Bocconi Online Test: format and scoring
Verified
In short
The online admission test for Bocconi bachelor and law programmes: 50 questions in 75 minutes, with negative marking and strictly forward-only navigation.
Online Bocconi Test (standard variant)
Bocconi University's own remote-proctored admission test for its Bachelor programs. The standard variant is 50 single-select multiple-choice questions in one undivided 75-minute block: Mathematics 24, Reading comprehension 11, Numerical reasoning 6, Critical thinking 9. Items from the four areas are interleaved rather than grouped, navigation is strictly forward-only in screens of three questions with no return, and no calculator is allowed. Scoring is raw with real negative marking (+1 correct, 0 omitted, −0.2 wrong, −0.33 for three-option critical thinking items), so omitting beats blind guessing. Bocconi publishes an eligibility floor of 17 points, below which an applicant is not considered; it publishes no admission cut-off, because admission is by competitive ranking (test 55%, high-school GPA 45%).
- Version described
- Online Bocconi Test, AY 2027-28 admissions cycle. Structure and scoring verified on the current official test page; delivery, navigation and conduct rules verified from the official "Bocconi Online Test, Academic Year 2027/28 — Instructions and Rules of Conduct" PDF.
- Admissions cycle
- AY 2027-28. Test booking runs 13 July 2026 – 19 January 2027 for international applicants and 13 July 2026 – 20 April 2027 for Italian applicants. Sessions: Early 2–29 September 2026 (closed), Winter 25 November 2026 – 26 January 2027, and Spring 8–27 April 2027 for Italian applicants only.
Sections and timing
| Section | Questions | Time | Calculator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Bocconi Test — single 75-minute block | 50 (Mathematics 24, Reading comprehension 11, Numerical reasoning 6, Critical thinking 9) | 75 min | Not permittedNo calculator of any kind. The official rules of conduct prohibit "having books, notebooks, notes, formularies, calculators or sources/resources available online". The test runs inside the Safe Exam Browser lockdown browser, so no on-screen calculator exists either. Only an identification document, one pen or pencil, two blank A4 sheets and an unlabelled drink are permitted on the desk; all scratch work is done on the two physical sheets. |
Navigation rules
What you may and may not do once a section has started. Our timed practice enforces these on the server, not just in the interface.
- Questions are presented in a fixed order; you cannot go back.
- You can change an answer before the section is submitted.
- A review screen lists your answers at the end of the section.
- Once a section is submitted it cannot be reopened.
Scoring
- Correct answer
- 1 point(s)
- Wrong answer
- -0.2 point(s) — a real penalty
- Left blank
- 0 point(s)
- Reported scale
- Bocconi Online Test total score (penalties included), out of 50: -10–50Bocconi reports the raw penalty-adjusted total, not a converted or equated scale. The maximum attainable is 50 (50 items x 1 point). The lower bound shown here is the arithmetic minimum if all 50 items were answered incorrectly at the standard −0.2 penalty; three-option critical thinking items penalised at −0.33 would push it lower, and Bocconi does not publish whether the reported total is floored at zero. The increment reflects the two-decimal granularity implied by the −0.33 penalty; Bocconi publishes no rounding rule. The score report also gives per-area subscores (mathematics, comprehension of the text, critical and numerical reasoning) and the counts of correct / not answered / incorrect answers.
- Official scoring, quoted: "Right answer: 1 point Missing answer: 0 points Wrong answer: — 0.2 points."
- THREE-OPTION EXCEPTION: for critical thinking questions presented with three answer options, "the penalty will be — 0.33 points" instead of −0.2. The penalty therefore belongs to the item, not to the exam: items flagged as three-option critical thinking are scored at −0.33 for a wrong answer while every other item uses the −0.2 configured here.
- Omitted answers are never penalised, so strategic omission is rational. Leaving an item blank costs 0; a wrong guess costs 0.2 (or 0.33) points.
- Bocconi does not publish how many answer options non-critical-thinking items carry, so the guessing-penalty geometry cannot be reconstructed and no break-even guessing rule can be stated with confidence.
- ELIGIBILITY FLOOR, NOT A TARGET: "Applicants who receive a total score (penalties included) lower than 17 will not be considered in the selection process." This is an exclusion threshold. It is not a pass mark and not an admission predictor.
- PROGRAMME-SPECIFIC FLOOR: applicants listing the Bachelor in Mathematical and Computing Sciences for Artificial Intelligence among their choices "will need to obtain at least 11 points out of 24 in the 'Mathematics' area".
- Admission is by competitive ranking, not by reaching a score: the selection test score contributes 55% and the third-last and second-last year high-school GPA contributes 45%. Bocconi publishes no admission cut-off for any programme or round, and the formula converting the raw score into the 55% component is not published. Never present a "target score".
- Parallel official floors exist for the alternative routes into the same ranking: SAT total below 1040 or section score below 520 is not considered (600/800 Math for the AI bachelor; scores before 2022 not accepted); ACT composite below 19 is not considered (25/36 Math for the AI bachelor; scores before 2021 not accepted).
Why we do not give you a scaled score
What is tested
Bocconi University’s own content domains. Our question bank is tagged against these, so a results page names the same skills the test maker does.
Mathematics24 of 50 questions
The largest area of the standard variant: 24 of the 50 items. Bocconi publishes a detailed syllabus covering algebra, functions, plane and analytical geometry, trigonometry, sets, logarithms and exponentials, discrete mathematics, numbers, probability, problem solving and descriptive statistics.
Algebraic expressions · First and second degree equations · Expressing one quantity as a function of others · First and second degree inequalities · Systems with two unknowns · Absolute values · Mathematical notation and formula manipulation · Function concepts · Graphs of elementary functions · Plane geometry formulas · Points and distances · Equations and properties of lines · Parabolas and circles · Positions of lines relative to conics · Trigonometric identities · Trigonometric functions · Trigonometry in right triangles · Sets · Logarithmic and exponential forms · Logarithmic and exponential equations and inequalities · Logarithm and exponential identities · Permutations and combinations · Applied combinatorics · Counting problems · Ordering properties in the reals · Percentages · Unit conversion · Basic probability · Union and intersection of events · Conditional probability and Bayes · Application problems · Absolute and relative frequencies · Central tendency and dispersion
Reading comprehension11 of 50 questions
Passage-based items testing reading comprehension and information processing, including economic passages containing numbers, percentages and data. 11 of the 50 items.
Reading comprehension and information processing · Explicit information · Implicit meaning · Economic passages with data
Numerical reasoning6 of 50 questions
Chart and table stimulus items requiring data analysis and simple hand calculation. 6 of the 50 items.
Reasoning from data · Charts and tables · Critical vs superfluous information · Simple calculation by hand
Critical thinking9 of 50 questions
Items asking what can and cannot be deduced from a given text or data set. 9 of the 50 items. Some critical thinking items are presented with only three answer options and carry the heavier −0.33 penalty.
Interpreting the meaning of a text · Drawing conclusions · Excluding unsupported implications · Evaluating truth or falsehood · True, false or not deducible
What Bocconi University does not publish
We could not verify the following from an official source. Rather than guess, we switch off any feature that would depend on them, and we say so here.
- Number of answer options per question. The only signal is indirect: some critical thinking items have three options, attracting the −0.33 penalty. Option counts for Mathematics, Reading comprehension and Numerical reasoning items are not published, so no fixed 4- or 5-option layout can be called exam-accurate.
- Whether answers can be changed among the three questions on the CURRENT screen before pressing 'Next'. Only backward navigation across screens is explicitly forbidden; we enforce the strict reading.
- Whether the end-of-test summary page permits answering previously unanswered questions or editing answers, or is purely a view-only confirmation screen before 'Submit all and finish'. We assume view-only, consistent with the explicit forward-only rule.
- What the on-screen 'test navigation' box does — whether it merely shows progress or permits jumping forward to a later screen.
- Number of reading passages, their length, and how many of the 11 Reading comprehension questions attach to each passage. Passage grouping is implied but its shape is not published.
- The exact interleaving order of the four content areas across the 17 screens. Bocconi says topics are 'mixed', so no blueprint can reproduce the real ordering.
- Whether a countdown timer is displayed to the candidate during the test, and whether any per-screen time limit exists.
- Whether the four permitted attempts draw from equated forms of comparable difficulty, and whether the Italian and English versions are equated.
- The additional time granted to candidates with certified disabilities or specific learning disorders — decided case by case by a Commission, with no published multiplier. Any extra-time setting we offer is a generic study aid, not a Bocconi allowance.
- The theoretical minimum score: whether the reported total is floored at zero or can be negative when penalties exceed correct answers.
Sources
Compiled by Examer from Università Bocconi’s published pages. Each source shows the date it was checked.
- [1] Online Bocconi Test — official test page (structure, timing, scoring, eligibility floor) — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [2] Bocconi Online Test, AY 2027/28 — Instructions and Rules of Conduct (navigation, delivery, permitted materials, attempts, score report) — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [3] Application and admissions — accepted selection tests and 55/45 ranking weighting — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [4] SAT and ACT — official exclusion floors for the alternative admission routes — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [5] Results and enrollment — ranking construction — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [6] Application and admissions overview — places available — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
Bocconi Online Test - Law
The Bocconi Online Test - Law is a separate admission test from the standard Bocconi Online Test: the two "differ in content" and are bought, booked and attempted separately (four attempts each per academic year). It is 50 single-answer multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes, taken remotely under proctoring, with a Law-specific blueprint of 5 Mathematics, 11 Reading comprehension, 6 Numerical reasoning, 18 Logic and critical thinking and 10 Verbal reasoning items — logic-dominant, with reading passages that are humanistic rather than economic. It is a single non-adaptive fixed form delivered strictly forward-only: three questions per screen, and once "Next" is clicked returning to a previous screen is impossible. Scoring is +1 for a correct answer, 0 for an omission and -0.2 for a wrong answer, with -0.33 for three-option "critical thinking" items; the reported score is the penalised raw total out of 50 and a total below 17 means the applicant is not considered in the selection process. Choosing this test (or the LSAT) restricts the applicant to Bocconi Law School programmes, where the test counts 55% and third-last and second-last year GPA counts 45%.
- Version described
- Bocconi Online Test - Law (a.y. 2027-28 admissions cycle; booking window 13 July 2026 - 20 April 2027)
- Admissions cycle
- Academic year 2027-28 (Early Session: 2-29 September 2026, closed; Winter Session: 25 November 2026 - 26 January 2027; Spring Session: 8-27 April 2027, Italian applicants only). Attempts from earlier academic years cannot be reused for the 2027-28 selection.
Sections and timing
| Section | Questions | Time | Calculator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bocconi Online Test - Law (single 50-question form) | 50 | 75 min | Not permittedNo calculator of any kind. The Instructions and Rules of Conduct list "notebooks, notes, formula sheets, calculators or any sources/resources available online" among prohibited items. Permitted on the desk: the computer, an identity document, 1 pencil/pen, 2 blank A4 sheets, a beverage and the printed test credentials. There is no on-screen calculator, so none is rendered. |
Navigation rules
What you may and may not do once a section has started. Our timed practice enforces these on the server, not just in the interface.
- Questions are presented in a fixed order; you cannot go back.
- You can change an answer before the section is submitted.
- A review screen lists your answers at the end of the section.
- Once a section is submitted it cannot be reopened.
Scoring
- Correct answer
- 1 point(s)
- Wrong answer
- -0.2 point(s) — a real penalty
- Left blank
- 0 point(s)
- Reported scale
- Bocconi Online Test - Law total score (penalties included), out of 50: -10–50Bocconi reports the penalised raw total out of 50, plus per-subject-area subtotals and correct/wrong/omitted counts on the Test Score Report. 50 is the published maximum (50 correct answers at +1). A total below 17 means the applicant "will not be considered in the selection process" — an eligibility floor, not an admission cut-off; Bocconi publishes no cut-off or competitive score for Law or Global Law. The lower bound and the 0.2 increment shown here are arithmetic consequences of the published +1 / 0 / -0.2 rule, not figures Bocconi publishes: a score can be negative, and the granularity is finer wherever the -0.33 three-option penalty applies.
- Official raw scoring: correct answer +1, missing/omitted answer 0, wrong answer -0.2.
- Exception published by Bocconi: "For questions of the “critical thinking” area that give only three possible answer options, the penalty will be -0.33 points." It is applied per item through itemPenaltyOverrides: a three-option item in the Logic and critical thinking domain scores -0.33 when wrong. Three-option items in other domains keep -0.2. Bocconi states the rule on the page that describes both tests but does not name the Law area explicitly — see unverified.
- Maximum raw score is 50. Omitting is never penalised, and Bocconi’s Italian page states each candidate decides autonomously which and how many questions to attempt.
- A total score below 17 (penalties included) makes the applicant ineligible for the selection process. Present this as "minimum to be considered", never as a target score, a pass/fail line or an admission prediction.
- For Law School admission the selection test score is weighted 55% and third-last and second-last year GPA 45%. Bocconi does not publish how the test score is normalised before that weighting is applied.
- The results screen shows the penalised raw total, per-domain subtotals mirroring Bocconi’s subject-area score report, correct/wrong/omitted counts, timing and omission rate — no scaled score, no percentile, no predicted admission outcome.
- Bocconi does not publish whether any of the 50 items are unscored pretest items, so every item in our simulation is scored.
Why we do not give you a scaled score
What is tested
Università Bocconi’s own content domains. Our question bank is tagged against these, so a results page names the same skills the test maker does.
Mathematics5 of 50 questions
A deliberately narrow syllabus: plane and analytic geometry, sets, ordering of the reals, percentages and unit conversion. Only 5 of the 50 Law items — a radically lighter weight and narrower scope than the standard Bocconi Online Test.
Plane geometry · Analytic geometry: points and distances · Analytic geometry: lines · Sets · Ordering of the real numbers · Percentages · Units of measure
Reading comprehension11 of 50 questions
Comprehension of discursive, humanistic passages — pedagogy, history, philosophy, geography and similar topics — rather than the economics-flavoured passages used in the standard Bocconi Online Test.
Explicit information · Implicit meaning · Humanistic passages
Numerical reasoning6 of 50 questions
Reasoning over supplied numerical data — charts and tables — with only simple calculations and no advanced mathematics. No calculator is permitted.
Charts and tables · Relevant vs superfluous information · Reasoning over calculation
Logic and critical thinking18 of 50 questions
The largest area of the Law test at 18 of 50 items. Covers "data propositions" judgement items and deductive-logic items built on a set of initial conditions.
Data propositions · Deductive logic from initial conditions
Verbal reasoning10 of 50 questions
Argument analysis: judging statements against a brief argument and identifying assumptions, conclusions, logical errors and the statements that most weaken or strengthen an argument.
True / false / not deducible · Assumption · Conclusion · Logical error · Weaken and strengthen
What Università Bocconi does not publish
We could not verify the following from an official source. Rather than guess, we switch off any feature that would depend on them, and we say so here.
- Number of answer options per item. Bocconi discloses only that SOME "critical thinking" items have three options; the option count for Mathematics, Reading comprehension, Numerical reasoning, Verbal reasoning and the remaining logic items is not published, so our option counts are editorial and no option-count fidelity is claimed.
- Whether the -0.33 three-option penalty applies inside the Law test. The rule is worded for the “critical thinking” area while the Law test’s area is named "Logic and critical thinking", and Bocconi does not state the mapping explicitly.
- The exact interleaving pattern of the 50 items — which three items share a screen, and whether the subject areas appear in any fixed order. Only "mixed by difficulty and topic" (Italian: "in modo casuale") is published.
- Whether a visible countdown timer is displayed during the live test. A timer is confirmed only for Bocconi’s own practice simulation.
- Whether answers can still be changed from the pre-submission summary page, or whether that page is view-only. We render it read-only as the conservative reading.
- Whether a reading-comprehension passage stays visible across screen boundaries when its questions span more than one three-question screen.
- Item pool size, whether forms are randomised per candidate or per session, and whether any of the 50 items are unscored pretest items.
- The exact amount of additional time granted as a disability or specific-learning-disorder accommodation. No percentage or minute figure is published, so no accommodation preset is offered.
- Any admission cut-off or "competitive" score for Law or Global Law. Only the 17/50 eligibility floor is official; no target-score or admission-probability feature may be shown for this exam.
- The scale used for per-subject-area scores on the Test Score Report. Raw points are assumed but the report format is not published.
- Whether the Law test uses the same item-writing and difficulty-calibration process as the standard Bocconi Online Test. No item-difficulty calibration or IRT parameters are published for either, so our difficulty labels are editorial.
- Autosave, reconnect and resume behaviour during a live attempt. Bocconi documents only that answers are saved on time expiry and that technical failures may void the attempt.
- How the 55% test-score weight is normalised or rescaled before being combined with the 45% GPA weight, and the internal percentile comparative tables Bocconi uses to equate Bocconi, SAT, ACT and LSAT results.
Sources
Compiled by Examer from Università Bocconi’s published pages. Each source shows the date it was checked.
- [1] Online Bocconi test — official test description (English) — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [2] Test online Bocconi — official test description (Italian) — Università Bocconi, checked 2026-10-07
- [3] Bachelor and Law programs — application and admissions — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [4] SAT, ACT and LSAT routes into Bocconi (Law: LSAT 147/180 minimum) — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [5] Instructions and Rules of Conduct 2027-2028 (PDF) — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07
- [6] Instructions and Rules 2026-2027, English (PDF) — Bocconi University, checked 2026-10-07