Checking data entry of registration forms, formulas and…

International NGO · Written recruitment test

Practical exercise · Assistant level

Data Entry Assistant (data clerk)

Duty station: Cox's Bazar camps, Chattogram division (Bangladesh)
Time allowed: 55 min
Marks: 100 marks
Pass mark: 60 %
Profile: Assistant, 0 to 2 years of experience

Instructions

The test lasts 55 minutes. It is marked out of 100; the pass mark is 60.
Write the formulas in English-language Excel syntax (comma separator).
You may use a calculator. Show your workings: a correct result without workings receives only half the marks.
Any outside help (another person, shared document, artificial intelligence) is forbidden.
The documents are fictional. Apply only the rules provided; if you make an assumption, state it.

Original practice test, built on the format of written tests used by United Nations agencies and international NGOs. The context and figures are fictitious.

Documents provided

Document 1. Paper forms (source), batch no. 14

Form	Household ID	Name of head of household	Sex	Age	Household size	Children under 5	Disability	Date	Block
F-201	CXB-10452	Nur Begum	F	34	6	2	No	03/04/2026	B
F-202	CXB-10453	Abdul Karim	M	70	3	0	Yes	03/04/2026	A
F-203	CXB-10454	Rashida Khatun	F	27	5	1	No	03/04/2026	C
F-204	CXB-10455	Mohammed Salim	M	45	8	2	No	04/04/2026	B
F-205	CXB-10456	Hasina Akter	F	52	2	0	Yes	04/04/2026	A
F-206	CXB-10457	Yusuf Ali	M	31	4	1	No	04/04/2026	C

Document 2. Data entry of batch no. 14 in Excel by operator 3

Form	Household ID	Name of head of household	Sex	Age	Household size	Children under 5	Disability	Date	Block
F-201	CXB-10452	Nur Begum	F	34	6	2	No	03/04/2026	B
F-202	CXB-10453	Abdul Karim	M	7	3	0	Yes	03/04/2026	A
F-203	CXB-10454	Rashida Khatun	M	27	5	1	No	03/04/2026	C
F-204	CXB-10545	Mohammed Salim	M	45	8	2	No	04/04/2026	B
F-205	CXB-10456	Hasina Akter	F	52	2	0	No	14/04/2026	A
F-206	CXB-10457	Yusuf Ali	M	31	14	1	No	04/04/2026	C

Team rule: each batch is checked by comparing every cell with the paper form. If the error rate exceeds 2% of the cells checked, the whole batch is re-entered by another operator and the supervisor is informed.

Document 3. "Households" sheet after correction (columns A to G, rows 2 to 13)

Row	A: ID	B: Block	C: Sex HoH	D: Age HoH	E: Size	F: Under 5	G: Disability
2	CXB-10452	B	F	34	6	2	No
3	CXB-10453	A	M	70	3	0	Yes
4	CXB-10454	C	F	27	5	1	No
5	CXB-10455	B	M	45	8	2	No
6	CXB-10456	A	F	52	2	0	Yes
7	CXB-10457	C	M	31	4	1	No
8	CXB-10458	B	F	63	4	0	No
9	CXB-10459	A	F	29	7	2	No
10	CXB-10460	B	F	41	3	1	Yes
11	CXB-10461	C	M	38	6	1	No
12	CXB-10462	A	M	24	2	1	No
13	CXB-10463	B	F	19	5	1	No

Programme priority criteria: head of household aged 60 or over, OR at least one person with a disability, OR female head of household with a household of 6 or more people.

Question 130 marks

Compare the data entry (document 2) with the paper forms (document 1). List each error (form, field, value entered, correct value), calculate the error rate of the batch on the cells checked and apply the team rule.

Your answer

0 words

Model answer

Form	Field	Entered	Correct
F-202	Age	7	70
F-203	Sex	M	F
F-204	Household ID	CXB-10545	CXB-10455 (digits transposed)
F-205	Disability	No	Yes
F-205	Date	14/04/2026	04/04/2026
F-206	Household size	14	4

Cells checked: 6 forms x 9 fields (excluding the form number) = 54. Error rate: 6 / 54 = 11.1% (or 6 / 60 = 10% if the form number is also counted; in both cases well above 2%).

Rule: the whole batch is re-entered by another operator and the supervisor is informed. These errors have consequences: the age of 7 and the missing disability cause two vulnerable households to lose their priority, the wrong ID prevents joins with other files, and the date of 14/04 is later than the registration.

Marking grid

All 6 errors found with the correct value (12 marks)
Correct number of cells checked and error rate (8 marks)
Correct application of the 2% rule (5 marks)
Consequences of the errors explained (5 marks)

Your mark for this question / 30

Question 225 marks

On the "Households" sheet (document 3), write the formulas that give: (a) the number of female-headed households in block B; (b) the total number of people in block A; (c) the average size of households with a person with a disability; (d) in H2, to be copied down, "Priority" if the household meets one of the priority criteria, otherwise an empty cell; (e) the percentage of priority households.

Your answer

0 words

Question 320 marks

Without a spreadsheet, give the results of formulas (a) to (e), as well as the number of households and people per block.

Your answer

0 words

Model answer

(a) Block B, female heads: rows 2, 8, 10 and 13 = 4.
(b) Block A: 3 + 2 + 7 + 2 = 14 people.
(c) Households with a disability: rows 3, 6 and 10: (3 + 2 + 3) / 3 = 2.67 people.
(d) Priority: CXB-10452 (woman, 6 people), CXB-10453 (70 years old and disability), CXB-10456 (disability), CXB-10458 (63 years old), CXB-10459 (woman, 7 people), CXB-10460 (disability) = 6 households. CXB-10461 has 6 people but a male head: not a priority.
(e) 6 / 12 = 50%.

Block	Households	People
A	4	14
B	5	26
C	3	15
Total	12	55

Marking grid

Correct results for (a), (b) and (c) (8 marks)
List of the 6 priority households and 50% (7 marks)
Correct table by block (5 marks)

Your mark for this question / 20

Question 415 marks

Propose a data validation rule (Excel, Data tab, Data Validation) for five columns of the data entry form, in order to prevent the errors in document 2.

Your answer

0 words

Question 510 marks

A colleague from another organisation asks you to send him the file on his USB stick "to save time on his own list". What do you reply? (4 to 6 lines)

Your answer

0 words

Other tests for this profession

Panel interview question for this profession

You have to enter 600 paper forms in three days. How do you organise the work to meet the deadline without losing quality? Base your answer on a real example.

Competency assessed : Accuracy and reliability of data entry under time pressure

What the panel expects : A concrete method (preparing the file, validation rules, batches, checks), figures for pace and error rate, handling of illegible forms, and data protection.

Possible follow-up questions

How do you check your own data entry?
What do you do with an illegible or incomplete form?
Where are the paper forms and the file kept at the end of the day?

Strong answer

During the registration of new arrivals, two of us had to enter 720 forms in three days. Before starting, I added drop-down lists to the file and checks on age, household size and duplicate IDs. We worked in numbered batches of 40 forms, with a break every two hours. At the end of each batch, the colleague re-checked 10% of the other's forms. On the first day, my error rate was 3%; I saw that most errors came from dates, and I changed the column format. It fell to 0.8%. The 26 illegible forms were set aside and checked with the registration team. We finished in two and a half days, with the forms locked away every evening.

Weak answer

"I type very fast, so 600 forms in three days is not a problem. I am careful not to make mistakes." This answer relies on speed alone, with no checking method, no quality figure, and nothing about incomplete forms or confidentiality.

← All tests

Checking data entry of registration forms, formulas and validation rules

Instructions

Documents provided

Question 130 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 225 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 320 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 415 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 510 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Result

Common mistakes that cost marks

Useful references