OC&C Case Interview Examples: 8 Practice Cases with Worked Solutions (2026)
OC&C Strategy Consultants does not publish case examples, so there is no official answer key to study. What you can do is practise the cases it is known for: commercial problems in consumer, retail, leisure, media and private equity, where you commit to a hypothesis early and then defend it under questioning. This page works eight such cases from prompt to recommendation, starting with a real library case read from its exhibits.
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OC&C's own London internship vacancy lists a CV with your name removed, an online blended assessment, a short one-way video, two 30-minute virtual case interviews and two 45-minute in-person case interviews. This page covers the cases. The process, the test format and the fit questions sit in the OC&C case interview guide, and a short warm-up for the online test is near the end.
OC&C practice cases at a glance
How an OC&C case works: OC&C's own London internship vacancy lists two 30-minute virtual case study interviews, then two 45-minute in-person case study interviews with associate partners and partners. OC&C does not publish who leads the case or a sample. A TargetJobs internship write-up describes cases of 30 to 45 minutes based on real OC&C projects, and coaches on PrepLounge describe commercial cases, a clear early hypothesis, a recommendation first, and quick mental maths. These are reports, not OC&C statements.
Start free now: PeakFit Omnichannel Growth Plan is a BCG-style growth case in the leisure sector: a premium fitness brand with 85 studios must choose between new studios, hybrid memberships and digital levers to reach $70M EBITDA by 2027. It has 8 questions, 4 with math, 4 exhibits, and a median of 16 minutes across 16 completed voice runs. An AI interviewer runs it out loud, shows each exhibit when you reach it and scores the debrief. Your first full case is free when you create an account; the worked excerpt below reads its exhibits. A free account also gets one full run in every simulator inside the app: one complete run of each of our four McKinsey Solve practice formats (Red Rock, Sea Wolf, SFL Classic and SFL Island), a full Casey-style case, a full CCA-style diagnostic and a complete Bain SOVA-style diagnostic.
For Solve, start without an account, then create a free account to finish and keep your score, points breakdown and worked feedback on submitted decisions, with no payment for the first run or its worked review. Visual explanations include Red Rock calculations and charts, Sea Wolf constraints and treatments, Classic decision and dependency diagrams, and Island evidence chains, placement maps and team feedback. Paid Learning mode coaches you step by step across all four formats, untimed in clocked games, with the matching game pack, Solve pack or Annual access. A free account also saves a free Solve plan with dated practice steps chosen for your invitation length and test date, up to 28 days.
| Case (style, industry) | Quant difficulty | Qualitative difficulty | The math you run | Median time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PeakFit Omnichannel Growth Plan (BCG, fitness). 8 (4 with math), 4 exhibits. | hard | medium | Membership mix, studio ramp, EBITDA bridge | 16 min, 16 voice runs |
Craft Beverage Acquisition (Bain, beverages). 8 (4 with math), 3 exhibits. | medium | medium | Target profit, payback, synergy-adjusted payback | 24 min, 14 voice runs |
Regional Cinema Location Selection (McKinsey, entertainment). 9 (3 with math), 3 exhibits. | hard | hard | Staffing from throughput, concession revenue | 33 min, 24 voice runs |
UrbanBrew Coffee Margin Case (BCG, coffee chain). 6 (2 with math), 2 exhibits. | medium | easy | Category gross margin, EBITDA recovery | 16 min, 117 voice runs |
The library has no case in OC&C's own style, so these four are matched by case type to what OC&C staffs: leisure growth, a consumer acquisition, a leisure market-entry decision and a coffee-chain profit reset. All four are original practice cases written for Road to Offer in other firms' formats; none is OC&C's own material, and the style column says which format each uses. More are in the case library, 92 cases in all. Every debrief scores seven categories: structure (25% of the score), quantitative analysis (20%), business judgment (15%), and problem understanding, exhibit reading, communication and synthesis (10% each), with feedback on every question. Median times come from completed runs between June 25 and September 22, 2026, and count runs, not people.
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How does the OC&C case interview work?
OC&C's London internship vacancy lists a name-blind CV, an online blended assessment, a short one-way video for those who pass it, two 30-minute virtual cases and two 45-minute in-person cases. That is the London internship route; other offices and programmes differ, as the table below shows, so check your own invitation. OC&C's application page adds that applications go through the online portal, that you may be sent an online test link before the vacancy closes, and that CVs are judged on intellectual curiosity, extracurricular interests and commercial awareness.
Online steps
before interviews
- Numerical and critical reasoning questions
- Behavioural and motivational questions
- Short one-way video if you pass
Per the London internship vacancy
First round
2 x 30 min, virtual
- Two case study interviews
- With consultants and managers
Final round
2 x 45 min, in person
- Two case study interviews
- With associate partners and partners
What is not stated officially is how the case is led, how much of it is math, or whether the London route adds a written exercise (the office table below lists one for Rotterdam). Reports disagree on whether separate fit questions appear: one coach on a PrepLounge thread describes two 45-minute rounds that are mostly cases, while a London internship candidate on another thread reports no behavioural questions in any round. Prepare for both. The guide covers fit preparation and the online test.
How does the OC&C process differ by office?
OC&C has no single global process: the number and length of case interviews change by office. The table lists what OC&C itself publishes, live vacancies first. The other rows come from OC&C's 2024 global graduate recruitment brochure, which covers the 2024 to 2025 cycle, so a current posting overrides them. Each row is for entry-level Associate Consultant roles unless it says otherwise.
Counting only case interviews, the table runs from three (Australia) to five (Rotterdam), lengths run from 30 to 90 minutes, and only Rotterdam lists a written case. A 30-minute first-round case in London or the US leaves little room for a slow structure, so practise opening fast.
What kinds of case does OC&C ask?
Reports point to commercial strategy: market entry, profit decline, channel economics, pricing and diversification, plus sizing and private equity due diligence. OC&C describes its own sectors as consumer goods, retail, leisure and hospitality, TMT, digital, B2B services and advanced analytics. A TargetJobs internship write-up lists example topics, and the PrepLounge coaches add sizing, profitability and commercial due diligence. Coaches disagree on whether operations cases appear, so treat them as possible rather than likely. Each reported topic has a practice case below.
What does a good OC&C practice case have to show?
A good answer commits early, does the math out loud, and ends on a number and a risk. Coaches quoted on PrepLounge say OC&C wants a clear point of view, a hypothesis you form early and defend, and a recommendation stated before the support. The existing OC&C guide treats the case as candidate-led and heavily probed; since OC&C does not confirm that, rehearse both leading and following.
Three habits make every worked case below easier to learn from.
- Hypothesis first. After clarifying, say "I think this is mostly X, and I will test it by looking at Y." It gives the interviewer something to push on. See hypothesis-driven cases.
- Numbers with units and a basis. Say "per year", "per store", "per member". Most lost points in quant steps are a missing basis, not bad arithmetic.
- Close with the decision. Lead with the answer, give two reasons, name the biggest risk, and say what you would check next. The synthesis guide shows the shape.
Worked excerpt: reading the PeakFit exhibits
This excerpt reads three exhibits from PeakFit Omnichannel Growth Plan, the start case above. Look at each exhibit and say your own takeaway before you read ours.
The prompt. PeakFit, a premium fitness brand, wants to accelerate growth over the next three years while protecting profitability. The CEO asks whether the company should prioritise new studio openings, hybrid memberships or digital conversion levers to reach a 2027 EBITDA target of $70M.
Exhibit 1, membership mix. The exhibit gives members in thousands for three segments.
Hybrid more than doubled while digital-only fell by about a fifth. These are stocks at each date, not flows, so the exhibit does not prove that digital members upgraded to hybrid. You would ask for cohort data before saying so.
The year-1 studio math. Each new studio earns $0.7M a year at full capacity and 60% of that in year 1. Twenty studios in year 1: 20 x $0.7M x 60% = 20 x $0.42M = $8.4M, against $14M once they all reach full capacity. Say the ramp out loud, because the year-1 number and the 2027 number are different questions.
Exhibit 3, which city first. Divide target households by competing premium studios.
Nashville, Denver and Austin form a shortlist; Phoenix and Portland are crowded. Austin has the biggest absolute pool, so the ratio is a screen, not a final answer.
Exhibit 4, the bridge to $70M. From $42M: +$6M productivity, +$9M hybrid, +$14M new studios, +$4M digital churn reduction, -$5M central overhead. $42M + $6M + $9M + $14M + $4M - $5M = $70M.
What a strong answer says. "The bridge adds up to exactly $70M, so it has no buffer, and studios at $14M and hybrid at $9M carry it. I would test the hybrid line first: it assumes 50k upgrades at $180 of ARPU uplift, but digital-only had 47k members in 2024, and ARPU uplift is not the same as EBITDA once service costs are included. I would recommend a staged plan, open the Nashville, Denver and Austin studios first, and commit the rest once the hybrid economics are proven."
Run PeakFit out loud with an AI interviewer
Consumer ServicesMedium
Seven OC&C-style practice cases with worked solutions
The seven cases below are written for practice in OC&C's sectors and mirror the topics reported above. They are not OC&C cases, and the figures are invented for teaching, so use them to rehearse the reasoning, not to learn facts about the industries. Cover the solution, work the prompt for ten minutes on paper, then compare.
Case 1: Market sizing, padel courts in the UK (leisure)
Prompt. A leisure operator is deciding whether to build padel courts across the UK. How many courts could the UK support, and what is the revenue pool?
Clarifying questions. Indoor and outdoor courts both count? (Yes.) Is the unit a court or a venue? (Courts.) Do we size demand at maturity or today? (Maturity, five years out.)
Structure. Size from demand to supply. Players, then how often they play, then how many court slots that creates, then how many courts the slots need given opening hours and utilisation. Sanity-check revenue at the end.
The math. Round the population to 70M so the arithmetic stays mental.
A slot is 90 minutes and four players split it, so GBP 44 is GBP 11 each. Nine 90-minute slots a day is a 13.5-hour opening day.
Sensitivity. Utilisation is the swing assumption. At 55% instead of 40%, each court holds about 1,800 slots, so the UK needs about 5,200 courts, not 7,300.
Recommendation. "The UK could support roughly 5,000 to 7,500 courts and about GBP 400M of annual court revenue at maturity. The number rests on three assumptions I would check first: the 25% padel share of racket players, how often they play, and peak-hour utilisation. A 200-court plan would be under 3% of the pool, so market size is not the constraint; site availability and utilisation are."
Size and enter a local service market
Hospitality & LeisureMedium
Market-sizing chain Quick Math
- A region has 8 million households. 25% buy the category and spend $160 a year. What is the annual market size, in dollars? Answer in $M.
Market = Households x Buying rate x Annual spend per buyer.
- A service has 5 million users paying $11 a month. What is annual revenue, in dollars? Answer in $M.
Annual revenue = Users x (Monthly price x 12).
- A retail format has 240 stores. Each serves 150 customers a day at an $18 average ticket, operating 350 days a year. What is annual market revenue, in dollars? Answer in $M.
Build one store's annual revenue first: Customers per day x Ticket size x Operating days, then multiply by the store count.
For more sizing routes, see market sizing step by step and the market sizing questions bank.
Case 2: Profit down on flat revenue, a home furnishings retailer (with an exhibit)
Prompt. HomeNest, a UK home furnishings retailer, has revenue flat at GBP 800M, but operating profit (EBIT) fell from GBP 72M to GBP 40M. Why, and what should it do?
Clarifying questions. Is the revenue flat in like-for-like terms too? (Yes.) Any change in store count? (No.) Any one-off costs? (None.) Has the channel mix changed? (Online share rose from 20% to 30% of sales.)
Structure. Profit equals revenue less costs, so with revenue flat the answer is in margin and cost. Split into gross margin, store costs and other costs. Hypothesis: gross margin, because promotions and the online shift are the usual suspects.
Exhibit. Costs as a percentage of sales.
The math.
- Gross margin: 3.0 pts x GBP 800M = GBP 24M lost.
- Occupancy: 1.0 pt x GBP 800M = GBP 8M lost. Revenue and store count are flat, so occupancy cost itself rose, for example through rent reviews.
- GBP 24M + GBP 8M = GBP 32M, which is the whole fall from GBP 72M to GBP 40M. Staff and other costs explain nothing.
- Why did gross margin fall 3.0 pts? Two causes the interviewer gives you on request. Online grew from 20% to 30% of sales, and online earns 8 pts less gross margin after delivery and returns: 10 pts x 8 pts = 0.8 pts. Promotions: the share of sales sold on promotion rose from 30% to 40% at an average discount of about 22%: 10 pts x 22% = about 2.2 pts. 0.8 + 2.2 = 3.0 pts.
Recommendation. "Margin, not volume, explains the whole GBP 32M: GBP 24M is gross margin and GBP 8M is occupancy. Of the margin loss, promotion depth is about GBP 17.6M and the online mix about GBP 6.4M. I would cut promotion share back first; recovering 2 pts of gross margin is worth 2% x GBP 800M = GBP 16M. Then I would price online returns and delivery so online earns closer to store margin. The risk is that fewer promotions lose volume, so I would test in a few regions before a national change."
Trace a margin problem in retail
RetailMedium
See the profitability framework and the retail case guide for the structures behind this case.
Case 3: Pricing a membership, a gym chain
Prompt. A gym chain has 120,000 members paying GBP 30 a month. Management wants to raise the fee to GBP 35. Should it?
Clarifying questions. What is the variable cost per member? (GBP 6 a month.) Competitor prices? (A budget gym at GBP 28, a premium gym at GBP 45.) Any contract lock-in? (Rolling monthly.)
Structure. Compare profit before and after, find the breakeven member loss, then judge whether the loss is likely to be smaller than that. Check the customer segments and the price gap to competitors.
The math.
- Contribution per member today: GBP 30 - GBP 6 = GBP 24. After the rise: GBP 35 - GBP 6 = GBP 29.
- Profit breakeven: you can lose members until 29 x N equals 24 x 120,000. N = 24 / 29 x 120,000 = about 99,300, so a loss of about 17.2%, or 20,700 members.
- Revenue breakeven is stricter and is the wrong test: 30 / 35 x 120,000 = 102,900, a loss of 14.3%. Profit is what matters, because a lost member also saves GBP 6.
- The price rise is 5 / 30 = 16.7%. Even if demand were exactly unit-elastic and members fell 16.7%, profit would barely move. So you only need to believe elasticity is below about 1.0.
- If 10% leave: 108,000 x GBP 29 = GBP 3.132M a month, against 120,000 x GBP 24 = GBP 2.88M. That is +GBP 0.252M a month, about GBP 3.0M a year.
Recommendation. "Raise the price, but test first. The rise pays unless more than about 17% of members leave, and a GBP 35 price is still below the premium competitor at GBP 45. I would test GBP 35 in ten clubs for three months and roll out if churn rises by less than 10%, which leaves a margin of safety. The risk is that members who stay become less likely to refer friends, so I would also track new joins."
Practice a pricing decision with exhibits
AutomotiveHard
Break-even Quick Math
- Fixed costs are $2M and contribution margin is $24 per unit. How many whole units must the company sell to break even?
Break-even units = Fixed costs / Contribution margin per unit, then round up: part of a unit cannot cover the fixed-cost wall.
- A SaaS company wants $26M of profit with $50M of fixed costs and $28K contribution per customer. How many whole customers does it need?
Required customers = (Fixed costs + Target profit) / Contribution per customer, rounded up so the target is actually reached.
- A subscription box has $1.2M of fixed costs, $18 variable cost per box, and 60,000 expected boxes. What price breaks even?
Required price = Variable cost per unit + (Fixed costs / Expected volume).
More on this structure in the pricing strategy case guide and the break-even guide.
Case 4: Market entry, a UK coffee chain enters the Netherlands
Prompt. A UK coffee chain with 400 stores wants to enter the Netherlands. Should it, and how?
Clarifying questions. What does the board want? (A return above 20% on capital, in line with the UK.) Which stores? (Company-owned.) Timeline? (Plan for three years.)
Structure. Market attractiveness, ability to win, and economics. Economics decides it here because the board gave a return hurdle. Hypothesis: the unit economics work, but central cost must be spread over enough stores.
The math. Facts given on request: a store earns GBP 700k revenue a year at an 18% store profit margin, costs GBP 450k to fit out, and a new country needs GBP 4M a year of central cost.
- Store profit: GBP 700k x 18% = GBP 126k. Payback on one store: 450 / 126 = 3.6 years.
- Stores to cover central cost: 4,000 / 126 = about 32 stores before any return on capital.
- A 60-store plan: 60 x 126k = GBP 7.56M, less GBP 4M = GBP 3.56M, on capital of 60 x 450k = GBP 27M. Return = 13%, below the 20% hurdle.
- Stores needed for 20%: (126N - 4,000) / (450N) = 0.20, so 126N - 4,000 = 90N, so N = 4,000 / 36 = about 111 stores.
- Does the Netherlands hold 111? The UK has one store per 68M / 400 = 170,000 people. The Netherlands, about 17.5M people, holds about 17.5M / 170,000 = 103 stores at the same density.
Recommendation. "Not as designed. At UK density the Netherlands supports about 103 stores, short of the 111 the board's 20% hurdle needs. I would go in only if I can cut central cost: at GBP 3M, breakeven is 3,000 / 36 = about 83 stores. I would open ten Amsterdam stores first to check that a store really earns 18%, and make the full roll-out decision on that data."
Weak answer versus strong answer. Both start from the same facts. Given: a store earns GBP 126k a year on GBP 450k of fit-out, and the board wants a 20% return. Case assumption: GBP 4M a year of central cost for the country.
- Weak: "Each store returns 126 / 450 = 28% a year and pays back in 3.6 years. That beats the 20% hurdle, so enter and open stores quickly."
- Strong: "A store returns 28%, but the board's 20% is a return on the whole entry, and GBP 4M of central cost sits outside the store. At 60 stores, 60 x 126k = GBP 7.56M less GBP 4M is GBP 3.56M on GBP 27M, which is 13%. The hurdle needs about 111 stores. At UK density the Netherlands holds about 103, where the return is about 19.4% (103 x 126k = GBP 12.98M, less GBP 4M, on GBP 46.35M). So not as designed: cut central cost or prove the store profit in ten Amsterdam stores first."
The typical mistake is judging a country entry on one store's economics and stopping there. It is the quiet version of a missing basis: the 28% is true and still answers a different question from the board's. The strong answer uses the store numbers to frame the decision, then scales them to the whole entry before it commits.
Choose between two entry markets
Consumer ServicesHard
The market entry framework and the market attractiveness framework give the structure.
Case 5: Private equity, buying a frozen ready-meal brand
Prompt. A private equity fund can buy a premium frozen ready-meal brand for GBP 240M. Revenue is GBP 150M and EBITDA is GBP 24M. The fund targets a 20% annual return over five years. Should it buy?
Clarifying questions. What multiple can it exit at? (The same 10x it pays.) How is the deal funded? (GBP 120M of debt, GBP 120M of equity.) Debt paydown? (GBP 50M over five years.) Growth outlook? (The seller claims 10% a year; the market is growing about 4%.)
Structure. Is the market attractive, can this target win in it, and do the returns clear the hurdle? Then risks: customer concentration, input costs, retailer power. Hypothesis: it does not clear 20% at the seller's price unless growth is closer to 10% than 6%.
The math. Price is GBP 240M / GBP 24M = 10x EBITDA.
- Base case, 6% growth: 24 x 1.06^5 = about GBP 32.1M EBITDA. At 10x, exit value is about GBP 321M. Net debt at exit is GBP 120M - GBP 50M = GBP 70M, so exit equity is about GBP 251M.
- Return on GBP 120M of equity: 251 / 120 = 2.1x, or about 16% a year (2.09 to the power of one fifth).
- Seller case, 10% growth: 24 x 1.61 = GBP 38.7M EBITDA, exit value about GBP 387M, exit equity about GBP 317M, so 2.6x and about 21% a year.
- What price hits 20% at 6% growth? 20% a year is 1.2^5 = 2.49x. Equity cheque = 251 / 2.49 = about GBP 101M. Add GBP 120M of debt: entry price about GBP 221M, or 9.2x.
Recommendation. "Do not buy at GBP 240M on the base case. It returns about 16%, and the 20% only appears if growth is 10% a year, which is more than double the market. I would offer about GBP 220M, or 9.2x, or proceed at GBP 240M only if diligence shows the growth is real: new retailer listings already signed, not hoped for. The biggest risk is that a few retailers account for most sales, so I would check customer concentration and contract terms before bidding."
Practice a food private equity decision
Private equityMedium
Paper LBO Quick Math
- A logistics target reports $50M of revenue and $10M of EBITDA. What is the EBITDA margin, in percent?
EBITDA margin = EBITDA / Revenue x 100. Margin is the first screen on whether the business can carry acquisition debt.
- The sponsor buys that target for $90M and sizes debt at 4x the $10M of EBITDA. What is the entry equity check?
Debt = Leverage multiple x EBITDA. Entry equity = Purchase price - Debt, and every return metric is measured against that check.
- That $50M equity check returns $120M of exit equity after a five-year hold. What is the MOIC? Round to one decimal place.
MOIC = Exit equity / Entry equity. MOIC is what an investment committee votes on, not the exit multiple by itself.
See the private equity case guide, the due diligence framework and the M&A case framework for the structures.
Case 6: Diversification, a garden-tool brand picks an adjacent market
Prompt. A garden-tool maker with GBP 300M revenue and a 10% EBIT margin (GBP 30M) has a flat core market. It can enter one of three adjacent markets. Which?
Clarifying questions. Time horizon? (Year 3.) Does the client already sell through garden centres and DIY chains? (Yes, both.) Investment limit? (Low in all three options, so ignore capital.)
Structure. For each option: market size and growth, the share the client can realistically win, margin, and right to win. Compare year-3 profit, then check how well each fits the client's channels and brand.
The math. Year-3 market = market today x (1 + growth) to the power of three.
Check one row. Battery tools: GBP 1,134M x 6% = GBP 68M of revenue, times 12% = GBP 8.2M.
Recommendation. "Enter battery tools first. It has the largest year-3 profit at about GBP 8.2M, and it sits closest to the existing tool range and retail listings. Plant care is a good second: GBP 6.9M from a small market at a high margin, using the same garden-centre channel. Together they add about GBP 15M, half of today's GBP 30M EBIT. I would drop furniture, which is big but low-margin and slow growing. The key risk is the share assumption in battery tools: at 3% instead of 6%, the profit halves to about GBP 4.1M, which would put it level with furniture. I would check it against current retailer shelf space."
Plan growth for a slowing retailer
RetailMedium
Use the growth strategy guide and the consumer goods case guide next.
Case 7: Profit decline in media, a regional radio group
Prompt. A regional radio group's advertising revenue fell from about GBP 60M to about GBP 51M. Why, and what should it do?
Clarifying questions. Has the ad price per listener changed? (No, advertisers pay the same GBP 0.048 per listener-hour.) Did ad load change? (No.) What drove listeners? (Weekly reach fell from 3.0M to 2.7M, and average listening fell from 8.0 to 7.5 hours a week.)
Structure. Revenue = reach x hours per listener x 52 weeks x yield per listener-hour. Price and ad load are flat, so the cause is audience. Hypothesis: both fewer listeners and shorter listening.
The math.
- Last year: 3.0M x 8.0 x 52 = 1,248M listener-hours; at GBP 0.048 that is about GBP 59.9M.
- This year: 2.7M x 7.5 x 52 = 1,053M listener-hours; at GBP 0.048 that is about GBP 50.5M. The fall is about GBP 9.4M, or 15.6%.
- Split it. Reach fell 10%: 10% x GBP 59.9M = GBP 6.0M. Hours per listener fell 6.25% on the smaller base: 6.25% x GBP 53.9M = GBP 3.4M. 6.0 + 3.4 = about GBP 9.4M.
- Size the prize: each lost listener is worth 7.5 x 52 x GBP 0.048 = about GBP 18.7 a year. Winning back half the 0.3M lost listeners, 150,000, is worth about GBP 2.8M.
Recommendation. "The fall is an audience problem, not a pricing problem: about two thirds comes from fewer listeners and one third from shorter listening. I would aim spend at reach first, with on-demand and podcast content to win back younger listeners, and track listener-hours monthly. Winning back half the lost audience is worth about GBP 2.8M a year, so the budget should be capped well below that. The risk is that the lost listeners moved to streaming for good, so I would check where they went before spending."
Practice a media and entertainment decision
Media and EntertainmentHard
For the media and technology flavour, see the TMT case interview guide.
What should you know about getting into OC&C?
Three short answers to questions candidates search for. The full process and fit preparation sit in the OC&C case interview guide.
Is OC&C hard to get into?
OC&C publishes no acceptance rate, so how hard it is can only be judged from the process and from third-party reports. A PrepLounge guide says OC&C regularly receives applicant volumes comparable to McKinsey, Bain and BCG while hiring for fewer roles; that is a reported claim we could not check against OC&C data. What you can verify is the length of the funnel: on the London internship vacancy, a name-blind CV, an online assessment, a short video and four case interviews.
How long does it take to hear back from OC&C?
For the US, OC&C says to expect feedback within 3 weeks of the closing date, and a confirmation email within 48 hours of applying. Its US application page adds that it does not recruit on a rolling basis there. The UK vacancies we opened say applications are reviewed as they arrive and give no response time, so ask the recruiting team if your invitation is silent.
What does OC&C look for?
Structured, numerate problem-solving, commercial curiosity and clear communication. OC&C's London vacancies also list collaboration and openness to feedback, and its application page says CVs are judged on intellectual curiosity, extracurricular interests and commercial awareness. The worked cases here rehearse the first three: structure, numbers and a commercial recommendation.
How do you practise for the OC&C online assessment?
Practise numerical and verbal reasoning under a clock, without a calculator, because OC&C has not published the test. The vacancy page names only numerical and critical reasoning plus behavioural and motivational questions. Question counts, timings and a pass mark are not stated, so rely on your invitation. The six questions below are original warm-ups written for this page, not OC&C questions; the OC&C guide covers the format reports, and the numerical reasoning guide and SHL test guide cover timing.
Numerical. About 60 seconds each, no calculator.
- A retailer's sales rose from GBP 250M to GBP 290M. Online sales rose from GBP 60M to GBP 87M. What share of the total increase came from online? Total increase GBP 40M, online GBP 27M, so 27 / 40 = 67.5%.
- Operating margin was 8% on GBP 1.25B of sales. It is now 6.5% on GBP 1.4B. Did profit rise or fall, and by how much? 8% x 1,250 = GBP 100M; 6.5% x 1,400 = GBP 91M. Profit fell by GBP 9M despite higher sales.
- A chain's sales per store are GBP 2.0M. Stores rise 25% while total sales rise 20%. What are sales per store now? 1.20 / 1.25 = 0.96, so GBP 1.92M, down 4%.
Verbal (true, false, cannot say). Passage: "Between 2020 and 2024 the chain's store count rose from 120 to 150. Over the same period total sales rose by 20%." 4. Statement: "Sales per store fell between 2020 and 2024." True. Stores rose 25% and sales 20%, so sales per store fell. 5. Statement: "The chain's profit rose between 2020 and 2024." Cannot say. The passage gives no profit information. 6. Statement: "Sales per store rose between 2020 and 2024." False. Stores rose 25% and sales 20%, so sales per store fell.
Percentage Quick Math
- What is 14% of $450M?
Build the percentage from 10% and 1% blocks instead of multiplying directly.
- Margin moves from 17% to 26%. What is the change in percentage points?
Percentage-point change = Ending percentage - Starting percentage, kept in points, not converted to a relative percent.
- Revenue goes from $140M to $175M. What is the percent growth?
Percent growth = (Ending value - Starting value) / Starting value.
More reps in case interview math practice and data interpretation.
How many OC&C practice cases should you do, and in what order?
Do the eight on this page first, then run live cases out loud and score them. A coach on PrepLounge suggests 8 to 10 cases focused on quality of thinking, which is a coach view and not an OC&C rule. Do not read a worked answer a second time. Run the loop below on each case, and turn every failure into a specific rep.
How to run each case
Read only the prompt, then cover the solution. Reading a worked answer feels like learning and produces none of it
Write your structure and a hypothesis in two minutes. Coaches describe OC&C as wanting an early point of view
Say every assumption out loud before you calculate. A stated basis is what you defend when the interviewer pushes back
Finish with a recommendation that has a number and a risk in it. A framework without a decision is the commonest way these cases end badly
Compare against the worked solution and name the one thing that broke. Diagnosis is what turns eight cases into a prep plan
Convert that break into a rep: market sizing, structure or case math. A scored rep on the exact skill beats another passive read
Then run a full live case out loud from the case library. Holding all the moves together under time pressure is what the interview tests
For worked material across other firms, the case interview examples hub collects them, and the L.E.K. case interview guide is a close comparison, since L.E.K. is another commercial, quant-forward strategy firm. For the firm itself, see OC&C Strategy Consultants.
Turn this guide into a OC&C plan
If you are still applying, the OC&C internship guide covers the programme and deadlines, the OC&C salary guide shows the pay, and the consulting resume guide covers the CV.
Sources and further reading (checked November 5, 2026)
- OC&C, Associate Consultant Summer Internship 2027, London office vacancy (process steps and round lengths): careers.occstrategy.com/vacancies/392
- OC&C, Your application (online portal, online test link, CV criteria): occstrategy.com/en/careers/your-application
- OC&C, Associate Consultant 2027-28 Analytics, London office vacancy (London Analytics process steps): careers.occstrategy.com/vacancies/389
- OC&C, Global Graduate Recruitment Brochure 2024 (stages and case lengths by office, 2024 to 2025 cycle): occstrategy.com brochure PDF
- OC&C USA, Your application (feedback within 3 weeks of closing, no rolling review): occstrategy.com/usa/careers/your-application
- PrepLounge, free guide to OC&C case interviews (reported applicant volumes, third party): preplounge.com/en/blog/consulting/firms/ocandc
- OC&C, About OC&C (sectors): occstrategy.com/en/about-occ
- OC&C, Virtual Case Workshop, USA (introduces the case format and example cases): occstrategy.com/usa/event/virtual-case-workshop-5
- TargetJobs, how a student got an internship at OC&C (candidate account: case length and example topics): targetjobs.co.uk
- PrepLounge forum, interview preparation for OC&C (candidate and coach reports, some promotional): preplounge.com/consulting-forum/interview-preparation-for-occ-strategy-consulting-firm-24673
- PrepLounge forum, OC&C case prep (coach reports): preplounge.com/consulting-forum/occ-case-prep-23902
- Management Consulted, Strategy Simplified S8E3, OC&C case interview example with a partner (show notes only; the audio was not reviewed): buzzsprout.com/1002655/11205250
Frequently asked questions
Resources and related guides
- Practice for OC&C in a real case interviewPractice
- Browse all free resourcesResource hub
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