Administrative assistant

About this practice suite

This suite prepares candidates for administrative assistant selection in the administration, clerical, records, and office support sector with 5 skill areas: planning and scheduling exercises, written communication, in-tray and e-tray exercises, situational judgment and data checking and clerical accuracy. Every question was written by Novus editors for this suite — none are taken from live or leaked exams — and the full bank holds 52 scored questions across three modes, plus 8 reserve questions used to vary repeat attempts. Answer keys never ship to the browser: your answers are scored server-side, and results stay on your device.

Skills this suite practises

• Planning and scheduling exercises — Resources, dependencies, deadlines, constraints, and contingency planning.
• Written communication — Grammar, vocabulary, sentence correction, clarity, tone, proofreading, and workplace writing.
• In-tray and e-tray exercises — Prioritizing messages, deadlines, stakeholders, and competing tasks.
• Situational judgment — Evaluating workplace responses against role-relevant principles.
• Data checking and clerical accuracy — Matching, filing, coding, record checking, and identifying discrepancies.

Sample questions from the guided bank

Two of the 10 guided-practice questions, shown exactly as they appear in a session. Answers and explanations are not printed here — keys stay on the server — so open guided practice to answer them and see how you did.

1. Two meetings overlap at 10:00 and 10:15 for the same room. Best administrative first check?

   • A. Confirm attendees, duration, and whether either can move before rebooking
   • B. Cancel both without asking
   • C. Double-book and hope no one notices
   • D. Delete the calendar forever

2. Your inbox has a CEO travel change due today, a vendor spam offer, and a teammate FYI. Best order?

   • A. Spam first because it is newest
   • B. FYI first to be polite
   • C. Handle the time-sensitive travel change, then FYI, archive or delete spam
   • D. Ignore everything until tomorrow

Practice modes and timing

Guided practice is untimed-feeling and instructional; the mini-test is a short timed check; the full simulation mirrors a complete sitting. All three draw on separate question sets, so moving up a mode never repeats what you practised.

Study outline

Read the study outline for this suite’s skills, timings, and recommended lessons on one printable page, or download its standalone HTML file. The printable page can also be saved as a PDF from your browser.