The Commonwealth Bank graduate and intern process, explained

Every stage of CommBank's 2026 graduate and Summer Intern process, what changed in March 2026, which games candidates name, and free practice for each.

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

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia interview rounds at a glance

1Online application (Workday) — A short form on CommBank's Workday careers portal with your resume and most recent transcript. You pick one primary business area and can flag openness to others.Programs and eligibility
2Online assessment — HireVue games (candidate-reported) — CommBank says only "you'll be invited to complete our online assessment" and that you get "insights around your capabilities" afterward. Candidates in 2026 report three HireVue games, around 15 minutes, scored by level. This replaced an SHL test battery in late March 2026.The games, in detail What changed in March 2026
3Digital interview — one-way recorded video — Officially "a series of short, pre-recorded questions" answered to your camera, with a 48-hour deadline. Candidates report 7 questions, one recording take each with no retries. The link commonly arrives within hours of submitting the games.Interview questions and themes Practice recorded answers
4Assessment centre — virtual or face-to-face — Three components in the structure CommBank's own briefing email describes: an individual interview with two representatives from your business area, a group problem-solving activity, and a written submission. Global Markets Summer Analyst skips this in favor of two rounds of virtual team interviews.
5Offer — In the March 2026 graduate round, candidates report assessment centres mid-to-late May and verbal offers by phone on 14 May 2026. Graduate programs start mid-February the following year.

Practice the Commonwealth Bank of Australia batteryShapedance A number-memorization game (product name not confirmed) A third image-based task — "Portrait" to one candidate, "the image game" to another

What games are in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia assessment?

CommBank never publishes a game list, so everything below comes from candidates in the 2026 graduate rounds, and the evidence is uneven across the three slots. Shapedance and a number-memorization task are each named by several candidates; the third game is named by one candidate as a "Portrait" section and described by another as "the image game", and we are not treating those as settled or as the same task. All three are scored by level, so practice for depth: the games get harder as you go, and a level that suddenly feels brutal usually means you are scoring well.

Practice the Commonwealth Bank of Australia set

The 3 games on this page, in order, with a summary at the end. Lineup maintained from first-party candidate reports — invitations, interviews, and post-assessment feedback.

Shapedance

Exact simulator

Multiple sources

The strongest game claim on this page: three separate candidates name it verbatim on distinct dates, with level scores — "Over 75 for memorising, level 39 for shape dance", "over level 25 for the shape-dance", "shapedance (got to lvl 44)". It is a spatial working-memory task where you track and reproduce shape transformations, and it is the one candidates most often say wrecked them ("shapedance always reks me idk why"). Because our simulator runs the same HireVue game, practice here transfers directly. Focus on holding the transformation rule in mind rather than re-deriving it each round.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, April and August 2026

Practice Shapedance

A number-memorization game (product name not confirmed)

Closest practice only

Multiple sources

Four candidates describe this one only by what it does — "over level 60 for the memorising numbers", "Over 75 for memorising", "~80 for memory", "memorisation game (got to lvl 28)". Nobody ever writes a product name, so we are not asserting one. The description matches a digit-span task, and Digitspan is the closest practice we have: recall increasingly long number sequences, using chunking (group into threes and fours like a phone number and recall the groups, not the digits). Practice the format; do not assume the name.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, April and August 2026

Practice A number-memorization game (product name not confirmed)

A third image-based task — "Portrait" to one candidate, "the image game" to another

Category practice

Single source

This slot is genuinely unresolved. One candidate in April 2026 names a HireVue game section verbatim while reporting a bug: "I literally cant complete the HireVue games because in the Portrait section, images just disappear and I can't move onto the next one". A separate candidate in August 2026 lists the third game only as "the image game". Portrait is a real HireVue game and it is image-based, so the two may be the same thing — but each is one candidate, and equating them is our inference, not theirs. Try Portrait once so the format is not new to you, and do not build your preparation around it. If your invitation names the exercises, that settles it.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, April and August 2026

Practice A third image-based task — "Portrait" to one candidate, "the image game" to another

Good to know: CommBank confirms neither the platform nor a single game name. The three-game structure and the HireVue platform are well evidenced across many 2026 candidates; the individual names are reported by a handful, and the third slot by one candidate each under two different descriptions. Employers also reconfigure these batteries between cycles, and CommBank already changed vendor once in 2026 — so if your invitation lists different exercises, practice those instead and ignore this list.

Try each game once free

Who gets the Commonwealth Bank of Australia assessment?

Commonwealth Bank publishes its campus selection process clearly — online application, online assessment, digital interview, assessment centre — but names no assessment vendor at any point. Its own wording stops at "our online assessment" and "digital interview". Everything on this page about what those stages actually contain comes from candidates who sat them in the 2026 rounds, and is labeled as such.

The single most useful thing to know is that CommBank changed its online assessment mid-cycle. Around 30 March 2026 applicants received SHL assessment links, completed them, and were then told the wrong link had been sent. One candidate: "I recieved the SHL link completed it and then two hours later said sorry its the wrong link we will provide you with another link through Hirevue which i must complete and the SHL assessment will be ignored." Another described the replacement as "basically 3 hirevue games". From that point, 2026 candidates consistently describe three HireVue games rather than a reasoning battery. Prep pages still describing CommBank as an SHL numerical, verbal and logical test — one of the most widely linked was last updated in May 2024 — describe the process as it stood before that switch.

Two limits worth stating up front. First, the platform claim is well evidenced (at least six separate candidates name HireVue across March to August 2026) but the individual game names are not equally evidenced: a handful of candidates name Shapedance and a number-memorization task, and only one candidate each names a "Portrait" section and an unnamed "image game". Second, this covers Australian campus programs only. CommBank states its programs are "currently only available in Australia", eligibility is restricted to Australian or New Zealand citizens and Australian Permanent Residents, and experienced hiring, ASB in New Zealand, and CommBank's Bangalore operations all follow separate paths where we found no vendor evidence at all.

Graduate Program — permanent from day one, 12 to 24 months of rotations

Streams span Technology & AI (Engineering, Cyber Security, Advanced Analytics, Data Science & AI), Banking Products (Product Management, CommSec), Relationship Management (Institutional Banking & Markets, Business Banking), Finance & Accounting, Procurement, Regional and Agribusiness Banking, Risk Management, and Marketing and Corporate Affairs. Eligibility: final-year student or completed studies within the last 24 months; overall credit average (65 WAM/GPA, or 70 for Technology Engineering and Cyber Security); Australian or New Zealand citizen or Australian Permanent Resident at time of application, explicitly excluding bridging visas and 820 visa holders. CommBank says it takes "around 300+ Graduates each year". Two intakes: applications open March and August.

Official source

Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

Summer Intern Program — 10 weeks, with early graduate entry

Ten weeks on real projects across metro and regional Australian locations; CommBank says completing it "could secure early entry into next year's Graduate Program". Eligibility: penultimate (second-last) year of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree; overall credit average (65 WAM/GPA, 70 for Technology Engineering and Cyber Security); Australian/NZ citizen or Australian PR at time of application. CommBank says it takes "around 100+ Interns each year".

Official source

Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

Global Markets Summer Analyst (GMSA) — Sydney, and it skips the assessment centre

A 10-week Sydney program across Global Markets teams: trading and sales, FX, commodities, fixed income, interest rate products. It is separate from the group-wide Graduate Program, and CommBank notes "GMSA does not provide early entry opportunities to our Graduate Program", though successful analysts may receive an offer for a specific Global Markets team. Eligibility adds a residence requirement: "You must be living in Australia when you apply with us." Selection replaces the assessment centre with two rounds of virtual interviews with specific Global Markets teams.

Official source

Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

Technology Associate Program — alternative education pathways

Entry-level Engineering, Data Science or Cybersecurity roles for people from non-university pathways: TAFE, traineeships, micro-credentials, bootcamps, vendor certifications. Permanent, full-time or part-time (minimum two days a week), roughly 12 months with optional rotations. Requires your most recent tech qualification to have been completed within the last 12 months or to be due within the next 3, and less than 12 months of tech work experience. "Applications open at regular intervals throughout the year, with start dates approximately three months after applications open." We found no candidate evidence on whether this program uses the same HireVue assessment — do not assume it does.

Official source

Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

Experienced and non-campus hiring — a different, vendor-unconfirmed path

CommBank's general careers FAQ describes a looser route: a Talent Acquisition Partner reviews your resume, and if you meet the criteria "you'll be asked to complete a phone screening and/or an online assessment", possibly followed by interviews or an assessment centre. No vendor is named, no games are mentioned, and we found no candidate report of HireVue games in CommBank experienced hiring. Nothing on this page should be read as a claim about non-campus roles.

No evidence found

Source: CommBank careers FAQs

Outside Australia: ASB (New Zealand) and CommBank India are separate

ASB Bank, CommBank's New Zealand subsidiary, runs its own graduate programme on its own site, timetable and assessment day, and its published process names no online assessment, no games and no vendor. CommBank also has a substantial India presence with Bangalore roles on its Workday site. We found no evidence that HireVue games appear in New Zealand or Indian hiring, and this page makes no claim about either.

No evidence found

Source: CommBank careers FAQs; scope of sources reviewed 11 September 2026

How does the Commonwealth Bank of Australia assessment work?

CommBank names no vendor — anywhere

Official source

The how-to-apply page describes the online assessment as "our online assessment" and the video stage as a "digital interview", and stops there. No CommBank page, and no HireVue case study, names a provider for CommBank. Every platform claim on this page rests on candidates, which is why it is labeled multi-source rather than official.

Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

Candidates put both stages on HireVue

Multiple sources

Across March to August 2026, at least six separate posters in the "CBA graduate program 2027" thread name HireVue for the online assessment and the video interview — "Just 3 games for the OA hirevue" is representative. Several also describe reading their scores off the HireVue insights page. HireVue operates an Australian instance at hirevue-app.com.au, and candidates report receiving CommBank assessment links on it. That is consistent reporting, not confirmation: treat the platform as well evidenced and unofficial.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, March–August 2026

The March 2026 switch: SHL links sent, then withdrawn

Multiple sources

Around 30 March 2026 CommBank sent SHL assessment links to graduate applicants and then retracted them. Candidate accounts: "I recieved the SHL link completed it and then two hours later said sorry its the wrong link we will provide you with another link through Hirevue"; "they sent out shl assessments initially after applying, but then sent an email saying the wrong link was sent, as that wasnt the correct OA and I'll have do another set of assessments which was basically 3 hirevue games"; and from a candidate who had sat the older battery, "I did the shl oa about 2 years ago". This is the clearest dated change in the process and the reason older prep pages disagree with this one.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, late March 2026

Prep pages describing an SHL reasoning battery are describing the old process

Single source

One widely linked prep profile names SHL with numerical, logical and verbal reasoning plus the Occupational Personality Questionnaire — and carries a last-update date of 17 May 2024, well before the switch. That explains the contradiction rather than resolving it in their favor. Note two caveats: SHL was not purely historical in March 2026, since CommBank actually sent those links before withdrawing them, and one candidate describes a real "45 minutes OA" with "normal questions like any other assessment". The OPQ claim is corroborated by no candidate report we found.

Source: PracticeAptitudeTests — Commonwealth Bank assessments profile (prep site, last updated 17 May 2024)

Three games, roughly 15 minutes, scored by level

Multiple sources

Candidates describe the online assessment as three games taking around 15 minutes, with an insights report of level scores afterward. Level numbers appear all over the reports — "level 39 for shape dance", "over level 60 for the memorising numbers", "shapedance (got to lvl 44)". Higher level means further into the game, so the practice goal is depth under time pressure rather than a perfect early run.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, April and August 2026

Personality-style scores appear, but nobody describes sitting a personality test

Multiple sources

Candidates see Big-Five-style scores in the same insights report as their game levels — one reports "my personality are 1-2 for agreeableness, conscientious, emotional stability", another mentions sociability and extraversion scores. But no 2026 candidate describes sitting a separate personality questionnaire, and every account of the online assessment says three games. These scores appear to be derived from the games rather than from a distinct test. Unresolved, and not something you can prepare for directly.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, 2026

The digital interview: 7 questions, one take each, 48 hours

Official source

CommBank confirms the format and the deadline: "You'll be asked a series of short, pre-recorded questions and will be required to respond to the frontward facing camera on your computer or mobile... You'll receive an email invite which will have instructions and a deadline of 48 hours." Candidates add the specifics: 7 questions, one recording take each with no retries ("you only get one chance at every question, 7 in total"), up to about 3 minutes per answer. One August 2026 report gives the prep-time split as unlimited preparation on the first 3 questions and 1 minute on the last 4 — that split comes from a single candidate.

Source: CommBank how-to-apply (format and 48-hour deadline); Whirlpool "CBA graduate program 2027" thread (question count and single take)

What the digital interview is scored on

Multiple sources

Three separate candidates reading their own HireVue insights in April 2026 independently list the same five competencies: communication, dependability, problem-solving, relationship-building and willingness to learn. CommBank does not publish a scoring model or a cutoff, so treat these as what candidates saw reported back to them rather than as a rubric to game.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, April 2026

The stages land close together, so plan for one week not three

Multiple sources

The online assessment invitation can arrive within 10 minutes to a day of applying, and the digital-interview link commonly arrives 15 minutes to half a day after the games are submitted. The 48-hour interview deadline is official; one candidate also refers to a 48-hour window on the online assessment, which is a single report. Practically, expect both clocks to run inside the same two to three days.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, March–August 2026

Score visibility closed in August 2026

Multiple sources

Through mid-2026 candidates were reading their HireVue scores out of the browser network panel's GraphQL responses before the results page showed them. An August 2026 candidate reports that stopped working: "you can't see your results through the network panel!" Whether insights reports are still returned to candidates in the current intern cycle is unconfirmed. Do not build any expectation of seeing your own numbers.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, August 2026

No evidence of pymetrics, Arctic Shores, Revelian, cut-e or Criteria

No evidence found

We searched the archived candidate threads and CommBank's own pages for every other game-based vendor and found nothing — "pymetrics", "Arctic", "Revelian" and "cut-e" return zero hits across the threads. If you have been told to practice a pymetrics battery for CommBank, nothing supports it. (KPMG Australia, a common point of confusion in the same market, does use Criteria tests — that is a different employer and a different page.)

Source: Targeted searches across the archived Whirlpool threads and CommBank careers pages, 11 September 2026

The game-based assessment is new; the video interview is not

Multiple sources

The 2023 "Commonwealth bank Graduate Program" thread shows HireVue already running the video interview in March 2023 — "Just did my virtual test and now got a hirevue interview" — with the virtual test as a separate earlier step and the digital interview described as roughly eight behavioural questions in about 20 minutes. That thread contains no mention of games at all. HireVue at CommBank is long-standing; HireVue *games* at CommBank are a 2026 development.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "Commonwealth bank Graduate Program" thread, 2023

What happens in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia hiring process?

The four official stages, in CommBank's own words

This is the only part of the process CommBank publishes itself, and it names no vendor at any step.

1Submit the online application through CommBank's Workday careers portal with "your updated resume and most recent transcript handy". You select one primary business area, with an option to flag openness to others.
2"If you meet our eligibility criteria and your initial application is successful, you'll be invited to complete our online assessment. Once completed, you'll receive insights around your capabilities."
3"You'll be asked a series of short, pre-recorded questions and will be required to respond to the frontward facing camera on your computer or mobile... You'll receive an email invite which will have instructions and a deadline of 48 hours."
4"If you're successful at the digital interview stage, you'll be invited to a virtual or face-to-face assessment centre. On the day you will take part in a series of activities and further interviews with our business leaders." CommBank tells you in advance which format yours is.
5Global Markets Summer Analyst varies: "The Global Markets Summer Analyst assessment centre stage differs slightly, with shortlisted applicants invited to virtual interviews with specific teams within Global Markets."

Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

The digital interview, as candidates describe it

Format pressure matters here as much as content: one take per question and no retries means the first attempt is the only attempt. Our researched question page for CommBank is at /hirevue/questions/commonwealth-bank.

17 questions in total. One recording take each, no retries — "you only get one chance at every question, 7 in total."
2Up to about 3 minutes per answer. One August 2026 candidate reports unlimited preparation time on the first 3 questions and 1 minute on the last 4; that split is a single report, so do not count on it.
3Content is mostly behavioural, situational and get-to-know-you, with at least one question on CommBank's core values: "there was a question on the core values at commbank, but mostly telling normal behavioural, situational and get to know you questions."
4CommBank's own framing of the stage: "It's your opportunity to express your interest in CommBank and the stream you've applied for" — so motivation for the specific business area, not just the bank, is expected.
5Candidates report scoring on communication, dependability, problem-solving, relationship-building and willingness to learn.
6No candidate in any source we could read quoted a verbatim question. Prepare themes and structure, not memorized answers to a supposed question list.

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, 2026; CommBank how-to-apply

The assessment centre: three components

CommBank publishes only that the day involves "a series of activities and further interviews". The detailed structure comes from a candidate in the 2024/25 intern round who quoted CommBank's assessment-centre briefing email verbatim — so it is employer wording, relayed by a candidate, and dated to 2024. Candidate reports from the May 2026 graduate round describe the same three components.

1"Virtual individual interview — here you'll interview with two representatives from your chosen business area. You'll be asked a series of behavioural based questions and questions related to the area you've applied for within your chosen career pathway (don't worry these won't be too technical!)" Candidates report this runs about 45 minutes.
2"Virtual group activity — here you'll work with a group of candidates to help solve a problem statement. You'll work with your team to find a solution and present this to the business." What is observed is collaborative behaviour, not who dominates.
3"Virtual written activity — here you'll have the opportunity to submit your solution to the group activity problem statement in writing." The briefing adds: "This idea can be the solution agreed by your group, or something completely different."
4New in 2026: a candidate in the May 2026 graduate round quotes a briefing stating the individual activity requires you to "write a submission, using your AI tool of choice. Please ensure you are prepared with what you need." Candidates who sat it called it "genuinely really easy". This is a single report about one cycle — check your own briefing email.
5For Technology and Engineering candidates the individual interview is built around your own projects: "pretty much all just project related questions, though they might ask a follow-up question about something you discussed within your project."

Source: Whirlpool Forums — "2024/2025 Commbank Internship" thread (CommBank briefing email quoted verbatim, September 2024); "CBA graduate program 2027" thread (May 2026)

What to make of older descriptions you will find elsewhere

CommBank is unusually badly served by the prep-site layer right now, because the process changed under it.

1Pages describing a CommBank SHL battery of numerical, logical and verbal reasoning reflect the process as it stood before March 2026; the most widely linked one was last updated in May 2024. In the 2026 rounds candidates report HireVue games instead, after CommBank sent SHL links in error and withdrew them.
2The Occupational Personality Questionnaire claim on those pages is corroborated by no candidate report we found, in either era.
3Accounts of a HireVue video interview at CommBank are correct and long-standing — the 2023 thread already has one — but those accounts contain no games. Do not read a 2023 description of the "virtual test" as a description of the 2026 games.
4We could not fetch Glassdoor or Prosple (both returned HTTP 403), so nothing on this page rests on them, including a widely quoted search snippet about the three games. If you have sat the assessment recently, telling us what you saw is how this page gets tighter.

Source: PracticeAptitudeTests — Commonwealth Bank assessments profile (prep site, last updated 17 May 2024)

When is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia assessment?

CommBank publishes key dates per program, and they are firm rather than rolling-with-an-asterisk. Everything below was checked on 11 September 2026. Note where you are in the calendar: the 2026/27 Summer Intern round closed on 8 September 2026 and its assessment centres run September to October, so if you applied you are most likely sitting the online assessment and digital interview now or waiting on an assessment-centre invitation.

Cycle	Application dates	Likely assessment window	Evidence
WHAT CHANGED: SHL online assessment replaced by HireVue games	Late March 2026, mid-cycle	March 2026 graduate round onward	Multiple sources The most important date on this page. Around 30 March 2026 CommBank sent SHL assessment links, then withdrew them in favor of HireVue games. Candidates who sat the older SHL battery describe it as a separate, roughly 45-minute question-based test — a different thing entirely from three 15-minute games. Two smaller changes followed: in May 2026 the assessment centre's individual written task began explicitly expecting AI-tool use, and by August 2026 the GraphQL trick candidates had used to read their own HireVue scores early no longer worked. Source: Whirlpool Forums — "CBA graduate program 2027" thread, multiple posters, March–August 2026
Graduate Program — two intakes a year	Applications open March and August; the August 2026 round closed 8 September 2026	Assessment centres May and September; program starts mid-February the following year	Official source CommBank's published key dates: "Applications open — March and August", "Assessment Centres — May and September", "Program starts — mid-February the following year." The 2027 Graduate Campaign posting was no longer live on CommBank's Workday site on 11 September 2026, consistent with the round having closed. Candidates in the March 2026 round describe a fast funnel: online assessment within about 10 minutes to a day of applying, digital interview within hours of the assessment, assessment-centre invitations early-to-mid May, centres mid-to-late May, and verbal offers by phone on 14 May 2026. Source: CommBank published key dates; Whirlpool "CBA graduate program 2027" thread for the observed 2026 funnel
Summer Intern Program 2026/27	Applications 12 August to 8 September 2026 — now closed	Assessment centres September to October 2026; program November 2026 to January 2027	Official source CommBank's published dates: "Applications open — 12 August to 8 September, 2026", "Assessment Centre — September to October 2026", "Program dates — from November 2026 to January 2027." CommBank told 2026 applicants: "We'll be in touch no later than two weeks after the application closing date to let you know if you have been successful to progress to the next stage." One caution: the detailed game-level reports on this page all come from graduate-round applicants, so treat the intern round's exact game lineup as likely-but-unconfirmed. Source: CommBank published key dates
Global Markets Summer Analyst 2026/27	Applications 15 June to 13 July 2026 — now closed	Two rounds of virtual interviews to the beginning of August 2026; program 23 November 2026 to 29 January 2027	Official source GMSA runs on its own calendar and skips the assessment centre entirely in favor of two rounds of virtual interviews with specific Global Markets teams. CommBank's FAQ adds that GMSA applications open "typically around May" in a normal year, so the June window this cycle ran later than usual. Source: CommBank published key dates
The deadlines you actually face inside the process	Digital interview: 48 hours from the invitation email (official). Online assessment: one candidate refers to a 48-hour window	Both stages usually land within two to three days of each other	Official source CommBank on the digital interview: "You'll receive an email invite which will have instructions and a deadline of 48 hours — be sure to monitor your emails!" For the online assessment, one candidate in August 2026 refers to an "OA that must be completed within 48 hours", phrased as a question rather than a report — a single source, and not at the same confidence as the official interview deadline. Because the interview link commonly arrives 15 minutes to half a day after the games are submitted, plan for both clocks inside one short window rather than assuming a gap. Source: CommBank how-to-apply (digital interview); Whirlpool "CBA graduate program 2027" thread (online assessment)
Technology Associate Program	Rolling: "Applications open at regular intervals throughout the year"	Start dates approximately three months after applications open. Assessment stages not documented	Official source This program does not run on the March/August graduate calendar. We found no evidence either way on whether it uses the same HireVue assessment as the campus programs, so nothing on this page should be assumed to apply to it. Source: CommBank careers — Graduate & Summer Intern Program: How to apply

How to practice for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia assessment

Prepare in two separate sittings, because the online assessment and the digital interview test unrelated things and land only hours apart. The games reward fast, accurate pattern work under an adaptive clock; the interview rewards structured spoken answers recorded in one take. Cramming them together is the most common mistake candidates describe.

Practice the formats, not a supposed lineup. Shapedance and a number-memorization task are what candidates name, and our simulators run those formats — but CommBank changed vendor once already in 2026, and your invitation email is the only document that tells you what you are actually sitting. Our practice metrics track your own improvement; CommBank publishes no scoring model and no cutoff.

Step 1

Play Shapedance first and give it the most time

It is the game candidates name most and the one they most often say beat them. Run it once cold to see where your level lands, then repeat it with the transformation rule held in mind rather than re-derived each round. Depth matters more than an unblemished early run, because difficulty adapts upward.

Step 2

Drill sequence memory with chunking

Candidates describe the second game only as memorizing numbers, which is a digit-span format. Our Digitspan simulator is the closest practice: group the sequence into threes and fours the way you would read out a phone number, and recall the groups rather than individual digits. That single technique moves scores more than anything else in this format.

Step 3

Run Portrait once so the third slot is not new

One candidate names a "Portrait" section and another describes an unnamed "image game"; we are not claiming they are the same task. A single run costs a few minutes and removes the surprise of an unfamiliar interface. Do not spend more than that on an unresolved slot.

Step 4

Rehearse 7 answers in one take each

Record yourself actually answering — motivation for CommBank and specifically for the stream you applied to, a behavioural example, a situational scenario, and something on CommBank's core values. Practice stopping cleanly inside three minutes. No candidate quoted a verbatim question anywhere we could read, so prepare structure and material, not scripts. Our researched themes are at /hirevue/questions/commonwealth-bank.

Step 5

Clear a 48-hour window before you apply

The interview deadline is 48 hours from the invite, officially, and the invite commonly arrives within hours of the games, which themselves can arrive within a day of applying. If you apply the evening before a busy three days, the clock will not wait for you. One candidate also refers to a 48-hour online-assessment window, which is a single report but points the same direction.

Step 6

Prepare projects, not theory, for the assessment centre

The individual interview is with two representatives from your business area and is behavioural plus area-related — and for Technology candidates it is built around your own projects, with follow-ups drilling into what you said. Pick two or three projects, know the challenges you hit and how you navigated them, and be ready to be asked about your own words rather than a textbook.

Step 7

Check your assessment-centre briefing for the AI instruction

A May 2026 candidate quotes CommBank telling candidates to write the individual submission "using your AI tool of choice" and to be "prepared with what you need". That is one report about one cycle, but if your briefing says the same, decide in advance which tool you will use and have it ready rather than working it out on the day.

Step 8

Sit the real thing under real conditions

Quiet room, laptop or desktop, notifications off, one sitting, camera and microphone checked before the interview opens. One candidate lost a run to images disappearing mid-game, so a stable connection is not a footnote. Every HireVue game shows instructions first and opens with easier warm-up levels.

Browse all practice games Read the HireVue assessment guide

Commonwealth Bank of Australia assessment FAQ

Does Commonwealth Bank use HireVue?

On candidate evidence, yes — for both the online assessment and the digital interview in the 2026 campus rounds. CommBank itself names no vendor anywhere, describing the stages only as "our online assessment" and a "digital interview". At least six separate candidates across March to August 2026 name HireVue, several describing three games and reading scores off the HireVue insights page, so we rate the platform well evidenced but unofficial.

Does CommBank still use SHL tests?

Not for the 2026 campus online assessment. Around 30 March 2026 CommBank sent SHL assessment links, then emailed applicants to say the wrong link had been sent and replaced the assessment with HireVue games. Candidates who had sat the older SHL battery describe it as a separate, roughly 45-minute question-based test. Prep pages still describing CommBank as an SHL numerical, verbal and logical battery describe the pre-March-2026 process — one of the most linked was last updated in May 2024.

What games are in the CommBank online assessment?

Candidates report three games taking around 15 minutes. Several name Shapedance, several describe a number-memorization task (without ever giving it a product name), and the third is named by one candidate as a "Portrait" section and described by another as "the image game" — we are not treating those as settled or necessarily as the same task. All are scored by level, with candidates reporting results like "shapedance (got to lvl 44)".

How many questions are in the CommBank digital interview, and can I re-record?

Candidates consistently report 7 questions with one recording take each and no retries — "you only get one chance at every question, 7 in total" — and up to about 3 minutes per answer. One August 2026 candidate reports unlimited preparation on the first 3 questions and 1 minute on the last 4; that split comes from a single report. CommBank confirms the recorded format and a 48-hour deadline but not the question count.

How long do I get, and how fast do the stages move?

The digital interview deadline is 48 hours from the invitation email, in CommBank's own words. One candidate refers to a 48-hour window on the online assessment too, which is a single report. In practice the stages come fast: the assessment invite can arrive within 10 minutes to a day of applying, and the interview link commonly arrives 15 minutes to half a day after you submit the games — so expect both deadlines inside the same two to three days.

What happens at the CommBank assessment centre?

CommBank says only that it is virtual or face-to-face with "a series of activities and further interviews with our business leaders", and tells you which format yours is in advance. A candidate quoted CommBank's own briefing email, which describes three components: an individual interview with two representatives from your business area (behavioural plus area-related, about 45 minutes), a group activity solving a shared problem statement and presenting it, and a written submission of a solution — which "can be the solution agreed by your group, or something completely different". That email quote is from the 2024/25 intern round; May 2026 candidates describe the same three components, with the written task now expecting AI-tool use. Global Markets Summer Analyst skips the centre for two rounds of virtual team interviews.

Who is eligible, and does this apply outside Australia?

CommBank states its programs are "currently only available in Australia". Eligibility requires an overall credit average (65 WAM/GPA, or 70 for Technology Engineering and Cyber Security) and Australian or New Zealand citizenship or Australian Permanent Residency at time of application — bridging visas and 820 visa holders are explicitly excluded, so these programs are not a sponsorship route. ASB in New Zealand runs its own separate graduate programme with no online assessment named, and we found no evidence of HireVue games in CommBank's Indian operations or in experienced hiring.

Does CommBank use pymetrics or Arctic Shores?

There is no evidence that it uses either, or Revelian or cut-e. We searched the archived candidate threads and CommBank's own pages specifically and found zero hits for any of them. If you have been pointed at a pymetrics battery for CommBank, nothing supports it — practice the HireVue formats candidates actually name instead.

What score do I need to pass?

CommBank publishes no cutoff and no scoring model. Candidates report level scores for the games and five competencies for the interview — communication, dependability, problem-solving, relationship-building and willingness to learn — but those are what candidates saw reported back to them, not a published benchmark. As of August 2026, candidates also report that the browser trick they had used to read their own scores early no longer works.

Game Assessment Prep is independent and is not affiliated with Commonwealth Bank of Australia 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.

1,600+ candidates from MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Yale and 100+ universities have run 34,000+ practice sessions here · median +25% score improvement by the fifth attempt · 84% of 6,000+ game ratings say “Great” · free, no card required.