Guest Writer article from Ellie Boden, Business Psychologist, OPC Assessment.
A CV shows qualifications and experience, while a competency-based interview can reveal how someone communicates, responds, and draws on past experience.
But can either tell us how well someone will concentrate when multiple demands compete for their attention? How readily they might learn and apply new rules? Or how they may respond to risk? This is where psychological assessments can add something unique and valuable. They give us a structured way of exploring key behaviours, attitudes or characteristics that may be difficult to identify through other assessment methods.
For safety-critical organisations, that additional evidence can be valuable. But it is important to be clear about what psychological assessment can, and cannot, tell us.
Looking beyond the CV and interview
Different assessments are designed to explore distinct characteristics. For example, OPC Assessment’s Safe Concentration and Attention Test (SCAAT) assesses concentration and attention, while the Rules Acquisition Aptitude Test (RAAT) assesses the ability to understand and reason with written rules, regulations and procedures similar to those used in transport and safety industries.
The Risk and Time Focus Questionnaire (RTQ) profiles personality traits, attitudes and behavioural styles associated with safety-critical environments, including risk anticipation and time focus. These characteristics have been linked with safe and effective performance and the prevention of errors and incidents.
It’s not about trying to predict exactly how every individual will behave in every situation. It’s about gathering relevant, robust evidence about the characteristics that matter for the role and understanding the extent to which an applicant might demonstrate them. That insight can then be considered within the wider selection process.
That distinction is important. Psychometric assessments are one piece of the puzzle, and a test result should never be treated as the definitive answer. Their value lies in providing robust, evidence-based insight alongside other relevant information, helping us make more informed and consistent decisions.
But how do we know the assessment is useful?
Using a test because of cost efficiencies, assessor familiarity, or because it has been part of a well-established recruitment process, can sometimes feel comfortable and reassuring – perhaps providing a sense that it is doing a ‘good-enough’ job.
But we need to have confidence that an assessment is fit for purpose, administered consistently and actually does its job.
For organisations investing significant time and resources in recruitment, particularly high-volume roles such as train drivers, this matters. The value comes from generating strong data-driven insights that can help strengthen recruitment decision-making.
What can client experience tell us?
The impact of psychological assessment can vary between organisations. It can help support performance, improve recruitment efficiency and develop teams, or help us identify more of the talent we need.
One train operator provides a useful example. Standardised psychological assessment had formed part of its Train Guard selection process for some time. When testing was removed as a cost-saving measure, training failure rates increased significantly. After the assessment was validated and reintroduced, failure rates returned to acceptable levels.
That experience is a useful reminder that assessments should be used with a clear understanding of their purpose and contribution. When appropriately designed and underpinned by evidence, they can offer relevant insights to support more confident selection decisions.
But value isn’t always about measurable training or performance outcomes.
In another client project, we worked with a bus operator to redesign an apprenticeship selection process, broadening access to potential talent and supporting a diversity and inclusion agenda. The approach combined online assessments with practical exercises, giving applicants different opportunities to display their abilities.
The result was a significant increase in applications, alongside greater representation from previously underrepresented groups, including women.
It shows that the assessment approach itself can also make a difference. If we understand what a role really requires and give people appropriate opportunities to demonstrate their skills and potential, we may identify strengths that a more traditional process might have missed.
It’s about the approach, as well as the psychometrics
Assessment tools can provide wider value too.
Psychometric assessment isn’t simply about choosing a test for a selection process. It starts with understanding the role, identifying the characteristics that matter and selecting the right assessment approach.
For HR and recruitment teams, this can mean greater consistency, stronger evidence for selection decisions and a better understanding of candidate potential, particularly when recruitment volumes are high.
Good psychological assessment should help us answer better questions about our people and our roles. It’s about making better use of the information available to us; not replacing our own judgement but strengthening it.
So, what is the value of psychometrics?
The answer depends on the organisation, the role and the recruitment or development challenges.
The right assessment approach can provide valuable insight that can be difficult to find elsewhere, support consistent decision-making and help us identify potential that might otherwise be missed. It can also highlight development needs and, following an incident, provide additional insight into relevant behaviours and Non-Technical Skills (NTS) to help provide targeted support.
Ultimately, the value lies in using the right assessment, for the right purpose, at the right point – from recruitment and development through to learning from incidents and supporting future performance.
Want to explore the value of psychological assessment in more detail?
Join OPC Assessment’s complimentary webinar series, starting with An Introduction to Psychometric Testing on 6 October 2026. Book your place, today! Join Ellie and the OPC Assessment team to explore how psychometrics has evolved, why organisations use them and the wider value they can bring to recruitment, selection and development.
For more information, contact OPC Assessment at admin@theopc.co.uk or on +44 01923 234646.
0113 2082620