Official practice materials for McKinsey, BCG and Bain tests in 2026

The short answer: use official 2026 pages

If you searched for a McKinsey PST download, the most useful thing to know is that the PST is retired. McKinsey screens candidates with Solve, a gamified online assessment, so PST files circulating online describe a test you will not sit.

The right starting point in 2026 is the firms' own careers pages. They are free, current and accurate about rules. I list them below, with what each offers and how to use it.

Official pages at a glance

Office pages and test formats change between recruiting cycles. Your invitation email always takes precedence over any general page, including this one.

McKinsey: what the official pages cover

McKinsey's Solve page describes the assessment as gamified and focused on problem solving. It sets clear rules: no apps, websites, AI tools or pre-prepared notes, no recording or screenshots, and you work alone. McKinsey states that no preparation is needed, and it links to a preview so you know what to expect on screen.

The interviewing page covers the full process: Solve, the personal experience interview and the problem-solving (case) interview. It offers five sample cases on topics such as a beauty retailer moving consultants to virtual channels, a sports drink launch and an electric truck investment. Work through them aloud, as if an interviewer were listening.

Candidates invited to interview also get free access to McKinsey's AI practice tool for quantitative case questions, launched in April 2026. It generates a fresh case with the figures you need, then reveals the answer and calculation steps; about 10,000 people used it in its first month, according to Business Insider.

For a fuller picture of the games candidates report (Redrock Study, Sea Wolf and Sustainable Futures Lab), read the McKinsey test in 2026.

BCG: what the official pages cover

BCG has no single global test. Depending on the office, candidates report the Casey chatbot case, the Consulting Career Assessment in North America, or numerical tests. BCG's careers site does not publish a full practice version of these.

What it does offer is a clear interview process page and a case preparation page with practical do's and don'ts: structure your thinking, state your assumptions, communicate as you go. OneDay@BCG, a free job simulation, gives a feel for consulting work. For office-by-office test formats, see the BCG Potential Test and current BCG assessments.

Bain: what the official pages cover

Bain's case interview page is the most practical of the three. It offers Bain-designed practice cases and tips for both in-person and virtual interviews. Bain's online tests (SOVA or TestGorilla, depending on the office) are not covered there. The page also carries a scam warning: Bain does not interview over instant messaging or ask candidates to pay for anything. For interview technique, read the Bain case interview.

Why I do not link to old PST files

Old PST practice files still circulate on forums and file-sharing sites. I do not link to them, for three reasons. They describe a retired format, so practicing their exact structure trains you for a test you will not sit. Their origin and accuracy are often unclear. And McKinsey's current rules for Solve forbid outside materials during the assessment, which makes a clean, legitimate preparation path the sensible choice.

Original practice material written for training purposes, such as the sample set on this site, gives you the same skill practice without those problems.

How to use official materials well

Official pages explain format and expectations. They rarely give you enough volume to build speed. I recommend this sequence:

1. Read every official page for the firms you apply to. Note the rules and the stages.
2. Do the official sample cases once, untimed. Focus on structure and clear communication.
3. Build the underlying skills. Use a 4-week written case practice plan for reading, math and exhibits.
4. Simulate the clock. Take full timed practice tests and review every error.
5. Redo the official cases timed. Compare your second attempt with your first.

Stephan's note: When I coached candidates, the ones who relied only on official samples knew the format well and still ran out of time. Volume under time pressure was what made the difference.

How to use the two practice books

My two practice books, The Key to the PST and The Second Key to the PST, each contain a full 26-question written-case test with multiple business cases and a detailed answer guide. They were written for the McKinsey PST, which is retired. Use them for step 4 above:

• Take the first book as a full 60-minute test on paper, no calculator. Score it and sort errors into reading, math and objective errors.
• Spend a week fixing your largest error type, using the original sample set for warm-ups.
• Take The Second Key to the PST under the same conditions and compare. Fresh cases mean the improvement reflects skill, not memory. See the Second Key to the PST page.

Together with the official pages, that gives you an accurate picture of the format and the timed volume to perform in it.