Will you be taking the ACE Cognitive Test soon? You’ve come to the right place! Access all the tools and advice to prepare for and improve your score on this test:
- Free, timed practice test
- Test content breakdown with examples
- Prep courses to maximize your score potential
What is the Metis ACE Cognitive Test?
The ACE Cognitive Test is a cognitive ability test published by Master International. It is often referred to as the Metis Test. The test assesses logical analytical reasoning and the ability to identify patterns and complex relationships. Before we dive into the details of each section, here are some quick facts:
- There are three sections: Numerical, verbal, and abstract/spatial.
- The test is adaptive. Its difficulty level will change according to your response pattern.
- There are 20-28 questions, depending on the version you’re taking (more on this below).
- The time limit is generous and spans between 60 to 75 minutes.
- Questions may be multiple choice or free response.
Free ACE Cognitive Practice Test
As part of our prep course, we offer a free ACE practice test to assess your current abilities. Upon submission, you will receive a score report that will show you how you compare to other candidates who have taken this test, as well as answers and explanations for every question.
ACE Cognitive Test Content Breakdown
As mentioned above, the ACE Cognitive Test has three sections: verbal, numerical, and spatial/abstract. Depending on the position you are applying for, and the company administering the test, you may take all three sections or any two of these sections. Let’s go over each section to understand what it’s all about.
Numerical Reasoning
These questions will assess your ability to work with and understand numbers. Question types will include:
- Word problems
- Number series
- Graph and table analysis
Lumber costs $1.50 per pound. Alan needs 150 pounds of lumber to build a table, and has $500 to spend on lumber. What is the maximum number of tables Alan can build?
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
The correct answer is 2. First, calculate how much lumber Alan can buy with $500. We do this by dividing $500 by the cost of $1.50/lb. This gives us a total of 333.33 pounds that Alan can buy. If we have the maximum amount of lumber Alan can buy, simply divide that by the total weight of lumber needed for one table, which is 150 pounds. 333.33/150 = 2.22. Since the number of tables must be a whole number, the maximum number of tables Alan can build is 2.
See more examples in our free practice test
Verbal/Logical Reasoning
This section of the test assesses your reasoning skills in two ways. One question type in this section is verbal analogies. The second question type is logical deductive reasoning. Try the sample questions below:
External : Internal :: Compassionate : ???
- Passionate
- Cruel
- Sympathetic
- Benevolent
- Irate
The correct answer is cruel. The first pair of words, external and internal, are antonyms. This means the correct answer must also be an antonym of the word compassionate.
Four neighbors, Geena, Tom, Joe, and Carol, share 4 adjacent parking slots, as seen in the image below. If all four slots are free, the first neighbor to arrive must park in one of the outer lanes. Whoever arrives thereafter parks closest to the already parked car.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Today, Joe arrived first, Geena arrived last and Tom’s car is in slot no. 3. Who’s car is parking in slot no. 2?
Spatial/Abstract Reasoning
You can expect to see some figural reasoning questions, such as shape series, matrices, and pattern completion.
Ace Cognitive Test Results & Score Report
Upon test completion, you will receive a very brief report of your performance. It will not go into great detail, and it is the employer who’ll be getting a more comprehensive report and description of your abilities and personality.
Candidate report:
Employer report:
As can be seen above, while you only get a minimal review of your performance with respect to the average population, the employer will get a breakdown of your performance per section.
You can see that speed, which is the time it takes to answer the questions, is also taken into account, although to a lesser degree.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the different assessment versions?
There are a few versions of the assessment, as explained below:
- Standard: 30 cognitive and 64 personality questions, takes 20 minutes.
- Extended: 54 cognitive questions and 64 personality questions, takes 45 minutes.
- Express: 12 cognitive questions and 48 personality questions, takes 12 minutes.
- Cognitive only: 30 cognitive questions, 10 minutes.
- Personality only: 64 personality questions, takes 7 minutes.
How can I succeed on the ACE Assesment?
Success on the ACE cognitive test starts with focused preparation. Reviewing realistic practice questions from all sections of the test, along with solving tips and explanations, is the best way to get you into a good rhythm and perform to the best of your abilities on test day. Our prep course can help you with step-by-step training.
How many questions will be on my test?
As can be seen in the table below, this depends on the sections you’ll have in the test. Most candidates take the full version with all three sections. In such a case, you can expect 25 questions with a generous time limit of 75 minutes!
| Version | Max. Number of Questions |
| Full Test | 24-25 |
| Numeric & Spatial | 24 |
| Numeric & Verbal | 20 |
| Spatial & Verbal | 28 |
| Spatial Only | 22 |
- Average time range for completion: 20-30 minutes
- Maximum time range for completion: 60-75 minutes
External Resources
Official ACE sample questions
Here’s a downloadable PDF with sample questions
https://www.master-hr.com/media/lnbj00fq/itemexamplesforabilitytests.pdf
ACE score reports
Report for employer: https://www.master.se/media/e32pnqjh/ann-anderson-ace-score-report.pdf
Report for candidate: https://www.master-hr.com/media/afah443n/acefeedbackreportdemo_en.pdf
