Maven Securities Online Assessment
Maven Securities, the London options market maker, screens early-career candidates with up to four online assessments: numerical, probability, HackerRank coding and an Arctic Shores game-based test, with the set depending on the programme (per Maven's Emerging Talent page). For trading roles, candidates consistently report a numerical test in two timed parts, about 50 mental maths questions in 5 minutes and about 30 number and letter sequences in 6 minutes, plus a probability test of about 18 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes where a wrong answer costs a point. 2026 reports describe a newer version with typed answers and an estimation section. Everything below is candidate-reported unless marked as from Maven, and question counts vary between cycles. Last updated October 9, 2026.
Practice every firm's OA: timed replicas, free game replicas and guides in one place →
Numerical test — Mental maths
About six seconds per question on the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, with some comparison items. Older reports describe multiple-choice answers and a click-to-advance screen that eats into the clock; 2026 reports describe typing each answer instead. Maven's own advice is timed practice in a quiet room, and it points candidates to Zetamac. Our closest free drills are below: Zetamac-style sprints, Optiver's 80 in 8 for the multiple-choice version, and the Five Rings fill-in screen for typed answers.
Zetamac practice: what a good score is and how to train →
Quant mental math practice: timed drills and benchmarks →
Optiver 80 in 8: multiple-choice speed arithmetic →
Numerical test — Sequences
Find the next term in number and letter sequences at about twelve seconds each. Reported patterns are arithmetic and geometric progressions, higher-order differences, alternating signs, interleaved sequences and letters read as alphabet positions. One prep site says you must pass both the mental maths and sequences parts to move on. The Flow Traders replica below pairs a numerical section with a sequence section under a wrong-answer penalty, the closest structural match we have.
Flow Traders OA: numerical + sequence replica →
Number sequence tests for trading interviews: patterns guide →
Probability test — Probability (multiple choice)
Roughly 100 seconds per question on expected value, combinatorics, conditional probability and short brainteasers, at an easy to medium level. Several reports say a wrong answer scores minus one and a blank scores zero, so leave a question blank unless you can narrow the options. Maven publishes one example on its Emerging Talent page: an expected number of dice rolls until a pattern appears, with five numeric options. The free bank problems below are the same families, each with a full worked solution.
Expected Flips for Two Consecutive Heads →
Expected Sum of Dice Rolls Until a Target Face →
Probability of Four of a Kind in a 5-Card Poker Hand →
2026 variant — Typed answers + estimation
Two candidate sources from August 2026, relayed by prep sites, describe a newer numerical test: typed answers instead of multiple choice, a much faster probability block of about 20 questions in 10 minutes, and a new estimation section where you give an 80% confidence interval for an unknown quantity. Maven has not described the change publicly, and the older format was still being reported in late 2025, so prepare for both. Interval estimation rewards calibration: a range that is honest about what you do not know.
Optiver Intervals: confidence interval estimation replica →
Other tracks — Arctic Shores games
Maven lists Arctic Shores as a task-based assessment of cognitive skills and traits, and advises approaching it naturally and using the official practice task. Quant and data candidates describe short games on attention, memory and reaction speed, and reports disagree on which games appear. There is no answer key to learn; a rested, distraction-free sitting matters more than drilling. If you want a general warm-up for reaction-and-attention style games, the Zap-N games below are similar in spirit but are not an Arctic Shores replica.
Zap-N cognitive games (general warm-up, not an Arctic Shores replica) →
Other tracks — Coding (HackerRank)
Technology candidates take a HackerRank coding assessment, and Maven links a HackerRank practice test from its Emerging Talent page. One graduate software report from late 2025 called it notably challenging. Experienced developer reports on Blind describe a long take-home window of about 72 hours where the work is software design, for example writing a parser, judged on readable, well-structured object-oriented code rather than algorithm tricks.
After the online assessment
Maven's graduate profile lists a recorded video interview of about 20 minutes on motivation, a technical interview of about 40 minutes on logical and numerical reasoning, and a final assessment day of about four hours. Candidates describe the final as interviews with senior traders plus card-based market-making games, expected value games and timed Fermi estimates, done without pen and paper. Our full Maven guide covers each stage; the games below rehearse the market-making rounds.
Maven Securities interview guide: every stage →
Make a Market: quote a two-way price →
Sources and how current this is
This page combines Maven's Emerging Talent page and graduate profile with candidate reports summarised on Glassdoor, 1Point3Acres, Blind and interview prep sites between 2024 and October 2026. Glassdoor and 1Point3Acres reviews sit behind a login, so we relied on their public summaries. Question counts and timings are candidate-reported and change between cycles; the platform names (HackerRank, Arctic Shores) and the four assessment types come from Maven. Took the test recently? Tell us what you saw so we can update this page.
Maven Securities OA — FAQ
What is the Maven Securities online assessment?
Maven Securities, the London options market maker, screens early-career candidates with up to four online assessments: numerical, probability, HackerRank coding and an Arctic Shores game-based test, with the set depending on the programme (per Maven's Emerging Talent page). For trading roles, candidates consistently report a numerical test in two timed parts, about 50 mental maths questions in 5 minutes and about 30 number and letter sequences in 6 minutes, plus a probability test of about 18 multiple-choice questions in 30 minutes where a wrong answer costs a point. 2026 reports describe a newer version with typed answers and an estimation section. Everything below is candidate-reported unless marked as from Maven, and question counts vary between cycles. Last updated October 9, 2026.
What is the format of the Maven Securities OA?
It runs as 6 tracks (Mental maths, Sequences, Probability (multiple choice), Typed answers + estimation, Arctic Shores games). Numerical test, Numerical test, Probability test, 2026 variant, each timed and auto-graded where applicable.
How do I practice for the Maven Securities online assessment?
Work the sample questions above (each with a full worked solution), then take the interactive Maven Securities OA practice on QuantVault.
Can I use a calculator or paper on the Maven numerical test?
No, according to candidate reports. The mental maths and sequences parts are described as no calculator and no paper, and 2026 reports of the newer version add an instruction not to use pen, paper, a calculator or AI.
Is the Maven probability test negatively marked?
Several candidate reports say yes: a wrong answer scores minus one and a blank scores zero, so only answer when you can rule out most of the options. Maven has not published its scoring.
Has the Maven online assessment changed for 2027?
Some August 2026 reports describe typed answers instead of multiple choice, a probability block of about 20 questions in 10 minutes and a new 80% confidence interval estimation section. Older formats were still reported in late 2025, so prepare for both and check your invite.
What comes after the Maven online assessment?
Per Maven's graduate profile: a recorded video interview of about 20 minutes, a technical interview of about 40 minutes, then an assessment day of about four hours. Candidates describe market-making card games, expected value games and Fermi estimates with senior traders in the final.