Sainsbury’s Coding Test. Complete 2026 Practice Guide

1. Sainsbury’s Coding Test

What is the Sainsbury’s Hackajob test?

The Sainsbury’s coding test, also called Sainsbury’s Hackajob test, is a timed online coding assessment used for IT and technical roles. It evaluates your programming skills, problem-solving ability, and logical thinking by presenting coding challenges, algorithm tasks, and sometimes debugging exercises.

What does the Sainsbury’s coding test measure?

The Sainsbury’s coding test measures the following key skills:

• Problem-solving ability using programming logic
• Technical expertise in relevant languages such as Java and Spring Boot
• Ability to write clean, efficient, and functional code
• Logical thinking and algorithmic reasoning
• Debugging and troubleshooting skills
• Time management under a fixed testing window

What questions are asked in Sainsbury’s coding test?

You may be required to attempt the following two questions as part of your Sainsbury’s Hackajob test:

1. Calculate chess pawn movement across a looping chessboard using Java
2. Verify a REST API using Spring Boot by implementing the service and controller classes to handle both valid and invalid scenarios

Want to prepare for the Sainsbury’s coding assessment?

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Let’s move ahead and take a quick refresh of what other assessments become a part of the Sainsbury’s recruitment process. 

2. Other Sainsbury’s Assessments

What other assessments do I have to take at Sainsbury’s? 

Besides the Sainsbury’s coding test, you might be required to take some other online assessments. Here’s a list of the other Sainsbury’s online assessments you might take when applying for a job at Sainsbury’s. 

1. Sainsbury’s Numerical Reasoning Test
2. Sainsbury’s Verbal Reasoning Test
3. Sainsbury’s Personality Assessment Test 
4. Sainsbury’s Situational Judgment Test
5. Sainsbury’s Shop Floor Assessment

3. How to Pass the Sainsbury’s Coding Test

Here are some of my top tips to help you get through the Sainsbury’s coding test:

Top 5 Tips to Ace the Sainsbury’s Hackajob Test

1. Practise consistently: Ensure you practise enough with coding assessments to master data structures, algorithms and at least one programming language.
2. Choose an appropriate setting: Ensure you attempt your Sainsbury’s coding test in a well-lit and noise-free room with at least a 100Mbps download speed.
3. Understand the instructions: Ensure you understand the instructions to know what the problem is, and which input and output format is expected from you.
4. Analyse the problem: Build a strategy on how to analyse and approach the problem to write an effective and efficient code.
5. Keep up with the time: Plan beforehand how much time allowance to give to each question and which to prioritise first.

Looking to further your Sainsbury’s coding test preparation?

Another Sainsbury’s online test that you may be required to take during your Sainsbury’s hiring process  is the Sainsbury’s Shop Floor assessment, designed for customer service roles.

4. Sainsbury’s Coding Test FAQs