Barclays hires Quant Analyst / Strats, Markets (Sales & Trading) and Technology / Quant Developer. Candidates report 4 interview stages. Below: what each round tests and how to prepare, the timeline, roles and a 4-week prep plan, drawn from candidate reports.
Barclays interview: quick answer
- Stages4
- Online assessmentSHL interactive - 8 questions / 12 min (+ untimed values questionnaire)
- Final roundAssessment Centre / Final Round: Group exercise, case, and final interviews
- RolesQuant Analyst / Strats, Markets (Sales & Trading), Technology / Quant Developer
Preparing for Barclays? Work the rounds in order in the free Barclays interview funnel, or start with the free online-assessment sample (no signup).
The Barclays interview process at a glance
| # | Round | Format and length | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Online Assessment SHL Interactive Cognitive Test | SHL interactive - 8 questions / 12 min (+ untimed values questionnaire) | OA guidePractice |
| 2 | Video Interview | Recorded video interview - competency + motivation | GuidePractice |
| 3 | Technical Interviews Quant / Strats | Video or in-person rounds - derivatives, statistics, coding | GuidePractice |
| 4 | Assessment Centre / Final Round | Group exercise, case, and final interviews | GuidePractice |
Stages are listed in the order candidates report them. Formats come from candidate reports and change between cycles, offices and teams; not every candidate sees every stage.
Every Barclays round: what it tests and how to prepare
1Online Assessment: SHL Interactive Cognitive Test
SHL's 'interactive' cognitive test: 8 activity-based questions in 12 minutes, English (US). Arrange a stacked bar chart from data, resize a pie chart, tap dates meeting availability constraints, drag medical procedures onto a buffer-ruled timetable, fill a shape sequence, drag a line through coded nodes. An untimed values-and-mindset questionnaire (forced-choice triads) usually rides alongside. Timed replica, verified answers: OA page.
How to prepare
- Do the arithmetic on paper. Percent changes apply per category (service +5%, product +30%), and the unlabelled pie slice is found by subtraction - the chart is only the answer surface.
- Sequences are usually two rules at once. Track each fill separately (a centre that alternates, points that step one position clockwise, textures that swap) before tapping.
- Budget 90 seconds a question. 12 minutes for 8 items; the interactive controls eat time, so decide first, then drag.
2Video Interview
After the SHL screen, Barclays early-careers candidates record a video interview: timed, competency-based questions on motivation for the bank and the division, teamwork, resilience and commercial awareness. No technical content at this stage - structure each answer (situation, action, result) and keep it inside the time limit.
How to prepare
- Know the division. Why Barclays, why this desk or strats team, and what has changed in the business recently.
- Prepare six stories. Teamwork, conflict, failure, leadership, analytical win, and a time you changed your approach - each in under two minutes.
- Practise on camera. The recorded format punishes rambling; rehearse to the clock.
3Technical Interviews: Quant / Strats
Track-specific technical rounds. For quant analyst and strategist roles the questions cluster into three nearly even pillars: options pricing and derivatives (no-arbitrage reasoning on option surfaces, replication, hedging error), statistics and time series and algorithmic coding (clean, correct algorithms with stated complexity).
Question types: mostly coding, options pricing and statistics, especially stochastic calculus, Bayes' theorem, time series and conditional probability. Latest candidate report for this round: Jun 2026.
How to prepare
- Lead with the economic invariant. Replication, hedging error or the zero-profit condition first; then write the SDE, the log-contract or the likelihood and turn the crank.
- Move fluently from estimator to test. Know the variance of your estimator (HAC, block bootstrap) and the statistic you would test with.
- State the invariant and complexity before you code. Correctness and clarity beat cleverness.
Full Technical Interviews guide →Practice this round (30 questions) →
4Assessment Centre / Final Round
The final stage is an assessment centre (virtual or in person): a group exercise, a short case or data task, and interviews with senior members of the business. The technical bar carries over from the previous round; the new element is being assessed on collaboration and communication in a group setting.
How to prepare
- Contribute early, then make room. Assessors score both the quality of your input and how you bring others in.
- Quantify in the case. Put a number on every claim - margin, payback, risk - and say what you would need to verify it.
- Close with a clear recommendation. Decide, state the trade-off, and own it.
Full Assessment Centre / Final Round guide →Practice this round →
Practice the Barclays rounds in order
Each round in the Barclays funnel has its own practice set, with worked solutions and progress tracking. A free account saves your progress across rounds.
A 4-week Barclays prep plan
Built from the order of Barclays's rounds and the topics in each round's practice set. Compress it if your first interview is sooner.
| When | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Foundations | Review coding, options pricing and statistics, the topics that dominate Barclays's practice sets. Start with Quant coding course and Options pricing & Greeks course. Work the easy and medium questions in the Barclays question set. |
| Week 2 | Early rounds: Online Assessment, Video Interview and Technical Interviews | Practice coding, options pricing and statistics under time pressure, and take the free OA sample (format notes in the OA guide). Add a daily mental-math drill. Talk every answer through out loud; interviewers score the reasoning. |
| Week 3 | Later rounds: Assessment Centre / Final Round | Move to the harder final-round topics. Read how quant superdays work. |
| Week 4 | Rehearse the full loop | Run each practice round in order, redo the questions you missed, and prepare two project stories plus a specific answer to "why Barclays?" (see behavioral questions at trading firms). |
About Barclays
| Firm type | Global investment bank |
|---|---|
| Trading style | SHL cognitive screen first, deep derivatives + statistics interviews · Flow and derivatives market making, systematic strats |
| Other offices | false |
Culture
A large bank with a structured early-careers process: standardised SHL screening for every applicant, then track-specific technical rounds where quant and strats desks favour depth in stochastic calculus, econometrics and production code over speed puzzles.
What the interviews feel like
Activity-based SHL cognitive items (drag, drop, tap, arrange) under a 12-minute clock, then interviews built on no-arbitrage reasoning, likelihood and Bayesian machinery, and clean algorithms.
Practice for Barclays on QuantVault
Practice
Courses
Games and drills
Further reading
- How quant superdays work
- Behavioral questions at trading firms
- Mental math for trading interviews
- Market-making game interview guide
- The quant interview process, explained
Similar firms to compare
Firms with a similar business and interview style. Many candidates interview at several of them in the same cycle.
Sources and how this guide is built
- Updated October 20, 2026; firm data last reviewed September 2, 2026.
- Round detail draws on 72 questions candidates report from Barclays interviews (the most recent report across all rounds is from Aug 2026). A separate curated Barclays question set of 72 problems collects the most useful practice for this firm.
- Public candidate reports and outside interview guides are cross-checked against each other. Where they disagree the page says "reports differ"; details from a single source are marked as candidate reports.
- No actual interview questions are reproduced on this page. The questions, with worked solutions, are in the practice rounds.
Barclays interview FAQ
How many rounds are in the Barclays interview?
Candidates report 4 stages: Online Assessment, Video Interview, Technical Interviews, Assessment Centre / Final Round. The exact number varies by cycle and team.
Is there an online assessment at Barclays?
Candidates report one: SHL interactive - 8 questions / 12 min (+ untimed values questionnaire). SHL's 'interactive' cognitive test: 8 activity-based questions in 12 minutes, English (US).
What happens in the Barclays final round?
Assessment Centre / Final Round (Group exercise, case, and final interviews). The final stage is an assessment centre (virtual or in person): a group exercise, a short case or data task, and interviews with senior members of the business. The technical bar carries over from the previous round; the new element is being assessed on collaboration and communication in a group setting.
How should I prepare for the Barclays interview?
Prepare round by round over about four weeks: foundations first, then the early rounds (Online Assessment, Video Interview, Technical Interviews), then the later rounds, then a full rehearsal. Each round has its own practice set on QuantVault, and the online assessment has a dedicated guide.
What does Barclays do?
Barclays is a global investment bank.
Start preparing for Barclays
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