McKinsey SolveTest-day rules
McKinsey bans apps, websites, AI and notes written in advance while you take Solve. So every method on DrillCase is one you run by hand, on paper that starts empty. Here is what the rules say, where they say it, and the day we last read them.
McKinsey’s FAQ says that, except as a disability accommodation McKinsey has approved in writing, you may not “use applications, websites, AI tools, or pre-prepared notes” or “record or capture screenshots of any part of the assessment”, and that you take it “alone, without assistance from others”.
The test, on one screen
A PC or Mac that passed McKinsey’s tech check. One screen, nothing layered over it, and your camera on, showing your hands as you write.
Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)Integrity page (opens in a new tab)Blank paper
For notes and working. McKinsey may ask to see it, and asks you to throw it away afterwards.
Integrity page (opens in a new tab)A pen or pencil
The Solve FAQ doesn’t mention pen and paper; the integrity page, which covers every assessment, allows them.
Integrity page (opens in a new tab)Your phone: apps, websites, recording
No other applications or websites, and no recording or screenshots of any part of the test.
Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)Solve page (opens in a new tab)AI tools
No chatbots or other AI during the test. Practising with AI beforehand is allowed.
Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)Interviewing page (opens in a new tab)Your own calculator
Listed as banned on the integrity page. Coaches on the PrepLounge forum describe an on-screen calculator inside Redrock, reported to be part of the game itself.
Integrity page (opens in a new tab)PrepLounge forum, Jan 2025 (opens in a new tab)Notes written in advance
No cheat sheet, printed guide or formula card. Your paper starts blank.
Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)Integrity page (opens in a new tab)A second screen or overlay
One screen only, and nothing drawn over the test window.
Integrity page (opens in a new tab)Anyone else’s help
You take Solve alone. Sharing its content with others is also banned.
Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)Integrity page (opens in a new tab)Sources checked
Straight from McKinsey
We paraphrase; the links go to McKinsey’s own pages. Each card gives the page’s own date and the day we read it. If a page changes, it wins over anything written here.
Read
During Solve you may not use applications, websites, AI tools or notes prepared in advance, and you may not record or screenshot any part of it. You take it alone. The one exception is a disability accommodation McKinsey approves in writing.
undatedRead
Repeats the same list under “Values and integrity” and links to the FAQ. Breaking it can mean exclusion from the process, a withdrawn offer, limits on applying again, or legal action. It also says you don’t need to prepare.
undatedRead
Covers any McKinsey assessment or interview. Pen and paper are allowed for notes and working, and McKinsey may ask to see them. Camera on, showing your hands. Calculators, prepared notes, overlays and a second screen are not allowed.
undatedRead
Using AI to practise or to have concepts explained is fine. Using AI during an assessment is not, unless McKinsey says so for that stage.
Every Solve FAQ since Feb 2021 says two things: scenarios differ so no two candidates get the same data, and McKinsey may ask a candidate, at random, to do an extra task in person or explain the logic they used. The spelled-out ban on apps, websites, AI and prepared notes first appears in the Aug 2025 FAQ, though McKinsey’s integrity page already listed them, with calculators, by Apr 2025 Integrity page, Apr 2025 capture (opens in a new tab). Guides that recommend Excel are out of date.
| FAQ | Scenarios differ per candidate | Random in-person task or “explain your logic” | Named ban on apps, websites, AI, notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2021 (opens in a new tab) | Yes | Yes | Not stated |
| Aug 2021 (opens in a new tab) | Yes | Yes | Not stated |
| Sep 2024 (opens in a new tab) | Yes | Yes | Not stated |
| Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Our teaching rules
Every method we teach runs on a pen and paper, inside the test’s own clock. If it needs a spreadsheet, we don’t teach it.
We teach you what to draw on the day, from nothing. The skill lives in your head and hand, not on a sheet you bring in.
We don’t build, sell or link to tools that pick answers for you, including “practice” solvers.
Our summaries are for study before test day. Put them away before you start: prepared notes are banned during Solve.
Each thing we say about McKinsey’s rules or the Solve test names its source, and the page shows the day we last read them. Where sources disagree, we show both sides.
— DrillCase
Not only the rule
McKinsey may ask a candidate, at random, to do an extra task in person or walk through the logic they used Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)PSG FAQ v2, 2021 (opens in a new tab). A method you ran in your own handwriting is one you can walk someone through.
Scenarios differ from candidate to candidate Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab). Answers from someone else’s sitting don’t carry over. A procedure does.
Pen and paper are the one aid McKinsey’s integrity page allows across every assessment and interview Integrity page (opens in a new tab). The habit you build for Solve keeps working later in the process.
scratch grid
If someone offers you a “solver”
Breaking the Solve rules can mean exclusion from the process, a withdrawn offer, limits on applying again, or legal action Solve FAQ, Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab)Solve page (opens in a new tab).
Patterns we saw in public solver listings. Checked . We don’t name sellers or link to them, so this page sends them no traffic.
DrillCase is an independent practice provider. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group or Bain & Company.
Solve, Redrock, Sea Wolf and the other game names are McKinsey’s names for its test and its games. We use them only to say which test we help you practise for. We don’t have McKinsey’s test content and don’t use it: our scenarios are practice built to match the format candidates report. Read how we build and check our practice.
Questions candidates ask
Answers checked against the sources on this page on .
Not your own. McKinsey’s Assessment Integrity Expectations page, which covers any assessment, lists a calculator among the things not to use. Coaches on the PrepLounge forum (Jan 2025) describe an on-screen calculator built into Redrock; McKinsey’s public pages don’t describe it, so check each game’s tutorial. If a guide tells you a handheld calculator is fine, it contradicts McKinsey’s page. We follow McKinsey’s page and teach arithmetic you can do on paper.
Yes. The integrity page, which covers any assessment, allows pen and paper for notes and calculations, says McKinsey may ask to see them, and asks you to discard them afterwards. The Solve FAQ itself doesn’t mention paper either way.
No. The Aug 2025 Solve FAQ and the Solve careers page ban applications, websites and AI tools during the test. McKinsey’s integrity page already banned them, with calculators and prepared notes, in an Internet Archive capture from Apr 2025. Some older guides recommend Excel because Solve FAQs before Aug 2025 did not spell out a tool ban. That advice is out of date.
No. The rules cover what you do during the test. McKinsey says you don’t need to prepare, and its interviewing page says using AI to practise and learn concepts is fine. Preparation is optional; the ban on outside help during the test is not.
Plan on it. McKinsey’s integrity page, which covers any assessment, asks you to be on camera with your upper body and hands in view as you take notes. The Solve FAQ doesn’t mention a camera. We read the integrity page the same way everywhere on this page: calculator out, paper in, camera on. If your invitation says otherwise, follow it.
No. Every McKinsey FAQ since Feb 2021 says scenarios vary so that no two candidates get the same data, and the 2021 FAQ says McKinsey won’t share its cases. DrillCase scenarios are practice built to match the reported format, not McKinsey’s cases.
In one interview, not in Solve. In an interview republished on American University’s Kogod careers blog (28 Jul 2026), McKinsey’s Director of Talent Assessment said that at one point in McKinsey’s AI case interview, candidates can use an AI tool, at that time the free version of ChatGPT. The interview usually starts without AI, and its last part never uses it. That is a case interview. McKinsey’s interviewing page still says AI during an assessment is not allowed unless McKinsey permits it, and the Solve FAQ still bans AI tools during the test.
Also cited: Solve FAQ, 2024 (opens in a new tab)Solve FAQ, 2021 (opens in a new tab)Integrity page, Apr 2025 capture (opens in a new tab)PrepLounge forum, Jan 2025 (opens in a new tab)Kogod careers blog, Jul 2026 (opens in a new tab)
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