What is the Royal Navy Mechanical comprehension test?
Mechanical comprehension assesses the basic knowledge of physics principles like pulleys, gears, forces and rotation. As part of the Naval Service Recruitment Test (NSRT), the mechanical knowledge of candidates is tested to be sure that they are capable of learning to deal with different machines.
The Royal Navy mechanical comprehension test assesses a candidate's knowledge of how mechanical objects work.
The format of the Royal Navy mechanical comprehension test
The mechanical comprehension test is based on basic secondary school-level physics principles such as:
- Forces
- Rotation
- Pulley
- Gears
- Acceleration
These questions have multiple-choice questions and are based on technical drawings that are likely to be based on practical scenarios.
There are 30 questions that need to be answered in just 10 minutes.
How is the Royal Navy mechanical comprehension test scored?
As with the rest of the NSRT, the scores of the mechanical comprehension tests are based on both correct answers and speed. There are no penalties for wrong answers.
To achieve the right score for your chosen career path, it is best to aim for a very high score. There are no published scores for each branch of the Royal Navy, but in most cases achieving a score of 50% or more should be sufficient for progression through the application.
At the end of your completed NSRT, you will receive your results and have the opportunity to discuss them with a Career Officer so that you know what the next steps are in your application. The aptitude tests are designed to make sure that you have what it takes to be successful in the Service, but also to discover what your innate strengths (and weaknesses) are. They are meant to be challenging.
How to pass the Royal Navy mechanical comprehension test
The Royal Navy mechanical comprehension test is based on GCSE-level principles of physics, so you will not need to have a degree in mechanical engineering to understand the concepts involved. It is a good idea to revisit some of these principles, like gears and forces as well as acceleration and pulleys, to make sure you refresh your knowledge.
The best thing you can do to ensure a good score on the mechanical comprehension section and the NSRT in general is to practice. There are practice tests available on the Royal Navy recruitment page and elsewhere that you can use to get used to the format and wording of the tests.
The most difficult part of the test for most candidates is the time restrictions. There are a lot of questions to be answered in a small amount of time, so when you practice you need to make sure that you are working with a timer. You will only have a matter of seconds to answer each question.
When you are practicing and when you are in the test, if you find a question a bit more tough it is best to move on and answer the easier questions first, and come back to it at the end if there is time.
Check out our full Royal Navy psychometric tests page here that include free tests.
