How the Bocconi master’s test works

Who takes it and what it counts for

International applicants to Bocconi's Master of Science and MA programmes can send one of three test results: the GMAT, the GRE or the Online Bocconi Test. The test result is one of the compulsory parts of the application, together with the undergraduate GPA and the dossier and motivation; an application missing any of them is not evaluated. If you send more than one score, Bocconi says its system takes "the most competitive score". It does not publish how a Bocconi test total is compared with a GMAT or GRE score. The PPA and GLOBE programmes need no test.

The format at a glance

Feature	What Bocconi's rules say
Questions	50, multiple choice
Time	75 minutes
Areas	Verbal reasoning 24, Data insight 16, Quantitative reasoning 10
Order	Mixed by topic and by difficulty, not in blocks
Screens	Three questions per screen; after "Next" you cannot return to earlier screens
End of test	"Finish" shows a summary of answered and omitted questions; the test submits itself when time runs out
Calculator	Not permitted
On the desk	One pen or pencil and two blank A4 sheets, among a few other items
Language	Italian or English, chosen when you buy the test
Delivery	Online at home, with webcam and phone recording reviewed afterwards

Two of these rules shape your preparation more than the rest. No calculator means every percentage, average and growth rate in data insight and quantitative reasoning is worked by hand, so practise that way from the start. No return to an earlier screen means there is no second pass: whatever you decide on a screen before pressing "Next" is final.

The three areas, as Bocconi describes them

Verbal reasoning (24 questions) has three item types. Reading comprehension asks questions on passages. Data/Statements gives some data and some statements and asks you to decide whether each statement is true or false. Verbal critical reasoning gives a short passage, which you treat as true, and asks, for example, which condition would best support its thesis.

Data insight (16 questions) has two item types. Numerical critical reasoning gives tables, histograms, graphs or short passages, each followed by several questions. Data sufficiency gives a problem and two statements and asks which of them, if any, is needed to solve it.

Quantitative reasoning (10 questions) is described only as numerical and logical problems using basic mathematics and analytical thinking. Bocconi publishes no topic list, so the quantitative unit of this course covers the core arithmetic, algebra, counting and statistics that such problems draw on.

Verbal reasoning is the largest area: 24 of 50 questions, almost half the test. That is why this course gives it eight lessons.

Scoring and the floor

A right answer earns $+1$, a blank $0$, and a wrong answer $-0.25$, or $-0.33$ on some questions. Bocconi does not say which questions carry $-0.33$. The total includes the penalties, and a total lower than 15 out of 50 is not considered. Fifteen is a floor for being considered at all, not a target: Bocconi publishes no average or typical admitted score.

The score from a set of answers is

$$\text{score} = (\text{right}) - 0.25 \times (\text{wrong at } {-0.25}) - 0.33 \times (\text{wrong at } {-0.33}).$$

Blanks add nothing and cost nothing.

Attempts and results

You can sit the test at most three times in an academic year, not on the same day or on consecutive days, and each attempt costs EUR 60. Your total appears on screen as soon as you finish; a report follows in about 48 hours with the total, the score in each area and the numbers of correct, incorrect and unanswered questions. For the 2027/28 year, attempts from earlier academic years and scores from Bocconi's online simulation cannot be used.

What Bocconi does not publish

Knowing the gaps stops you planning around guesses. Bocconi does not publish which questions carry $-0.33$, how many options each question has, how much time each area should take, any minimum per area, or a topic list for quantitative reasoning. This course never fills those gaps with invented facts; where a lesson suggests a strategy, it says that the strategy is ours.