The Bishop Fleming trainee process, explained

Every stage of Bishop Fleming’s graduate, school-leaver and placement process, what the evidence does and does not say about the online test, and how to prepare while the publisher is unconfirmed.

By the Game Assessment Prep research teamUpdated September 11, 2026How we research

The Bishop Fleming interview rounds at a glance

1Online application — Fill in the online form on the firm’s Workday board and attach a CV listing your qualifications, subjects, grades and preferred office. An acknowledgment email arrives straight away; the firm says you are contacted within four weeks if shortlisted.
2Online test (publisher not named) — An emailed invitation to a test that "measures your numerical skills and your ability to analyse information and draw conclusions from it". No official page names the platform, and no time limit or question count is published.What the test is, and isn’t
3Recorded video interview — A link to six online questions on why Bishop Fleming, why accountancy and what you would bring, with five days to prepare and post your recorded answers. The recording platform is not named.What the questions cover
4Assessment center — The firm says this "could be a virtual assessment centre or face-to-face" and includes an interview along with a business-related task, plus a chance to meet the team and ask questions.What happens after the test
5Office tour and trainee Q&A — A tour and a question-and-answer session with a current trainee, listed by the firm as its own step after the assessment center.
6Conditional offer — A conditional offer, then reference, right-to-work and (where applicable) DBS checks, a WhatsApp group with the talent team, and a September start with an induction.Dates and response times

Practice the likely formatsNumerosity

What games are in the Bishop Fleming assessment?

There are no games in this process, and there is no confirmed game lineup to practice. Bishop Fleming describes one online test measuring numerical skill and the ability to analyze information and draw conclusions; no official page, vendor case study or independent candidate account names the publisher, and nothing public connects the firm to Arctic Shores or to any game-based platform. So the honest preparation here is category practice for a numerical and reasoning test, not a Bishop Fleming battery. Everything below is labeled category practice for exactly that reason: these are other publishers’ formats, useful for the underlying skill and for pacing, and none of them is the test Bishop Fleming sends.

Numerical reasoning (category practice)

Category practice

Official source

The one thing the firm states outright is that the test measures numerical skill. Timed mental arithmetic, percentages, ratios, and pulling figures out of tables and charts are the mechanics every numerical reasoning test shares, whichever publisher turns out to supply this one. These simulators train that speed and accuracy under a clock. None of them is a Bishop Fleming test, and no source says Bishop Fleming uses any of these publishers.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry (test described by type only)

Practice Numerosity Practice Numbubbles Practice Tally Up

Analysing information and drawing conclusions (category practice)

Category practice

Official source

The firm’s wording is "your ability to analyse information and draw conclusions from it": reading a passage or a data set and deciding what actually follows from it, without importing what you assume. A timed mixed sitting is the closest practice we have for that discipline, because it forces you to read carefully while the clock runs. It is another publisher’s format, so use it for pacing and reading discipline rather than for question style.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, school leaver entry

Practice a timed mixed sitting Practice Proof It

Good to know: Nothing on this page is a confirmed Bishop Fleming exercise, and the practice links are generic preparation for a numerical and reasoning test rather than a reconstruction of what the firm sends. Your invitation email is the only source that names the platform, the time limits and the device requirements — follow it over anything here. If it does name a publisher, the name is usually in the sender address or the link: forward it to us and we will update this page.

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Who gets the Bishop Fleming assessment?

Bishop Fleming is a UK accountancy firm with nine offices across South West England and the West Midlands, and early-careers staff are now more than a third of its headcount. Its graduate (three-year ACA or ACA/CTA), school-leaver (four-year) and 12-month placement routes all follow one published sequence: online application, online test, recorded video interview, assessment center, trainee tour, offer.

The online test is where the evidence stops short. Bishop Fleming’s own early-careers pages describe only "an online test" that "measures your numerical skills and your ability to analyse information and draw conclusions from it" — the test publisher is not named anywhere public, and no evidence connects the firm to Arctic Shores or to any game-based assessment. Arctic Shores is sometimes named for this firm in candidate chatter, but we could not corroborate it anywhere: not on the firm’s own pages, and not in Arctic Shores’ published client list. We do not present it as this employer’s battery.

This page walks each stage with its source and confidence, says plainly where the evidence runs out, gives category practice for a numerical and reasoning test, and covers the timing for the September 2027 intake as it stood on 11 September 2026.

Graduate Trainee Accountant (ACA or ACA/CTA, three years)

A three-year Level 7 apprenticeship leading to ACA in every stream or ACA/CTA in tax, with Bishop Fleming as the apprenticeship provider and First Intuition delivering tuition. The firm lists nine offices: Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cheltenham, Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Truro and Worcester. It says it is "not looking for maths or accountancy specialists"; the placement page cites an expected 2:2 or equivalent in any discipline. Most graduates start in September. No September 2027 graduate posting was live on 11 September 2026.

Official source

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry

School Leaver Trainee Accountant, September 2027 start (four years)

A four-year Level 7 apprenticeship for A-level (or equivalent) leavers leading to ACA or ACA/CTA, with the firm covering training costs, either directly in the Audit department or through the rotating Launch Pad Scheme. The live requisition JR100437 (Bristol, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Exeter, Worcester, Plymouth) asks for three A levels at CCC (96 UCAS points) and GCSE English and Maths at grade 4. That is lower than the 2026-start posting, which asked for BBC (112 points) and grade 6 — always read the bar off the current requisition rather than an older listing. The route is "not suitable if you are studying for or already hold an undergraduate or master’s degree", and requires living within commuting distance, unrestricted UK right to work (no sponsorship) and apprenticeship-funding eligibility. The posting cites 17th place in the Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2026 and an Ofsted "Outstanding" rating.

Official source

Source: Bishop Fleming Workday posting JR100437

School Leaver Trainee Accountant, immediate start (Bristol, Cheltenham)

A parallel requisition, JR100441, posted around 4 September 2026, with the same wording and requirements as the 2027 posting but for an immediate start in Bristol or Cheltenham. It is evidence that the firm also fills trainee seats outside the September cycle, so a strong candidate who has missed a cycle is worth a look at the board anyway.

Official source

Source: Bishop Fleming Workday posting JR100441

12-month industrial placement (sandwich year)

A 12-month placement "as part of a sandwich degree course" for university students in any discipline expected to achieve at least a 2:2, across the firm’s offices, working on real client projects. Successful placement students may be offered a place on the three-year graduate apprenticeship. The graduate-entry FAQ says placement opportunities are advertised alongside graduate roles from early October; none was live on 11 September 2026, and we have no confirmation that a 2027 placement will run.

Official source

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, work placements

Which offices are actually hiring

Nine offices is the firm’s overall footprint, not the list on any one requisition. The live September 2027 school-leaver posting covered six (Bristol, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Exeter, Worcester, Plymouth); Bath, Torquay and Truro were not on it on 11 September 2026, and the September 2026 intake announcement named seven. Trainee roles require living within commuting distance of your chosen office: there is no relocation support and no visa sponsorship.

Official source

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, early careers job search

Experienced hires follow a different, interview-only route

The firm’s "Our approach to recruitment" page describes the non-trainee path: online application, CV review, a virtual interview with a Resourcing Team colleague about your experience and skills, a face-to-face interview with the hiring manager and potential team members, then offer. No online test and no video interview are mentioned for experienced hires, and unsuccessful applicants may reapply after 12 months. Trainee postings link to this page as "the application process", but it omits the test and video stages that the early-careers pages describe — so read the early-careers pages for a trainee role.

Official source

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, our approach to recruitment

How many trainees the firm takes

The firm welcomed 73 graduates, school leavers and placement students across nine offices in September 2025, and "more than 40" apprentices, trainees and placement students in September 2026 across seven offices. The 2026 figure is noticeably below 2025, which is worth knowing when you judge how competitive a rolling process is likely to be.

Multiple sources

Source: Accountancy Today (10 Sept 2026); Bishop Fleming Insights (13 Sept 2025); consultancy.uk (30 Sept 2025)

How does the Bishop Fleming assessment work?

The online test, in the firm’s own words

Official source

Both early-careers pages say: "We’ll email you an invitation to take an online test. This measures your numerical skills and your ability to analyse information and draw conclusions from it." That is the full extent of the official description. No time limit, question count, number of attempts or platform is published anywhere.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry

The sources disagree on the second test type

Official source

An older FAQ page on the firm’s main site labels the stage "Numerical & Verbal Reasoning Tests", but neither current careers page mentions verbal reasoning — they describe numerical skill plus analysing information and drawing conclusions. One independent first-hand account describes "numerical reasoning and deductive reasoning" tests. Prepare for numerical reasoning plus a reasoning-from-information component and you are covered whichever label applies on the day.

Source: Bishop Fleming Tips & FAQs (older domain; conflicts with the careers site)

No publisher is named, and Arctic Shores is not supported

No evidence found

Bishop Fleming names no test publisher on any page. Arctic Shores’ own homepage and case-study index, re-checked on 11 September 2026, list 16 clients and no accountancy firm, and never mention Bishop Fleming; searching the two names together turns up nothing but generic prep pages and an unrelated Anglican bishop. Some candidates have told us they were sent an Arctic Shores assessment, but we have found no public evidence for this, so we do not present it as this employer’s battery. Arctic Shores sells a task-based behavioral assessment; Bishop Fleming officially describes a numerical and analytical test, which is a different instrument class.

Source: Arctic Shores case-study index, re-checked 11 Sept 2026 (Bishop Fleming absent)

What the one independent account describes

Single source

A college alumni profile from an earlier cycle (undated, described anonymously here) is the only first-hand account we could load: a CV and cover letter, then "numerical reasoning and deductive reasoning tests to complete online", then a recorded video interview, then an in-person assessment center built around a case study. It names no publisher, and it describes conventional question-based tests rather than games. It is a single source from an older cycle, so weigh it accordingly.

Source: College alumni profile of a Bishop Fleming apprentice (undated, older cycle)

Six recorded questions, five days to submit

Official source

Officially: "We’ll send you a link to six online questions. They’ll cover areas such as why you want to join us; why you want to be an accountant; what qualities you think you’d bring to our business. You’ll have five days to prepare and post videos of yourself giving your answers." The older independent account describes five questions with 20 to 30 seconds to read each one and a single take, so the format has changed between cycles. Per-question timings and attempt counts are not officially published; plan for a single take and let the invitation tell you the rest. The recording platform is not named.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry

Assessment center: interview plus a business-related task

Official source

The current official format: "This could be a virtual assessment centre or face-to-face and will include an interview along with a business-related task. This will give you an opportunity to meet us, understand more about how we work and ask any questions you might have." The firm’s older FAQ page says centers are now conducted remotely online, while a 2024-era brochure gives in-person arrival instructions and describes an "Assessment Day" with a Business Exercise, an interview and time with existing trainees. Because the sources disagree, check your invitation for the format instead of assuming either one.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, school leaver entry

First Intuition teaches the ACA; it does not run the test

Official source

The firm’s FAQ page explains that Bishop Fleming is your apprenticeship provider and that you study for your professional qualifications at First Intuition. That is the tuition arrangement after you join, not the publisher of the recruitment test — a distinction worth making because tuition providers are sometimes mistaken for assessment vendors.

Source: Bishop Fleming Tips & FAQs

AI is allowed for preparation, not for answers

Official source

A dedicated careers-site page says candidates are "welcome to use AI as part of your preparation, as long as it’s done thoughtfully and appropriately" — research, organizing your experiences, mock questions, CV tailoring — but not to generate answers during live interviews or assessments, invent experiences, or record or transcribe interviews without consent. Its line is that "AI supports you, not replaces your voice, experience or personality". Job postings repeat that the firm does "not condone simply copying AI-generated responses".

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, using AI for interview preparation

What happens in the Bishop Fleming hiring process?

The trainee process (graduate, school leaver, placement)

Both early-careers pages publish the same seven-step sequence, in this order.

1Apply online with the form and a CV that lists your qualifications, subjects, grades and preferred office location. An acknowledgment email arrives straight away; the firm says it does not condone simply copying AI-generated responses.
2If shortlisted, complete the emailed online test of numerical skill and analysing information. The publisher is not named, and no time limit is published.
3Record answers to six video questions on why Bishop Fleming, why accountancy and what you would bring, within five days of the link arriving.
4Attend the assessment center — virtual or face-to-face, per the firm — for an interview plus a business-related task.
5Take the office tour and put your questions to a current trainee.
6Receive a conditional offer, then complete reference and right-to-work checks and, where applicable, a standard or enhanced DBS check.
7Before you start: the talent team adds you to a WhatsApp group and stays in touch, then you begin in September with an induction and an assigned buddy.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry and school leaver entry

What the interview stages ask

The firm publishes the video topics; the assessment-center themes come from its own framing plus one older first-hand account.

1Video interview: why you want to join Bishop Fleming specifically, why you want to be an accountant, and what qualities you would bring to the business — the three areas the firm names itself.
2Assessment center interview: expect competency questions about your own examples and your CV, plus why this firm, why this service line (audit or tax) and why that office.
3Business-related task: the older account describes reading a business case, identifying strengths and weaknesses, recommending improvements, presenting them, and then answering questions on the case and its financial accounts. Treat that as one cycle’s format, not a guarantee.
4The firm’s own tips are worth taking literally: keep answers short and to the point, and speak positively and enthusiastically without overdoing it.
5Keep every answer in your own voice. AI-generated answers during recorded or live interviews are against the firm’s stated policy.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry; Tips & FAQs

Experienced hires: interview only

Non-trainee roles skip the test and video stages entirely.

1Apply online; the firm gives an initial outcome within two weeks.
2CV review by the Resourcing Team.
3Virtual interview with a Resourcing Team colleague about your experience and skills.
4Face-to-face interview with the hiring manager and potential team members.
5Offer. Unsuccessful applicants may reapply after a period of 12 months.

Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, our approach to recruitment

What changed since the 2019-2020 cycle

Older accounts you may find online describe a stage that no longer exists; the firm’s own 2020 brochure dates it.

1The 2019-2020 era route: online assessments, then a telephone interview with a member of the HR team, then an interview with a partner and a manager with a possible business exercise, then a residential induction week.
2That telephone interview stage is retired. The current route uses a recorded video interview and a structured assessment center with a business-related task.
3So if an account mentions a phone chat about why Bishop Fleming, why audit and why that office, it is describing the old process. The themes still match what the firm asks for on video today, but the format does not.

Source: Bishop Fleming recruitment brochure 2020 (cited only to date the retired process)

When is the Bishop Fleming assessment?

Bishop Fleming publishes no closing dates: postings go live and stay open until the seats are filled. That makes applying early the single most useful thing you can do, and it makes the firm’s own stated opening months unreliable as a plan. Everything below was checked on 11 September 2026.

Cycle	Application dates	Likely assessment window	Evidence
September 2027 school-leaver intake: open now	None published — rolling until all roles are filled	Rolling: the test, video interview and assessment center follow each application; no published dates	Official source The September 2027 school-leaver requisition JR100437 (Bristol, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Exeter, Worcester, Plymouth) went live around 4 September 2026. That is well ahead of the school-leaver FAQ’s "mid-November" and the older FAQ page’s "December", which is exactly why you should check the careers site early rather than waiting for the stated month. The firm’s own line: "We don’t have a closing date. So, once applications go live, we start recruiting until we’ve filled all the roles. That means the sooner you apply, the more likely you are to be accepted." Source: Bishop Fleming Workday posting JR100437; school leaver entry FAQ
September 2027 graduate and placement intake: expected from early October 2026	None published; rolling until filled	Rolling; not published	Official source The graduate-entry FAQ says the firm advertises graduate and placement opportunities "from early October" and announces openings on its social channels; older material says mid-November instead. No graduate or placement posting was live on 11 September 2026 — only the two school-leaver requisitions and experienced-hire roles. Watch the careers site and the firm’s social channels from the start of October, and note that the school-leaver posting beat its own stated month by two months. Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, graduate entry FAQ
Immediate-start school-leaver seats (Bristol, Cheltenham)	None stated	Rolling	Official source Requisition JR100441 offers an immediate start in Bristol or Cheltenham to candidates who meet the school-leaver criteria now, with the same process wording as the 2027 posting. Source: Bishop Fleming Workday posting JR100441
Response times after you apply	Video interview: five days to prepare and post the six answers	The test invitation follows shortlisting; no published window	Official source Officially: an acknowledgment email straight away, an initial outcome within two weeks, and "You will be contacted within four weeks if your application is shortlisted." The firm does not publish how long the full trainee process runs end to end. Source: Bishop Fleming Tips & FAQs; our approach to recruitment
Start date	n/a	n/a	Official source "Most of our graduates start in September. You may be able to start earlier, depending on our business needs." The same wording applies to school-leaver trainees. The September 2026 cohort of more than 40 joined in the week of 10 September 2026. Source: Bishop Fleming Careers, school leaver entry; Accountancy Today

How to practice for the Bishop Fleming assessment

Because the publisher is unconfirmed, prepare for the test by type rather than by platform. Timed numerical work — percentages, ratios, reading tables and charts — plus careful reading of a passage or data set to decide what actually follows from it covers the firm’s own description whichever vendor turns out to supply the test. That preparation is not wasted if the platform turns out to be something unexpected, because the underlying skills are the same.

Then treat the video interview as a separate exercise. Recorded answers reward preparation far more than the test does, and the firm publishes the three topics, so there is no excuse for being surprised by them. Bishop Fleming publishes no scoring model or cutoff, and nobody outside the firm knows which test you will sit until your invitation arrives.

Step 1

Read your invitation email first

It is the only document that names the platform, the time limit and the device rules. The publisher name is usually in the sender address or the assessment link. If it names a publisher we cover, switch to that hub and practice the real thing; if it names one we do not, work from that publisher’s own practice material.

Step 2

Build a numerical baseline

One timed run each of Numerosity, Numbubbles and Tally Up shows whether arithmetic speed or estimation under pressure is the weaker half. Accuracy first, then speed — a fast wrong answer scores nothing on any publisher’s test.

Step 3

Do one mixed timed sitting

A timed mixed practice run builds the pacing discipline a reasoning test demands: moving on from a question you cannot crack rather than burning two minutes on it. The question style will differ from whatever Bishop Fleming sends; the clock management transfers.

Step 4

Script the three official video topics

Why Bishop Fleming, why you want to be an accountant, and what qualities you would bring. Write each as a short answer built on one concrete example, then rehearse it out loud rather than reading it. The firm’s own advice is to keep answers short and to the point and to sound positive without overdoing it.

Step 5

Record yourself before the real thing

Set up in a quiet room with the camera at eye level and run through your three topics on camera. Plan for a single take: the older first-hand account describes one attempt per question, and the firm publishes no per-question timings. Keep it in your own voice — AI-generated answers in recorded or live interviews are against the firm’s stated policy.

Step 6

Prepare for the business-related task

Practice reading a short business case or a set of accounts, listing strengths and weaknesses, and recommending two or three improvements you can defend when questioned. The one first-hand account of the center describes exactly that sequence, ending with questions on the case, the financial accounts and the candidate’s own CV.

Step 7

Check eligibility before you apply

Trainee roles require living within commuting distance of your chosen office, unrestricted UK right to work and eligibility for a government-funded Level 7 apprenticeship. There is no relocation support and no sponsorship, and the school-leaver route is not open to anyone holding or studying for a degree. Attach a CV listing qualifications, subjects and grades as the posting asks.

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Bishop Fleming assessment FAQ

Does Bishop Fleming use Arctic Shores?

Bishop Fleming does not name the publisher of its online test. Some candidates have told us they were sent an Arctic Shores assessment, but we have found no public evidence for this — not on the firm’s own pages, and not in Arctic Shores’ client list or case studies, which include no accountancy firm — so we do not present it as this employer’s battery. If you have an invitation email, the platform name is usually in the sender address or the link; forward it and we will update this page.

What is the Bishop Fleming online test?

In the firm’s words, a test that "measures your numerical skills and your ability to analyse information and draw conclusions from it". An older FAQ page labels the stage "Numerical & Verbal Reasoning Tests", and one independent candidate account describes "numerical reasoning and deductive reasoning" — the sources disagree on the second type. Prepare for numerical reasoning plus a reasoning-from-information component. No time limit, question count or publisher is published.

Is the Bishop Fleming assessment game-based?

Nothing indicates that it is. Every official description and the one independent candidate account we could read describe a conventional question-based test, not a game-based or task-based assessment. We have no evidence of games anywhere in this process. If your invitation shows a game-based platform, follow the invitation and tell us, because that would mean the firm has changed vendor.

How does the Bishop Fleming video interview work?

The firm says it sends a link to six online questions covering why you want to join Bishop Fleming, why you want to be an accountant and what qualities you would bring, with five days to prepare and post your recorded answers. An older candidate account describes five questions with 20 to 30 seconds to read each one and a single take, so the format has changed between cycles and per-question timings are not officially published. The recording platform is not named, and AI-generated answers are not permitted.

Is the Bishop Fleming assessment center online or in person?

It may be either. The firm’s current pages say the center "could be a virtual assessment centre or face-to-face", while an older FAQ page says centers are now conducted remotely online and a 2024-era brochure gives in-person arrival instructions. Check your invitation for the format. Either way it includes an interview and a business-related task, followed by an office tour and a Q&A with a current trainee.

When do Bishop Fleming applications open, and is there a deadline?

There is no closing date — the firm recruits on a rolling basis until all roles are filled, so applying early genuinely matters. School-leaver roles for September 2027 were posted around 4 September 2026, well ahead of the FAQ’s stated mid-November. Graduate and placement roles are advertised from early October per the firm, and none was live on 11 September 2026. Check the careers site early rather than waiting for a stated month.

What grades do I need for a Bishop Fleming trainee role?

For school leavers, the live September 2027 posting asks for three A levels at CCC (96 UCAS points) and GCSE English and Maths at grade 4. That is lower than the 2026-start posting, which asked for BBC (112 points) and grade 6, so check the current requisition rather than an older listing. The graduate route expects a 2:2 or equivalent in any discipline; the firm says it is not looking for maths or accountancy specialists. School-leaver roles are not open to anyone holding or studying for a degree.

Game Assessment Prep is independent and is not affiliated with Bishop Fleming or HireVue. Employer processes can change by program, role, country, and recruiting cycle. Follow your invitation over this guide. Claims were reviewed against the linked employer, vendor, and candidate sources in July 2026 and labeled by evidence strength. How we research and label claims.

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