Barclays · Investment banking analyst · Summer Analyst / Analyst

Assessment centre technical interview

The deciding technical seat: multi-part accounting, a paper LBO and bank mechanics

What they actually ask

The question shapes this round uses. Larpy does not read these out. It builds each one from your own resume, because the generic version is the one you have already rehearsed.

“A company has 200 million basic shares outstanding at a current share price of $10, with 50 million options at a $4 strike price. Walk me through the treasury stock method to calculate diluted equity value.”
“Walk me through the 3-statement impact for a bank that has a $100 loan on its books, collects 10% interest, and amortizes 10% of the principal.”
“Company A has an EV/Revenue of 9.5x and an EV/EBITDA of 23.2x. Company B has an EV/Revenue of 12.5x and an EV/EBITDA of 10.9x. What is wrong with this data?”
“What were the primary causes of the 2008 financial crisis?”
“Given a set of financial statements, identify when a dividend was paid and calculate the dividend amount.”

What this round is judged on

Accounting · multi-part statement chains and reading real statements for what is hidden in them
LBO · a paper LBO to a multiple on invested capital, out loud
Merger model · diluted share counts, treasury stock method and inconsistent multiple data
FIG mechanics · bank and insurer valuation and why the standard methods change

How Larpy grades this

We score these the way an analyst would. Per topic, what a strong answer lands and the confidently-wrong answers Larpy catches.

ACCThree-statement flow of a depreciation change
Strong
nets the tax effect correctly (net income down 7.5, not 10); adds the full non-cash charge back on the cash flow statement; closes the balance sheet and states that it balances.
We flag
claims extra depreciation raises net income or cash (it lowers net income; cash rises only by the tax shield); forgets the tax rate and moves the full 10 through pre-tax to net income; leaves the balance sheet unbalanced.
LBOWhy an LBO generates a return
Strong
names the three drivers: deleveraging, EBITDA growth, multiple expansion; explains leverage amplifies the equity return.
We flag
says the return comes from the debt itself rather than deleveraging plus growth; cannot name the return drivers.
MAAccretion / dilution
Strong
compares the two P/Es for a stock deal (higher acquirer P/E = accretive); for cash/debt, compares financing cost to the earnings yield; notes synergies can change the outcome.
We flag
claims an all-stock deal is always accretive because no cash is spent; ignores the relative multiples entirely.

Larpy builds a fresh question per topic from your resume and grades the full answer live. Start the mock for the worked model answer.

Where this round sits

Barclays’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.

01
Your application
02
Initial assessments (not simulated here)
03
Video interview
04
First-round interview (Americas)
05
Assessment centrethis round
06
Offer

What happens in each stage›

Your application: Complete the application form on the Barclays careers site. Barclays asks for clear examples of good judgment, innovation, teamwork, commitment and leadership, tells candidates to pull keywords out of the job description, and warns against pasting text from its own site back at it.
Initial assessments (not simulated here): Two short interactive assessments that read how you might perform in the workplace and your typical or preferred ways of working, completable on a phone or tablet. Only the technical programmes, such as Explorer Developer, add an assessment of technical skills, so the banking track carries no coding test.
Video interview: Barclays does not list a separate recorded round among its three published steps, but its own interview guidance is written for video interviews and the later stages can be run virtually. Early careers candidates commonly complete a recorded or live video screen before the assessment centre: motivation, a resume walk, and why this programme.
First-round interview (Americas): A regional variation rather than a published step. In the United States the summer analyst process runs closer to the US model, with a first round of analysts and associates covering fit and analyst-level technicals ahead of the final day, where the UK process would go straight from the initial assessments into the assessment centre.
Assessment centre: Barclays publishes this as the deciding stage, held in person or virtually and involving two or three stages including a motivational interview with a member of the leadership team. In the Americas the equivalent final day is usually run as a superday of back-to-back banker interviews. Third-party AI tools are banned outright: a transcription bot or meeting assistant stops the interview and withdraws the application.
Offer: Performance across all the exercises is taken into account rather than any single one, so a weak exercise is not automatically fatal.

Sources

Built from what Barclays publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.

companyBarclays Careers, internship and graduate application processsearch.jobs.barclays
The three published steps (application, initial assessments, assessment centre); the initial assessments being two short interactive assessments completable on a phone or tablet, with a technical assessment added only for technical programmes such as Explorer Developer; the assessment centre running in person or virtually across two or three stages including a motivational interview with a member of the leadership team; and the outright ban on third-party AI tools in interviews and assessments.
companyBarclays Careers, hints and tipssearch.jobs.barclays
What Barclays asks candidates to evidence (clear examples of good judgment, innovation, teamwork, commitment and leadership), its guidance written for video interviews (camera, quiet private space, dress as for a face-to-face interview), and its statement that performance across all exercises is taken into account rather than any single one.
companyBarclays Careers, graduate programmessearch.jobs.barclays
The graduate programme families, including Investment Banking, and the Expert versus Explorer programme split.
datalevels.fyi, Barclayslevels.fyi
Analyst compensation and level context. No interview-process content.

Sources last checked August 12, 2026. Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.

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