EY Placement Papers 2026: Test Pattern, Syllabus, Sample Questions

The EY online test is a three-section aptitude assessment with no negative marking, and clearing it is the first filter between you and an interview slot at one of India’s largest professional services employers.

EY GDS (Global Delivery Services), EY’s shared services and consulting arm in India, is the primary entity through which fresh graduates are hired. Its offices span Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Kolkata, covering roles in technology, finance operations, risk advisory, and consulting. The online test is proctored and time-pressured. Three features set it apart from other campus assessments: no negative marking, no sectional cutoffs, and a heavy weight on data interpretation rather than pure arithmetic.

What the EY online test looks like

The test covers three sections. There is no negative marking anywhere, and no individual section timer forces you to move on before you are ready. That structure is different from TCS NQT, for instance, where negative marking changes the risk calculus on uncertain attempts.

The three sections and their core topics:

Section	Core topics
Quantitative Aptitude	Data interpretation (bar charts, pie charts, tables, graphs), time-speed-distance, pipes and cisterns, profit and loss, percentages, simple and compound interest, permutation and combination
Verbal Ability	Reading comprehension, sentence correction, synonyms and antonyms, fill-in-the-blanks, para jumbles
Logical Reasoning	Coding-decoding, blood relations, number series, analogies, odd one out, cubes and directions, clocks and calendars

The test is conducted on a proctored online platform with webcam monitoring and browser lockdown. Confirm the exact platform and duration with your campus placement officer before the test date. EY has used different assessment vendors across hiring cycles, and the invitation email carries the definitive details.

One structural point that changes how you prepare: with no sectional cutoffs and no negative marking, the optimal strategy is to attempt every question. Skip and return rather than spending three minutes on a single hard data-set question. The test rewards breadth of correct answers, not depth in one section.

Quantitative Aptitude: the data-heavy section

Data interpretation is the highest-weight topic in the Quantitative section and the one most likely to decide borderline outcomes. A typical DI question gives you a table or chart and asks you to compute percentage changes, ratios, or averages from that data. The underlying math is not complex. Speed and accurate reading of the chart are the actual challenges.

Two worked examples at the typical level for this section:

• Q1 (Data Interpretation): A company’s quarterly revenue in crores for FY25 is: Q1: 120, Q2: 150, Q3: 180, Q4: 210. What is the percentage increase in revenue from Q1 to Q4?

• Answer: Percentage increase = (210 - 120) / 120 x 100 = 90/120 x 100 = 75%.

• Explanation: The increase is 90 crores on a base of 120. Divide and multiply by 100. No tricky steps; speed comes from setting up the fraction correctly the first time.

• Q2 (Time-Speed-Distance): A train travelling at 72 km/h crosses a 200-metre platform in 25 seconds. What is the length of the train?

• Answer: Convert speed to m/s: 72 x (5/18) = 20 m/s. Total distance in 25 seconds = 20 x 25 = 500 metres. Train length = 500 - 200 = 300 metres.

• Explanation: The train must cover both the platform length and its own length. Set up: distance = train length + platform length = speed x time.

For the remaining Quantitative topics: profit-and-loss, simple and compound interest, and pipes-and-cisterns questions follow standard formulas that a focused week of practice will cover. Permutation and combination questions at this level are typically P(n,r) or C(n,r) setups without complex conditional logic layered on top.

If you are preparing for quantitative-heavy placement tests beyond EY, the D.E. Shaw placement papers and syllabus guide covers the harder end of the data-reasoning spectrum, which is useful context for calibrating how far to push preparation.

Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

Verbal Ability

Reading comprehension passages at this level run 150 to 250 words, factual in tone, and ask you to identify the main idea, draw inferences, or pick the meaning of a word in context. The practical approach: read once for the main idea, then scan back to find the specific line that answers each question rather than re-reading the full passage.

Sentence correction questions focus on subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and pronoun reference. These patterns are consistent across campus placement drives.

• Q3 (Sentence Correction): Identify the error: “Each of the team members were required to submit a report.”

• Answer: “were” should be “was.” The subject is “Each,” which is singular and takes a singular verb.

• Q4 (Synonyms): Which word is closest in meaning to “Diligent”? Options: A) Careless, B) Hardworking, C) Impulsive, D) Sluggish.

• Answer: B) Hardworking. “Diligent” means showing consistent care and effort in work.

Para jumble questions ask you to rearrange four or five sentences into a coherent paragraph. The fastest approach: find the sentence that cannot logically be the opener because it refers to something previously mentioned, set that aside, then identify the sentence that introduces the main subject.

Logical Reasoning

Coding-decoding and number series are the two topics that appear most consistently in campus placement drives at this level. Coding-decoding questions give you a rule and ask you to apply it mechanically. Blood relations questions are faster with a quick sketch on your rough sheet rather than tracking relationships mentally.

• Q5 (Coding-Decoding): In a code, BOOK is written as CPPL. How is DOOR written?

• Answer: Each letter shifts forward by one position: B+1=C, O+1=P, O+1=P, K+1=L. Applying the same rule: D+1=E, O+1=P, O+1=P, R+1=S. DOOR = EPPS.

• Q6 (Number Series): Find the next term: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?

• Answer: The differences are 4, 6, 8, 10 — increasing by 2 each step. Next difference = 12. Next term = 30 + 12 = 42.

• Explanation: This is a second-order difference series. Spotting the pattern in the differences, not the series itself, is the key step.

The interview rounds after the online test

Students who clear the online test move to the interview stage. EY India’s campus recruitment process typically runs three rounds: a Group Exercise or Group Discussion, a Technical interview, and an HR interview. The exact sequence varies by role and campus.

Group Exercise: A group of six to ten candidates receives a business scenario or case. EY interviewers observe how you contribute to the group discussion, not just whether your individual answer is correct. Structured thinking, clear articulation, and listening to other candidates all factor into the assessment.

Technical interview: The Technical round probes domain knowledge relevant to the role. Finance and accounting concepts for Assurance and Tax tracks. Process and operations thinking for GDS technology roles. Analytics and data interpretation for consulting roles. Expect questions on your academic record, projects, and internships, with follow-up on your reasoning rather than just your conclusion.

HR interview: Standard professional fit questions: introduce yourself, strengths and development areas, why EY, where you see yourself in three to five years. No trick questions. The goal is to assess communication skills, motivation, and alignment with the firm’s work culture.

For firms with a similar multi-step consulting and analytics recruitment process, the ZS Associates placement test and interview guide covers the analytical assessment plus case-interview prep that parallels this kind of selection process.

A 4-week prep timeline

This plan fits into 90 minutes of focused prep per day alongside a normal academic schedule.

Week	Focus	How to test yourself
Week 1	Data interpretation basics: percentage change, ratio, and averages from charts and tables.	Solve 20 DI questions per day from campus placement papers. Time yourself at 90 seconds per question.
Week 2	Quantitative formulas: time-speed-distance, pipes and cisterns, profit and loss, simple and compound interest.	Practise each formula by deriving it first, then applying it to 15 questions per topic per day.
Week 3	Verbal Ability (reading comprehension and sentence correction) and Logical Reasoning (coding-decoding, number series, blood relations).	Take one 20-question mixed-section mock per day. Note which topic types produce the most errors.
Week 4	Full mock tests under timed conditions. Targeted drill on your two or three weakest topic areas.	Two full three-section mocks, scored. Target 80% or better accuracy on topics from Weeks 1 and 2.

The same prep base transfers to other consulting and analytics placement tests. The Mu Sigma placement papers and solutions guide covers a firm where data interpretation sits at the core of both the test and the actual work, which is useful context if you are applying to multiple analytics and consulting firms in the same placement season.

From data interpretation to AI tools

Data interpretation, the section that decides most borderline EY outcomes, is built around a deceptively simple skill: reading a structured output and drawing defensible conclusions from it.

That same skill is what you use when evaluating an LLM’s response or a model output table at a professional services firm. Consulting and advisory roles that involve AI tools do not ask you to build models. They ask you to read outputs, question assumptions, and turn numbers into recommendations. The EY test is already measuring your starting point on that capability.

TinkerLLM starts at ₹299 and puts that reasoning loop to work on real AI tasks rather than textbook ones.