McKinsey Solve Passing Score: How Is Solve Scored, and What Is the Pass Rate?

Part ofWhat Is McKinsey Solve? A Guide to Redrock, Sea Wolf and SFL

McKinsey does not publish a Solve cut-off, a score scale or a pass rate. What prep sites report is a relative bar: you are ranked against other candidates, the top 20% (the 80th percentile) is usually cited as enough, and an estimated 20–30% of candidates pass. None of those numbers comes from McKinsey. This page separates what McKinsey states from what candidates and prep sites report, covering scoring, the passing zone, pass-rate estimates and office differences. For the games themselves, start with our complete McKinsey Solve guide.

early-career candidates who take Solve each year, per McKinsey

~300,000

Source: mckinsey.com

estimated pass rate (third-party, not McKinsey data)

20–30%

Source: case-prep.com

reported score types: product and process

2

Source: mconsultingprep.com

reported wait for a pass or fail email

2–14 days

Source: casebasix.com

How does McKinsey score Solve?

McKinsey's public statements describe what Solve is for, not how it is scored. Its game lab says Solve was built to "measure how people think, as opposed to what they know," and that it gives McKinsey "an additional data point in recruiting." A 2020 McKinsey careers post adds that "observing how people approach these tasks gives a picture of how people approach problems more broadly."

Prep sites build their two-score model on that idea: one score for what you achieve, one for how you work. McKinsey has not confirmed the model in any document we found, but the prep sources agree on its shape.

Product score: what you end with

The product score measures results against each game's objective. MConsultingPrep and CaseBasix give the examples: correct answers in Redrock Study, how many species survive in the older Ecosystem Building game. In Sea Wolf, PSG Cracked describes the goal as the highest possible treatment effectiveness at each of the three sites. case-prep calls an unanswered item "a guaranteed zero on the product side", which is why running out of time is so expensive.

Process score: how you got there

The process score is built from telemetry: the record of what you do while you play. MConsultingPrep says "every keystroke, every click, and every mouse movement" is captured. MyConsultingCoach describes it as "what you prioritize, what you click on, and how structured you are." StrategyCase lists the signals it believes matter: time spent reading the brief before acting, how many data sources you open, how often you switch back between screens, and whether you use the in-game calculator and notepad. CaseBasix adds how you organise data in Redrock's research journal.

MConsultingPrep is also careful to add that McKinsey "has never explicitly stated the measurement method" for process. StrategyCase reports the two scores are weighted roughly equally; nobody else offers a weighting.

A worked example of why process matters

This is an illustration, not a McKinsey rule. Two candidates get the same Redrock questions right, so their product scores match.

If the prep-site descriptions are right, A scores higher on process with the same answers. B also carried more risk on product: with no time left, one more slow question would have cost a correct answer.

Is there a fixed passing score?

No, not one McKinsey publishes, and probably not one fixed number at all. McKinsey's Solve FAQ says it will not make a decision on your candidacy "just on the results from Solve." Results are "taken into consideration together with the rest of your application and any other assessment results." A recruiter weighing Solve alongside a resume is not applying a single universal cut-off.

What prep sites report instead is a relative bar. You are ranked against other candidates and placed in a percentile or decile (a tenth of the ranked pool: decile 10 is the top 10%).

• case-prep: the 80th percentile, the top fifth, "is usually enough," which it calls a "commonly cited rule of thumb."
• PSG Cracked: the 80th percentile is "usually enough to pass," though it varies with case and applicant volume.
• PSG Secrets: "decile 8 or above" means your performance was good; a strong result sits in the top 20–30%.

What the deciles mean in practice

Decile 8 covers the 70th to 80th percentile. If the bar for your pool is the top 20%, decile 8 falls just short. If it is the top 30%, decile 8 clears it. That is why sources quoting "top 20%" and "top 30%" can both be right: they describe different pools.

The sources disagree about who you are ranked against. PSG Secrets says every candidate taking Solve worldwide. case-prep says your own candidate pool, so "the bar moves with the strength of the cohort." Neither cites McKinsey. The practical rule is the same either way: aim well above the 80th percentile in practice, because you cannot see where the line is on the day.

What is the McKinsey Solve pass rate?

McKinsey has published one relevant number: Solve is "given to around 300,000 early career consultant candidates per year" (McKinsey's game lab, July 2025). It has not published a pass rate. Every figure below is a third-party estimate.

Two things to keep in mind when you read any pass rate:

1. It is an estimate of a relative bar. If your pool is stronger, the same performance can pass one year and fail the next.
2. Prep-site conversion claims are marketing. StrategyCase reports 75–90% for candidates who follow its structured prep, against 10–20% unaided. No independent source verifies figures like these, so leave them out of your planning.

Do offices use different thresholds?

This is where the online advice is least reliable. Here is what is stated by McKinsey and what is only reported:

The office claim is plausible. A large office has more applicants per interview slot, so if thresholds are relative, the effective bar rises. But no source we found gives office-level numbers. Our rule: do not choose an office to dodge a harder Solve bar, because nothing solid supports it.

How long until results, and what does the email mean?

McKinsey does not publish a timeline. Candidates report:

• 1–2 weeks is typical (case-prep, CaseBasix).
• 2–14 days is the range MConsultingPrep and CaseBasix give, with a follow-up to your recruiter after two weeks.
• 5 days to a few weeks per PSG Cracked, and longer in busy offices or peak season per PSG Secrets.

The result is a pass or fail with no score, percentile or per-game breakdown. case-prep and PSG Secrets say some candidates have obtained their decile by asking the recruiter afterwards. There is no reliable way to tell whether you passed from inside the test. The email, or an invitation to interview, is the answer.

What to do while you wait

Do not spend the wait replaying the test. Use it for the next stage, which starts whatever the email says:

• Start case interview prep now. If you pass, the problem-solving interview comes next, and it takes longer to prepare for than Solve.
• Draft your Personal Experience Interview stories. McKinsey's interviewing page says to prepare detailed examples of your own role and actions. That work is useful at any firm.
• Write down how each game went while you remember. Note where you ran short of time and which decisions you changed. If the answer is no, these notes are the start of your re-prep plan.

If you did not pass, CaseBasix and PSG Secrets report a wait of about 12 months before you can reapply. StrategyCase puts it at 12 to 24 months depending on the office. Our guide to what to do after failing McKinsey Solve covers the cooldown and a re-prep plan. For where Solve sits against the other firms' steps, see the consulting assessment timeline.

How do you raise your McKinsey Solve score?

McKinsey's interviewing page says there is "no need to prepare" for Solve, and its FAQ says the task tutorials are untimed. That is true for knowledge: you need no business background. What practice changes is how much of your timed window goes on figuring out the interface instead of solving. The habits that lift both scores are the same.

A preparation plan that follows from those habits:

1. Practice timed, early. Untimed practice is fine for learning the rules. After that, every session should run against the clock.
2. Build the base skills first. Chart reading and mental math make Redrock faster. Our chart drills and math drills are free with a DrillCase account.
3. Learn each game's mechanics. For Sea Wolf, that means the averaging rule: see our Sea Wolf averaging rule guide.
4. Review every error by type. Sort each miss into ran out of time, misread the data, or flawed logic, and drill the biggest group.
5. Start two to four weeks out. StrategyCase calls two weeks its sweet spot and four weeks enough to prepare without rushing. A short daily session beats a weekend cram.

The bottom line

There is no published McKinsey Solve passing score. The best available reading is a relative bar somewhere around the top 20–30% of candidates, applied alongside the rest of your application. You cannot see the line, so the useful goal is to finish every task with a clean process. DrillCase's McKinsey Solve practice has 20+ Solve-style scenarios across Redrock, Sea Wolf, Sustainable Futures Lab and Ecosystem Creation formats for building that habit under time pressure.