PwC Interview Prep
PwC is one of the Big Four professional services firms, and its UK graduate and school-leaver process is designed to be completed fairly quickly once you apply. The typical route is an online application, online assessments covering behavioural preferences and cognitive reasoning, an on-demand video interview, and an assessment centre with group and individual activities such as case studies and meeting exercises. For some roles, there is a final interview or business assessment with a senior person from the business area before an offer. Candidates are assessed against The PwC Professional, the firm's global framework of behaviours, and PwC's values: act with integrity, make a difference, care, work together and reimagine the possible. Many candidates fall at the tests and video interview, so treat those stages as seriously as the assessment centre. Strong candidates show clear, specific examples, real knowledge of the business area they have chosen and a commercial awareness that goes beyond reading the headlines.
The PwC interview process
This is how the process usually runs, so nothing on the day is a surprise. Your recruiter is the one who knows for certain, so ask them what your version looks like.
- Online application: You choose a business area and location and submit your education and experience. Choosing the right business area early matters because later stages are tailored to it. What to expect: Research the business areas properly. Be able to explain what someone in your first year in that area actually does.
- Online assessments: Behavioural and cognitive assessments, typically covering numerical and other reasoning, plus a questionnaire on your natural working preferences. What to expect: Practise reasoning tests under time pressure beforehand. Answer the behavioural questionnaire honestly and consistently.
- On-demand video interview: A recorded interview with no live interviewer, usually including motivation and competency questions and sometimes a short business scenario. It is typically completed within a set window after you are invited. What to expect: Concise, structured answers delivered to camera. Check your set-up, look at the camera and keep each answer to the point.
- Assessment centre: A mix of group and individual exercises such as case studies, meetings and written or presentation tasks that mirror the work of the business area. What to expect: Show collaboration in group work, structure in analysis and clear communication. Assessors watch how you work with others as closely as your conclusions.
- Final interview or business assessment (some roles): For some roles, a final interview with a senior leader in the business area you have been matched to, before an offer is made. What to expect: Be ready to discuss your motivation for the specific area, recent developments affecting its clients and how you would contribute.
Common PwC interview questions
Why PwC, and why this business area?
Why they ask: Tests whether you understand the difference between audit, tax, consulting and deals, and have chosen deliberately.
How to answer: Be specific about the kind of work in that business area that appeals to you and link it to something you have done or studied. Mention something you learned from a PwC event, colleague or publication rather than generic brand praise.
Tell me about a time you worked in a team to achieve a difficult goal.
Why they ask: Work together is a PwC value, and client teams depend on collaboration.
How to answer: Use STAR. Make your own contribution clear, explain how you handled any disagreement or pressure, and finish with a measurable outcome where you can.
Describe a time you acted with integrity when it would have been easier not to.
Why they ask: Act with integrity is central to PwC values and to work such as audit, where trust matters.
How to answer: Pick a real situation where doing the right thing had a cost, such as admitting a mistake or challenging something. Explain your reasoning and the outcome.
Tell me about a time you came up with a new way of doing something.
Why they ask: Reflects the value of reimagining the possible and the growing role of technology in client work.
How to answer: Describe a real improvement you proposed or made, how you persuaded others and what changed as a result.
What is a recent business news story that interests you, and how might it affect PwC clients?
Why they ask: Tests commercial awareness and whether you can link events to client impact.
How to answer: Pick one story you genuinely understand. Explain what happened, why it matters, which clients would be affected and what they might need from a firm like PwC.
Tell me about a time you received feedback and acted on it.
Why they ask: PwC places weight on development and coaching through The PwC Professional.
How to answer: Choose real feedback, explain how you responded, what you changed and the evidence it worked.
How do you prioritise when you have several deadlines at once?
Why they ask: Graduates juggle client work, training and professional exams.
How to answer: Describe a real example, how you decided what came first, how you communicated with people affected and how you protected quality.
Your group has to recommend whether a client should enter a new market. Work together to reach a view.
Why they ask: A typical assessment centre exercise testing structured thinking and collaboration.
How to answer: Help agree a structure early, such as market size, competition, costs, risks and fit with the client. Contribute analysis, bring others in, keep track of time and help the group land on one clear recommendation.
What PwC looks for
These are the things they listen for, even when the question is about something else entirely.
- Act with integrity
- Make a difference
- Care
- Work together
- Reimagine the possible
- The PwC Professional
How to prepare
Choose your business area carefully and research it in depth, because your motivation for it will be tested at every stage. Practise numerical and verbal reasoning tests under time pressure; they are an early filter, so do not leave them to chance. Learn PwC's values and The PwC Professional, then prepare STAR examples for teamwork, integrity, innovation, feedback, prioritisation and resilience. Rehearse video interview answers to a camera, keeping each to around two minutes. Follow business news relevant to your chosen area and practise explaining one story's impact on clients. For the assessment centre, practise a group case with friends and focus on visible collaboration. Run a Voxxhire mock interview out loud, especially for the recorded video stage, where answers that feel fine in your head often come out shapeless on camera.
Roles this guide applies to
This guide fits best if you are going for one of these.
- accountant
- management-consultant
- financial-analyst
- data-analyst