cut-e (Aon) pilot assessment: what it tests and how to practise
cut-e (Aon), from Aon.
The cut-e suite, now owned by Aon, is the online-first assessment that most current cadet pipelines use for their first screening stage. Candidates sit it remotely in a browser, often inside a short window, before any on-site testing. Here is what its tests measure, how the remote stage works, which airlines are reported to use it, and how to practise the same skills for free.
- Numerical reasoning
- Verbal reasoning
- Logical reasoning
- Working memory
- Monitoring
- Reaction speed
- Multitasking
What the cut-e / Aon assessment measures
cut-e began as a Hamburg assessment company in 2002 and was acquired by Aon in 2017, so its pilot tests are now branded under Aon. The pilot-relevant tests belong to Aon's short, targeted online series called scales.
Two scales tests that Aon documents directly are especially aviation-specific: scales cmo, a monitoring test where you watch fast-moving dots and judge how many are shown, built for roles that need high monitoring and perceiving speed such as pilots and controllers; and scales ndb, a spatial-orientation test where you fix an aircraft's position relative to a beacon using a gyro compass and radio-compass display. Around these sit the wider Aon suite: numerical, verbal, logical and inductive reasoning, working memory, reaction speed and multitasking, plus a personality questionnaire (Aon's ADEPT-15 model) and integrity screening that many airlines include to meet EASA requirements.
How the cut-e assessment is structured
The defining feature of cut-e is that it is online first. Candidates usually sit it remotely in a browser through Aon's assessment portal, often inside a short booking window, before they are invited anywhere in person. Individual scales tests are deliberately brief, some only a few minutes, and several use an adaptive algorithm that adjusts item difficulty to your answers.
Because it is a browser-based screen, a browser practice tool matches its modality closely. Aon can also present the same skills as game-style challenges. Which tests you sit depends on the airline: a pilot battery is assembled from the suite rather than being one fixed exam.
Which airlines use cut-e / Aon
Aon has described itself as a leading online assessment supplier to aviation, and the cut-e suite is widely reported as the stage-one online screen for a number of European cadet and direct-entry pilot pipelines.
Preparation guides and applicant accounts commonly name carriers such as easyJet and Wizz Air, and American Airlines' pilot screening, as using Aon or cut-e tests, though airlines rarely name the branded system on their own careers pages. As always, if your invitation does not say, ask the recruiter which system you will sit.
SkyStudy is independent and not affiliated with any airline, school or test publisher named in this section. Operator usage changes between intakes and is rarely confirmed publicly, so always verify the current selection process in the operator's own published materials.
How to prepare for cut-e, honestly
Aon publishes its own candidate-preparation materials, including practice tasks and short videos that show how each test type looks and works, and this format familiarisation is the honest core of preparing. Aon's own advice is to take the test on a laptop or PC rather than a phone, on a stable connection, when you feel well and alert, with interruptions removed, and it frames a little pre-test nervousness as helpful.
Practising numerical, verbal, logical, monitoring and reaction tasks so the formats feel routine means you spend the timed window answering rather than orienting. No practice changes the underlying aptitude the tests measure, so avoid any product that promises a score. The free SkyStudy exercises below train the monitoring, spatial and reasoning side.
Practise the same skills, free on SkyStudy
Each exercise below is an original SkyStudy drill that trains a skill cut-e (Aon) is documented to sample. No account needed, and your best scores are saved privately in your browser.
Sources
Facts on this page are drawn from the following, checked July 2026. Details change, so confirm current specifics with the publisher or your assessment provider.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
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