Is McKinsey Solve Proctored? Rules, Camera and Setup

Is McKinsey Solve proctored or monitored?

McKinsey does not describe Solve as proctored in the sources checked on October 11, 2026, and it does not say how a sitting is supervised, so "proctored" is neither confirmed nor ruled out. What it publishes is a set of rules, a list of consequences and a possible follow-up check. Treat your sitting as one where the rules count, and let your invitation and recruiter answer anything the public pages leave open.

Read the second column carefully. McKinsey's Solve FAQ answers the cheating question with rules, scenario variation and the random follow-up, not with a description of live supervision. That is an honest reading of what is published, not a hint that nobody checks. For the wider picture of the test, see the McKinsey Solve guide; the online assessments hub shows where Solve sits among McKinsey's tests.

Before the details, try the part of Solve you control completely: your own method. This is Road to Offer practice, not a McKinsey test.

What may you not use during McKinsey Solve?

McKinsey's Solve FAQ and Solve page bar applications, websites, AI tools, pre-prepared notes, recording or screenshots of any part of the assessment, and help from others, unless a disability accommodation has been approved in writing. The table adds the one tool people confuse most, the calculator, which sits in two different places.

The last two rows are different objects. The integrity page bans a calculator as an outside tool, which is something you bring to the desk. A calculator that belongs to a game's own interface is part of the game, and only candidate reports describe it. Our Red Rock study guide covers what the reported interface holds, so do not build a plan on a feature McKinsey has not published: practise the sums by hand so the tool is a convenience, not a dependency.

Can you use a second screen, a calculator or paper?

You may not use a second screen or a calculator, but pen and paper are the one tool McKinsey's integrity page allows, provided the paper starts blank. That page covers any McKinsey assessment or interview, so it sets the standard, while the Solve FAQ separately bans pre-prepared notes. Reading both together: write on paper during the sitting, bring nothing written beforehand, and discard the notes afterwards.

Some prep advice, which we leave unnamed, says a second screen is harmless or even useful. That is reported advice with no source, and it conflicts with the one-screen line on McKinsey's own page. If your only working setup needs an extra monitor, tell your recruiter before the day instead of deciding alone. The system requirements article covers the device facts McKinsey does publish: PC or Mac only, a tech check, sound not needed and a mouse optional.

Will a camera be on during McKinsey Solve?

McKinsey has not said whether Solve uses a camera: its assessment integrity page asks for one in assessments and interviews generally, while the Solve page and August 2025 FAQ mention none, so your invitation decides. Do not read silence as "off". Read the email and the on-screen instructions, and ask your recruiter in writing if neither covers it.

If a camera is used, the integrity page describes it showing your upper body and hands while you take notes and calculate, with no virtual background or blur. A candidate we will call Sam finds no camera line in the email and writes to the recruiter two days ahead with one question. Whatever the reply, Sam sits knowing it. Applying the same habit to a different gap, such as a date, is covered in the deadline extension guide.

Can you assume nobody checks your Solve sitting?

No: McKinsey describes three controls, even though it does not describe live supervision. The Solve FAQ says scenarios vary through AI methods so that no two candidates share the same parameters and data, bans a list of aids, and says a candidate may be asked at random for an additional in-person task or to explain their logic. How anything is detected is not published.

Neither reported claim has a source, and both are beside the point. The rule bans the tab whether or not anyone could see it. The follow-up also helps an honest candidate: it asks you to explain your own logic, which you can do if you worked from a method. Practising that out loud after a run is a habit worth keeping, and the Solve retake article covers what is and is not published about a second attempt.

How do you prepare so you never need an outside aid?

Practise the arithmetic and structure the games reward on paper, so that nothing in the sitting depends on a tool you may not use. Percent change, shares and averages are the sums candidates describe, and a method you can write in four lines is one you can explain afterwards. Here is a fictional example of the habit, with made-up numbers.

A pond count rose from 240 to 300. Set the method first, then substitute, then check the result a second way.

The check is the part worth keeping: rebuild the new value from the answer and compare it to the number you started with. The same discipline applies to the Sea Wolf task as candidates describe it, where three attribute values are averaged against a range. If you want more drills of this kind, the case interview math practice article trains the same percent and ratio moves, and the Red Rock versus Sea Wolf comparison shows which game leans on which skill.

How long a quiet block should you protect?

Protect your invitation's stated length plus time for the untimed tutorials, the device check and a margin, because McKinsey says the length is in your invitation and each task starts with an untimed tutorial. McKinsey publishes no minutes per task. Candidate reports of 65, 85 and 95 minutes are reported only, so use the number in your own email.

Take a fictional candidate whose invitation states 85 minutes. The allowances below are ours: 15 minutes for the untimed tutorials, 10 for the device check and 15 as a margin.

Why the margin matters: the FAQ suggests a slot with no disturbance so you can finish without interruption, and a tight slot is what tempts people to look away. If the date itself is the problem, read the deadline extension guide before you improvise.

What should your clean setup look like the night before?

Your clean setup is one screen, blank paper and a pen, no other app or person, an uninterrupted slot and your open questions answered by your recruiter. McKinsey publishes no setup checklist for Solve, so the path below is our advice, assembled from the Solve FAQ and the integrity page.

Tell the people you live with the exact start and end, and put the phone out of reach. For the full picture of the games before the day, the three-game practice cards are the shortest route.

What do you do if something goes wrong mid-sitting?

Contact Solve support at the moment a technical issue happens, because McKinsey's FAQ says no reset exception is made if you hit a technical issue and do not contact support, and says contacting support does not cost you time. Support may give extra time or reset the link, depending on the issue.

Do not photograph or record the error to prove it, since capturing the assessment is itself banned. Describe the screen in words in your email or chat. Non-technical matters, such as a family emergency or an accommodation, go to your recruiter, and the accommodations guide covers that route. A tester we will call Mei loses her connection in the first task. She opens live chat right away, describes the frozen screen and keeps the transcript. That is the sequence McKinsey describes.

One more boundary: McKinsey's sources do not state how a violation is judged or whether a second chance exists. If you worry you broke a rule by accident, tell your recruiter promptly, and read what the Solve retake article says is and is not published.

Do the same rules apply in case and PEI interviews?

Yes, McKinsey's assessment integrity page applies to any assessment or interview, including virtual ones: take part alone, use one screen, be on camera, use pen and paper only, and share no content. So the clear-desk habit carries from Solve to the rest of the process. It also means a camera question is normal in McKinsey recruiting, even though Solve's own pages are silent on it.

That is a reason to build the habit once. The McKinsey case interview guide and the PEI guide cover the interview rounds, and the MBB recruiting roadmap places them in order. Solve is only one input, as does Solve matter explains, and whether you are invited at all is a separate question in does everyone get Solve. Candidate threads about monitoring are collected and checked in the Solve Reddit guide.

Sources and evidence boundaries

The official sources below were checked on October 11, 2026.

• McKinsey Solve careers page: Solve as part of consultant recruiting, multi-factor use of the result and the list of barred behaviours.
• McKinsey Solve FAQ, August 2025: the cheating answer, scenario variation, the random follow-up, invitation length, untimed tutorials, device, tech check, support and accommodations.
• McKinsey assessment integrity expectations: alone, one screen, camera, pen and paper only, no calculator, no sharing of content. It applies to any assessment or interview and does not name Solve.
• McKinsey disability accommodations page: the route for adjustments, via your recruiter.

Reported, not official: an in-game calculator in Red Rock, the 65, 85 and 95 minute invitation lengths, and unnamed advice that a second screen or another tab is harmless. Not published in the sources reviewed: whether a camera is used in Solve, what the software records or detects, how a breach is judged, how often the random follow-up occurs and what it asks. The candidates, durations and numbers in the worked examples are fictional teaching examples. This page offers no way around any rule, and your invitation and recruiter govern your own sitting.