Your GTI — General Trainability Index — is the single number the Army Cognitive Test produces. It runs from 26 to 60 and determines which roles you can apply for.
The GTI reflects both accuracy and speed across all five ACT sections. Getting questions right matters, but so does how many you get through — answering carefully and slowly does not produce a high score.
Because it combines both, the fastest way to raise your GTI is usually not to grind your strongest section further. It is to lift whichever section is dragging the average down.
There is no single answer, and be wary of any site that gives you one. Requirements are set per trade, not per corps. Two trades within the same regiment can sit many points apart — so "the Royal Engineers need X" is not a meaningful statement.
Requirements are also reviewed and can change, and some technical trades require a further Technical Selection Test on top of the ACT.
For the trade you actually want, the only reliable sources are the official Army jobs site and your Army Careers Adviser. We deliberately do not publish a threshold table here, because an out-of-date number could cost you the trade you are aiming at.
This causes more confusion than anything else about the GTI, and a lot of prep sites still get it wrong.
The ACT replaced an older British Army selection test, the BARB. The BARB used a different scale, and figures such as "a score of 80" come from that older test — not from the ACT. If you are reading a page, forum thread or video that talks about scores well above 60, you are almost certainly reading about BARB.
This matters practically, because working towards a number from the wrong test tells you nothing useful. Anything describing the ACT should be talking about a GTI in the 26 to 60 range. If it isn't, treat the rest of that page's advice with suspicion too — and check the official Army jobs site instead.
The GTI is an index, not a mark out of 100 and not a percentage of questions answered correctly. That is why the scale starts at 26 rather than 0 — it is a standardised measure of trainability, designed so scores can be compared consistently between candidates rather than to describe how many questions you got right.
The practical consequence: "Is 45 a good score?" has no answer in isolation. A GTI is only meaningful against the requirement for the trade you are applying for. A score that comfortably opens one trade may fall short for another, which is why comparing your number to a stranger's on a forum tells you very little.
Since we will not publish a threshold table, here is how to get the real figure for your situation:
1. Decide on the specific trade, not the corps. "Royal Engineers" is not a target — Driver Operator and Geographic Technician sit a long way apart. You need the trade name.
2. Check that trade on the official Army jobs site. Entry requirements are listed per role at jobs.army.mod.uk, and that is the only source that is current by definition.
3. Ask your Army Careers Adviser to confirm it. They deal with current requirements daily and will tell you where you stand. Requirements are reviewed and do change.
4. Check whether your trade needs anything further. Some technical trades require an additional Technical Selection Test on top of the ACT.
Our trainer gives you an estimated GTI once you have completed all five sections. Being straight about what that is: it is an estimate based on your accuracy and speed in our practice questions. It is not an official score, it does not come from the Army, and it cannot guarantee what you will achieve on the day.
What it is useful for is direction rather than precision — seeing which sections are dragging you down, and whether your practice is moving the number. Treat it as a training indicator, not a prediction.
Before you join — yes, in some circumstances. If you do not pass an element during assessment, you are given the opportunity to return and re-attempt it at a later date. If a specific role needs a higher score than you achieved, a resit is worth asking about.
Your Army Careers Adviser is the person to confirm how many attempts you get and how long you wait between them. You will see exact numbers quoted online, but much of that is recycled from the older BARB test — so check with your ACA rather than planning around a figure off a forum.
Once you have joined, that is your score. There is no sitting it again in service. Soldiers looking at a transfer later find they are held to the GTI they joined with — there is no "I'll retake it and get the points" option once you are in.
That is the reason to take this seriously now, even if you already know the role you want and already meet its requirement. Scoring higher than you strictly need costs you nothing today. Scraping the minimum also costs you nothing today — and then quietly closes doors years later, when you are looking at a transfer and find the requirement is above the number on your record.
A high score is the one thing here that is permanently yours. Get it while you have the chance, whichever role you are going for.
Since you cannot know your exact target without checking, the sensible approach is to aim as high as you reasonably can rather than at a specific number.
Preparation is the one part of this that is entirely within your control. The format is fixed, the question types are known, and familiarity alone removes a large part of the time pressure — so the candidate who has seen it all before starts at an advantage over the one who has not.
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