employers with our Question Identifier Tool (QIT).
Practice answering questions like these to get the hang of your BA On the Ground final interview. Keep reading to discover our top tips to ace your BA final interview.
4 Top Tips to do pass the BA Final Interview
Be sure to also check out this short video where we discuss all you need to know about the STAR method for your BA On the Ground interview:
Practice your British Airways engineering interview questions using our Video Interviewing Tool to gain personalised feedback and guidance on your body language when answering your practice competency and technical interview questions.
Familiarise yourself with commonly used BA interview questions and use real video interview experience to develop and prepare your professional responses to get your BA On the Ground career off to a flying start.
Once you have impressed in your interview, you will have completed your BA On the Ground Assessment Process and will shortly receive an invitation to a driving test and provisional offer. After a few more employment and medical checks, you will be confirmed with a job offer.
We’re not done yet though! Let’s move on to the next section where we will discuss each step of the BA Cabin Crew assessment process.
The BA Cabin Crew Assessment Process is almost the same as the BA On the Ground Assessment Process, however the difference lies in the Assessment Centre exercises which are more practical.
The Cabin Crew Assessment Process is divided into the following stages, these are:
Let’s start with the first stage of your assessment process, i.e., the BA Cabin Crew Online Application.
The BA Cabin Crew Online Application requires you to agree to the minimum safety requirements, fill in the basic details and answer some application questions regarding the uniform standards.
What do British Airways look for in Cabin Crew?
Before you are eligible to apply for BA Cabin Crew, you must ensure you read and understand the below standards:
You must also ensure you meet the minimum requirements for the job description. Check the below example requirements needed for BA Cabin Crew and assess whether you meet each of these.
After your BA Cabin Crew Online Application gets selected, you will be invited to a short Virtual Assessment Test, a Situational Judgement Test. We have discussed Situational Judgement Tests earlier in this text, check out the text above to learn more about this assessment type.
This test will be similar to those of the BA On the Ground assessment test, except there will be more Cabin Crew related scenarios.
Discover what you should NOT do in your BA Cabin Crew situational judgement test with our quick tips on how to fail your SJT:
Practice your British Airways cabin crew online assessment answers with GF today to get started with BA-style Situational Judgement Tests and get worked solutions, tips on how to improve and detailed feedback on your responses.
Next, we move on to the third stage of your BA Cabin Crew Assessment Process, i.e., the Assessment Centre.
What happens at the BA Cabin Crew Assessment Day?
The BA Cabin Crew Assessment Centre consists of various exercises and is a very rigorous process. These exercises are:
Let us look at each of these exercises briefly:
BA Cabin Crew Group Exercise
In the BA Cabin Crew group exercise, you will be seated with your fellow candidates and all of you will be given a problem. you are required to discuss the problem at hand, find solutions and assign each other tasks in order to solve or overcome the problem proposed.
For example, you may be provided with a scenario where a passenger is upset with their seating location. You must demonstrate the best in-flight customer service with your actions in order to resolve the passenger’s complaint effectively and efficiently.
Don’t miss our best tips and tricks to ace BA-style group exercises with our YouTube video below!
BA Cabin Crew Role-Play Exercise
During your BA Cabin Crew Role-play exercise, you will be required to play the role of a particular person in your field and deal with the passengers’ problems. The people who play the passengers can be hired actors or any of your recruiters.
BA Cabin Crew Roleplay tip: Ensure to manage conflict effectively by listening to the point of view of the passenger and do not speak over them. Speak clearly and make gestures of agreement to demonstrate listening and to comfort the passenger.
BA Cabin Crew Written Exercise
For your BA Cabin Crew Written Exercise, you will be required to fill out some forms as a cabin crew member. This exercise aims at assessing you on the basis of your written communication skills. To ace your BA Written Exercise, you can practice using our practice case study exercise with GF.
BA Cabin Crew Written Exercise tip: Read the forms carefully to ensure you understand what is required from you. Gather all the important facts before you begin to fill out each form.
BA Cabin Crew Reading and Comprehension Test
In the BA Reading and Comprehension test, you will be given a paragraph to read out loud and show hand gestures. Since being a crew member involves a lot of human interaction, this test aims at checking your reading and comprehension. You have to understand the paragraph given to you and demonstrate appropriate hand gestures.
Practice for your BA cabin crew reading and comprehension test with our practice verbal tests to gain key insights into how to develop your understanding and draw conclusions from written information.
The BA Cabin Crew interview is an interaction between you and at least two of your senior managers. This interview is a blend of Competency-based and Behavioural questions. The interview goes on for 30-40 minutes. During this interview you might also have to go through various mini tests such as the height and reach test.
Prepare for your BA Cabin Crew interview using our top 5 tips in this short video that you can use on the day to prepare for your interview:
Below are some BA Cabin Crew Interview Questions and Tips to answer them:
How to answer BA Cabin Crew Interview questions:
Question 1: Why do you want to work with British Airways?
Tips to answer: This question is built in a way to rule out those who apply in masses. Therefore, it is important that you show them your long-term commitment towards the airlines. Also, assure them that you understand their brand and reputation and demonstrate your passion for BA.
For further tips on how to answer this common BA interview question, don’t miss our quick video:
Question 2: Why do you want to be a crew member?
Tips to answer: This question provides you with a great opportunity to talk about your skills. You can demonstrate how your peoples’ and other skills match with that of the cabin crew and how you, along with your skills can add value to the role in BA.
Question 3: If one of your fellow crew members isn’t putting up with the expectations, what will you do?
Tips to answer: BA Cabin Crew expects its staff to build strong relationships with the co-workers and to always deliver first class service to customers. Therefore, it’s important that you demonstrate that you aren’t afraid to challenge underperformance, but you do that in a positive and caring way which brings the best out of everyone.
Practice for your BA Cabin Crew Interview questions and form your own strong responses through our Video Interviewing Tool and get feedback on your answers to improve your interview technique.
Let’s move on to the BA assessment process to recruit new pilots; the BA Pilot Recruitment Process.
The BA Pilot Recruitment Process consists of various stages of assessments and rigorous ones at that. The BA Pilot Recruitment Process mainly consists of the following stages:
The BA Pilot Online Application will be your first step towards becoming a pilot at BA. At this stage like any other application, you are required to:
It is crucial to get your CV/Resume right at this stage of the BA Pilot application. Ensure your CV avoids these top 3 mistakes to get ahead:
Before you apply to become a BA pilot, you will be required to read and understand the safety requirements and uniform policy at British Airways.
You then will be required to fill in application questions regarding your previous experiences as a pilot. Ensure you are honest and provide sufficient detail in your responses if applicable.
Check out the below example of some of the questions you may be asked in your BA pilot online application:
Now that we’ve looked at the application form, let’s move on to the next stage of your BA Pilot Assessment Process, i.e., the BA Pilot Psychometric Tests.
What Pilot Aptitude Tests do British Airways use?
The BA Pilot online assessment round mainly consists of basic reasoning tests to check the cognitive abilities of the candidate. Since working with BA as a Pilot will require you to use your aptitude and follow written instructions, you may face the following assessments:
The BA Numerical Reasoning test for Pilot assessment assesses your skills of applied mathematics. This test aims at examining your mathematical skills on the basis of the standards applied in the aviation industry. You can expect questions on basic math such as addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, etc, or questions related to time, speed, distance and altitude.
Register now to practice a FREE British Airways-style numerical assessment or sign up with GF today for 15 unique timed practice numerical reasoning tests similar to those used by top employers such as BA.
Discover more about how you can prepare for your BA Pilot numerical reasoning test with our best easy-to follow tips in the BA on the Ground section above!
The BA Verbal Reasoning test for Pilot recruitment assesses your ability to comprehend and follow written instructions. You will be given an unseen paragraph, in this case, mostly technical information, like methods or processes. You will be required to read the paragraph, comprehend the information and answer the questions that follow. These questions will be objective.
Practice for this British airways pilot aptitude test with GF’s FREE verbal reasoning practice tests or accelerate your skill development further with our worked solutions to 10 unique verbal reasoning practice tests.
Uncover the best preparation tips that we’ve covered earlier in this article to help you get ahead in your BA Pilot verbal reasoning assessment.
The BA Capacity assessment is an online test which assesses the various BA competencies required in their pilots. During these virtual assessments, you will be given tasks which measure:
Go Premium and prepare for your BA Pilot capacity assessment with our ability tests and interactive game-based assessments to test and improve your memory, arithmetic, spatial awareness, multi-tasking and ability to work under pressure.
Check out a sneak peek at just one of the games below that we’ve made to help you ace your BA pilot application process.
After you are done with the BA online aptitude tests, you will be required to visit the BA Pilot Assessment Centre. So, let’s see what the British Airways Assessment Centre holds for you.
The BA Pilot Assessment Centre is the last stage of your assessment process once you ace your BA Online assessments. At the BA Assessment Centre day, you will be required to visit a BA nearby office, where you may face the following tests and checks.
Let’s discuss the above-mentioned tests briefly.
The BA Pilot Recruitment Document Checks is the stage where the documents that you have submitted such as your birth certificate, work permit, aviation certificate, etc., are reviewed and checked.
The BA Pilot Personal Interview will be a one-on-one interview with a senior pilot. This interview will aim at examining your techniques, your knowledge in the aviation industry and even your leadership skills. As a pilot you will be in charge of your passengers, the crew and even your co-pilot. Therefore, it’s important for you to understand your position and responsibilities. You will be asked a number of behavioural and competency-based questions too.
Refine your competency-based and behavioural interview skills for your BA interview using our Video Interview practice tool, record yourself and gain AI-based feedback on different emotions picked up by your BA interviewer.
You can also check out our video below for tips on improving your body language for a video interview.
The BA Pilot Flying Tests are conducted with one of your fellow candidates, you will be tested on the basis of your knowledge of the cockpit and controls. You will be acting as the Pilot Flying (PF) for 45 minutes and Pilot Not Flying (PNF) for the other 45 minutes.
It is important that you take up the role of the Pilot Flying seriously, but also of the PNF with the same gravity, since that role is tougher than that of the Pilot in-charge. And only by showing your support and interest as the PNF you can show your coordination and cooperation skills to your assessors at BA.
Once you’ve completed and impressed in your BA Recruitment Process, you will receive a response regarding the outcome of your application shortly after the BA assessment day.
Best of luck!
Wait! Are you a student or a recent graduate trying your luck in the aviation industry? Then you’ll be happy to know that BA offers various opportunities for students and graduates such as yourself.
Let us discuss some of these ways through which you can kickstart your career with BA.
The BA Emerging Talent Programmes offer great ways to the students to kick start their career with one of the leading airlines within the United Kingdom. The Emerging Talents programme offers the following courses through which you can enter one of the leading airlines, learn, develop and implement your skills.
Below are the two programmes that offer Internships and Apprenticeships to Students and Graduates:
The BA Emerging Talent Graduate Programmes are 3-year learning programmes structured in a way to align with BA’s Internships and 11- month Business Placements. These British Airways graduate schemes allow you to work on the important projects and develop your decision-making skills while working on them.
Towards the end of the BA Graduate Programme, you will be given a placement where you’ll earn while you learn.
Here are the areas in which you can apply:
BA Emerging Talent Graduate Program Assessment Process
The Assessment of the BA Graduate Programmes takes place in 5 stages. These stages of assessment are as follows:
BA Apprenticeships are a great way to head start your career with BA. You will be gaining insights on how the actual working goes on at BA. The BA Apprenticeship Programmes allow you to be an integral part of different teams with different departments and contribute to the working.
You can apply to the following areas for BA Apprenticeships:
So, these were all the areas, applying to which, will give your career a head start in British Airways. Now, let us take a look at the assessment process for the BA Apprenticeship Programmes.
BA Apprenticeship Program Assessment Process
The Assessment Process for the BA Apprenticeship Programmes is divided into 3 stages comprising various tests. These three stages are:
In the BA Apprenticeship Virtual Assessment Centre you will be required to complete various exercises such as a group exercise, work-related exercise and interviews.
Continue your search for success for your British Airways recruitment process with our BA FAQs below where we cover the top BA application questions!
BA has a set uniform policy which has a high level of standard when it comes to the appearance of the employees. BA employees cannot have tattoos which are visible while wearing their uniform. Tattoos must not be on a candidate’s arms, hands, head or face.
You can expect the following assessment tests throughout the BA Assessment process across the 3 main job functions and roles at BA:
The training required for British Airways varies by experience level and area. The BA cabin crew goes on for 4-6 weeks, whilst the BA pilots require 18 months’ flight training with an additional 3 months of type rating and line training.
The British Airways Virtual Assessment comprises various psychometric tests such as:
Practice for your BA Virtual Assessment with our virtual practice assessments and get ahead!
Cabin crew applicants will receive an email update on their results 5 to 7 days after the assessment. If successful, applicants will be given 7 days to provide requested additional information for the personal history check and to complete the psychoactive substance test up to 4 weeks before the start date.
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Answers to questions:
Numerical reasoning test: C
Verbal reasoning test: B
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