2 day assessment centre with other students and graduates. Included maths, verbal reasoning and 'fast track' tests, as well as group discussion and interview. Interview was competency based i.e. "Describe a time you..." centred around Aviva's values.

I attended the 2 day assessment centre for the graduate actuarial trainee position in the York office. The first day was relatively relaxed, arrived at the York office reception for 2pm after which we were met by members of the graduate recruitment team and given an introduction presentation to Aviva and the actuary scheme. After that we were given verbal and numerical reasoning tests to complete. Very similar to the online tests you may have done for other companies. After that, about 4pm, we were free to go check in to the hotel and relax until dinner at 6:15pm. Dinner was in pizza express where we joined by a couple of trainees who experienced the assessment centre the previous year. All in all a very welcoming day, made to feel very relaxed and included. The second day we were asked to meet at the Aviva reception at 8:45am (breakfast was included with the hotel). We were introduced to a team of qualified actuaries who were involved in the assessment process. The candidates were split into two groups of 4, and given a timetable for the day. Each candidate took part in a fast-track exercise, a group discussion, a presentation and an interview at different periods throughout the day. The fast-track exercise involved 5 sets of cards, each one concerning a different situation. Some of the cards had missing information and the idea was to use the cards containing information to deduce what the missing information was. The group discussion was fairly simple, a 35 minute discussion in a group on a topic before a short group presentation on the topic followed by some questions from the actuaries. For the presentation we were given a brief containing a significant amount of information. We were given 1 hour to analyse and take notes on the information and then we gave a presentation in a room alone with 2 actuaries. The point of the presentation was to summarise two different options for a company and recommend one of the 2 options. The interview was a fairly standard values-based interview based on the 4 aviva values. There was a question aligned to each of the 4 values and then a technical question regarding the insurance industry. For the values questions it is expected that you give an example of when you performed the relevant action. Overall the assessment centre was very welcoming, a comfortable environment with emphasis on making the candidates feel relaxed in order to show themselves best.