Flow Traders OA: Free Numerical and Sequence Test Replica
Candidates report that the Flow Traders online assessment for trading roles opens with a timed mental-math section of about 8 minutes that most people do not finish, followed by a separate number sequences section of about 25 minutes, both multiple choice and with wrong answers penalised. Sit both sections below in the same shape, get a penalty-adjusted score and a per-section breakdown. No signup.
Format reconstructed from candidate reports collected for our Flow Traders online assessment guide and the Optiver vs IMC vs Flow Traders comparison. Question counts are our estimate; see how this replica works.
What the Flow Traders numerical test actually is
Flow Traders is an ETF market maker, and its trading screen is built to find people who are fast and accurate with numbers before anyone looks at a CV. Candidates describe the Flow Traders OA as two separate timed modules. The first is a mental-arithmetic sprint in the spirit of Optiver's 80 in 8: short addition, subtraction, multiplication and division across integers, decimals and fractions, in both direct and missing-operand form, with far more questions than the clock allows. The second is a number sequences module closer to IMC's 24 in 18: find the next term, five options, with the difficulty ramping through the set.
The detail that changes how you play is the penalty. Reports consistently say a wrong answer costs a point, so a guess on a question you cannot see is a two-point swing against leaving it. On the arithmetic sprint you cannot skip, so the only defence is to answer accurately and accept that you will not reach the end. On the sequences module you can skip, and a skip is worth zero. For the rest of the process, including the language-quirk coding screen that technology-track candidates sit instead, see the Flow Traders online assessment guide and the Flow Traders interview process.
The format, as candidates report it
47 × 8 = ?) and missing-operand (? × 6 = 13.8) shapes.How to play a penalised numerical test
- Estimate before you pick. Most options are built from the classic slips: off by one, off by ten, the wrong power of ten on a decimal, the fraction not reduced. A one-second magnitude check rules out half the board and protects you from the −1.
- Reframe missing-operand questions instantly.
? × 6 = 13.8is13.8 / 6;72 − ? = 29is72 − 29. The reflex is trainable and is where most lost seconds go. - On sequences, run the checklist in order. Differences, then ratios, then odd and even positions separately, then the standard ladders (squares, primes, Fibonacci), then digit tricks. Commit to the first rule that fits every gap.
- Skip is a tool in section 2, not a failure. A skip is 0; a wrong answer is −1. If two options survive your checks and you cannot split them in ten seconds, move on and come back to your time budget, not to the question.
For the sequence taxonomy with worked examples, see number sequence tests in trading interviews. When the numbers feel solid, build out the rest of your Flow Traders prep:
How this replica works
Section timing comes from candidate reports summarised on our guide pages: an 8-minute mental math section plus a longer sequences section of about 25 minutes. Flow Traders does not publish question counts or the scoring rule, so the 40 and 30 question counts and the +1 / −1 scheme are our reconstruction from the same reports; if you have sat a recent Flow Traders numerical test and something is off, tell us at [email protected]. Every question is generated fresh in your browser from a rule, the correct option is computed from that rule, and the page independently re-derives each answer before rendering it, so the option marked correct always is.