XTX Markets Online Assessment

XTX Markets is a London-headquartered, machine-learning-driven market maker - reportedly the largest FX spot liquidity provider in the world - and its online assessment is widely reported as one of the hardest single filters in quant hiring, with pass rates often cited around 5-10% (a community estimate, not an official figure). It is the dominant gate in the entire funnel, so it is worth taking seriously: most candidates who get an XTX offer spent the bulk of their preparation here. The format varies by role and by year, and sources genuinely disagree on the exact platform, so the only safe strategy is to prepare for the TOPICS rather than betting on a specific tool. Researchers report a combined machine-learning and probability test, frequently with a small data-analysis component bolted on. A commonly described general or quant version is roughly 20 questions in about 60 minutes spanning probability, linear algebra, calculus, algorithms and brain-teasers, hosted on TestGorilla. Engineering candidates report HackerRank-style timed algorithmic coding under a hard clock. Two details recur across candidate write-ups: the per-question time budget is tight enough that you cannot afford to re-derive the basics under pressure, and you reportedly cannot return to a question once you move past it - so read each one fully, commit, and pace yourself deliberately. Because XTX is a forecasting business operating in extremely low signal-to-noise conditions, the assessment rewards genuine fluency in the statistical and linear-algebra machinery rather than memorized tricks.

Practice this OA interactively → XTX Markets interview questions Full XTX Markets interview guide

Quant Researcher — QR / ML + probability

QR / ML + probabilityreported TestGorilla / take-home (varies)~60-120 min~20 questions (reported) shown

For researchers, candidates describe a combined machine-learning, statistics and probability screen, often with a small data-analysis component. Reports consistently mention a tight time limit and an inability to return to a question once you have passed it, so speed on fundamentals matters as much as depth. The representative set below mirrors the topics XTX is known to probe - regularization and the bias-variance tradeoff, PCA and clustering, MLE and estimator derivations, and the cross-entropy / KL machinery behind probabilistic models. Each carries a full worked solution so you can check not just the answer but the reasoning. Drill these until the core derivations (MLE, the OLS normal equations, why we divide by n-1, the first principal component) are automatic, because under a 60-90 second per-question budget there is no time to rebuild them from scratch.

Software & Systems Engineering — SWE / engineering

SWE / engineeringreported HackerRank-style~60-90 min~2-3 problems (reported) shown

Engineering candidates report HackerRank-style timed algorithmic coding - typically a couple of medium-to-hard problems graded on correctness, edge-case handling, and time and space complexity, with the wall-clock pressure that defines a HackerRank screen. XTX-flavored coding leans toward implementation tasks with a numerical or data-structure twist rather than pure puzzles, and getting the math right (stability, overflow, off-by-one) counts as much as the algorithm. The representative set below spans stable numerical routines, classic dynamic programming, string and big-integer arithmetic, and core data structures - each with a full worked solution. State your complexity up front, confirm the constraints before you type, and prioritize correct, readable code you can fully explain over a terse optimal answer you cannot.

XTX Markets OA — FAQ

What is the XTX Markets online assessment?

XTX Markets is a London-headquartered, machine-learning-driven market maker - reportedly the largest FX spot liquidity provider in the world - and its online assessment is widely reported as one of the hardest single filters in quant hiring, with pass rates often cited around 5-10% (a community estimate, not an official figure). It is the dominant gate in the entire funnel, so it is worth taking seriously: most candidates who get an XTX offer spent the bulk of their preparation here. The format varies by role and by year, and sources genuinely disagree on the exact platform, so the only safe strategy is to prepare for the TOPICS rather than betting on a specific tool. Researchers report a combined machine-learning and probability test, frequently with a small data-analysis component bolted on. A commonly described general or quant version is roughly 20 questions in about 60 minutes spanning probability, linear algebra, calculus, algorithms and brain-teasers, hosted on TestGorilla. Engineering candidates report HackerRank-style timed algorithmic coding under a hard clock. Two details recur across candidate write-ups: the per-question time budget is tight enough that you cannot afford to re-derive the basics under pressure, and you reportedly cannot return to a question once you move past it - so read each one fully, commit, and pace yourself deliberately. Because XTX is a forecasting business operating in extremely low signal-to-noise conditions, the assessment rewards genuine fluency in the statistical and linear-algebra machinery rather than memorized tricks.

What is the format of the XTX Markets OA?

It runs as 2 tracks (QR / ML + probability, SWE / engineering). Quant Researcher, Software & Systems Engineering — each timed, auto-graded where applicable.

How do I practice for the XTX Markets online assessment?

Work the sample questions above (each with a full worked solution), then take the interactive XTX Markets OA practice on QuantVault. For the full interview, see the XTX Markets interview-questions set.