One of the most common questions we get is: “What score should we use as a cut-off for candidates?”
The short answer is — it depends. Vervoe is designed to support hiring teams by surfacing the strongest candidates based on real-world skills, but we don’t enforce or set a required score for selection. Your team always makes the final decision.
That said, here are some best practices to help you decide:
General Guideline
As a rule of thumb, candidates scoring above 65% to 70% typically demonstrate the skills required to succeed in the role and should be reviewed first.
Candidates scoring below 65% may lack core competencies — and are less likely to perform well in the job.
Some organisations use a firm cut-off score, while others review borderline candidates on a case-by-case basis.
We'd recommend reviewing candidates around this range and then deciding on your own cut-off score. For some assessments, too many candidates might score above 65% so your cut-off might be 80%.
What Our Customers Do
High-volume roles: Often use a cut-off (e.g. 70%) to reduce manual screening and focus only on top scorers.
May set formal thresholds, but often still review candidates just below the cut-off for fairness.
Specialist or niche roles: May adjust the threshold lower if the talent pool is limited, or if they're screening for trainable potential.
Things to Consider
Job complexity: Senior or technical roles may warrant a higher threshold than entry-level ones.
Talent pool size: With fewer applicants, teams may choose to review more candidates, even if their scores are lower.
Assessment difficulty: Consider how challenging the assessment is — a harder test might mean lower average scores across the board.
Best Practice
Regardless of where you set your cut-off:
Always review the top scorers first — these are the candidates most aligned with the skills you're hiring for.
Use scores as a prioritisation tool, not the only factor. Consider reviewing borderline candidates if you have concerns about false negatives or want to widen the pool.
Vervoe is not a decision-making tool and will never tell you who to hire vs. who shouldn't be hired. The assessment is a very important piece in determining who's skills are aligned to the role, but it is not the only data point.