The ADAPT test: all eight IndiGo tests and how to prepare
ADAPT is the Symbiotics aptitude test IndiGo uses at Stage 1 of its cadet pilot selection. It is eight computer-based tests: English, maths, physics, co-ordination, multitasking, reasoning, personality and a flight test. Ready Aviator offers ADAPT practice for every one of them.
What each ADAPT test measures
| Test | What it measures | Length and kit |
|---|---|---|
| English | Grammar, vocabulary and comprehension, with an approximate ICAO level indicator. | Keyboard and mouse. Symbiotics publishes the length two ways: 20 questions in 30 minutes, or 60 questions in 60 minutes with a listening part. |
| Maths Progressive | Applied maths: speed, distance and time, fuel and bearings. | 20 questions over three levels worth 1, 2 and 5 marks, 30 minutes, ends on its own. Keyboard and mouse. Calculator use is not published. |
| Physics Progressive | Applying physics formulae. | The same shape as maths: 20 questions over three levels, 30 minutes. Keyboard and mouse. |
| Control and Co-ordination | Hand, foot and eye co-ordination: the ball game. | About 5 minutes. Joystick. Symbiotics' DGCA-circular version adds PC foot pedals. Scored with an improvement measure as well as the result. |
| FAST | Multitasking under a growing workload, and whether you learn from one scenario to the next. | About 15 minutes. Keyboard and mouse, audio required. No joystick. |
| Cognitive Reasoning | Verbal, numerical, working memory, perceptual speed and accuracy, spatial relations and abstract reasoning. | 36 items in 30 minutes, drawn at random from a bank, scored on accuracy and speed. Keyboard and mouse. |
| ADAPT Personality Questionnaire | How you describe yourself at work. There are no right answers. | 282 statements, 60 minutes recommended. Mouse. |
| Flight Test | Flying a route to height, heading and speed while listening. | About 20 minutes. Joystick, throttle and audio. A familiarisation phase, then a scored route drawn on a map in colour. Candidates report spoken instructions and multiple-choice questions on what was said. |
Sources: training-school fact sheet; Symbiotics.
Sten scores, three stages, two attempts
Symbiotics reports each test as a sten score from 1 to 10 against a comparison group, shown in colour bands. The co-ordination test also gets an improvement measure. IndiGo does not publish a pass mark.
Most training schools number the stages like this. Each stage eliminates.
- Stage 1, ADAPT. Run by IndiGo's partner training school.
- Stage 2, group task. Run by IndiGo.
- Stage 3, interview. Run by IndiGo.
You get at most two attempts at each stage, across all training schools. A second attempt at the aptitude stage or the interview needs a gap of at least three months. The group stage can be retaken with the same school without delay.
Those rules are IndiGo's programme guidelines as summarised in Flight Training Adelaide's IndiGo FAQ (v1.9, October 2022). That FAQ predates ADAPT, so check your school's current rules. Read the FAQ (PDF)
ADAPT preparation, test by test
Every account gets 3 free plays of every ADAPT practice game, English included, the personality questionnaire and the IndiGo readiness score. Unlimited plays are on Pro, and so is the Selection Day mock.
- English. Work against the clock on grammar and reading passages, and read every option before you pick one. Practise with English
- Maths Progressive. Get quick at mental arithmetic and unit conversions. The later questions are worth five times the first. Practise with Maths Progressive
- Physics Progressive. Revise school physics formulae until you can pick the right one without searching for it. Practise with Physics Progressive
- Control and Co-ordination. Small, early inputs beat big corrections. Keep going after a bad start, because improvement counts. Practise with Ball and Rudder
- FAST. Keep scanning every task and never fix on one. Practising with headphones helps. Practise with Track, Scan and Listen
- Cognitive Reasoning. That is under a minute an item. Skip what stalls you and come back to it. Practise with Cognitive Reasoning
- ADAPT Personality Questionnaire. Answer as you actually behave, and consistently. Practise with Personality questionnaire
- Flight Test. Fly and listen at once: hold each heading and level while you note the next call. Practise with Flight Test
Your exam-length runs build an IndiGo readiness score, weakest test first. The Selection Day mock runs the timed tests back to back in one sitting, with the personality questionnaire alongside.
Air India uses a different test
Air India publishes three steps: an online application, a Technical Evaluation, and a Non-Technical Evaluation of group and panel interviews.
One of its training schools names Aon as the assessment provider, so practise the Aon cut-e style games instead. The module lists in prep sources are not confirmed. More on the Air India cadet programme.
Common questions
Can I retake the ADAPT test?
IndiGo's programme guidelines, as summarised in Flight Training Adelaide's IndiGo FAQ (v1.9, October 2022), allow at most two attempts at each stage across all training schools. A second attempt at the aptitude stage or the interview needs a gap of at least three months; the group stage can be retaken with the same school without delay. That FAQ predates ADAPT, so check your school's current rules.
Is the joystick test hard?
Candidates often name Control and Co-ordination as the hardest of the eight. It is about five minutes with a joystick, and foot pedals in the DGCA version, and it is scored on improvement as well as the result, so a shaky first run is not the end. Ball and Rudder practises it.
What is a sten score?
A score from 1 to 10 that places you against a comparison group of other candidates rather than counting marks. The middle of the group sits at 5 and 6. Symbiotics reports ADAPT results as stens in colour bands. IndiGo does not publish a pass mark.
How long does the ADAPT day take?
IndiGo does not publish it. Candidates at assessment events report about three to four hours for the eight tests, in a group, in an order that is not published either. Flight Training Adelaide's 2022 FAQ describes its first stage as online at home. Our Selection Day mock runs 7 timed tests in one sitting.
What should I bring?
We have found no published kit list, so follow your training school's invitation. It also tells you whether that stage is at a centre or online, which has differed between schools.
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Ready Aviator is independent and not affiliated with Symbiotics or IndiGo. ADAPT is a Symbiotics test.