Get Accurate Practice for the GardaWorld Pre-Board Screening Officer Test [2025]
New! Updated Questions + Interactive Video Prep
To become a GardaWorld pre-board screening officer in Canada, candidates must pass a demanding hiring process with an object recognition test (ORT), English/math/pattern recognition multiple-choice test, and two personal interviews.
On this page, you'll find a thorough guide to the tough GardaWorld screening officer test and subsequent interviews, including sample questions and answers for object recognition, English, and Math, along with tips and important insights.
January 2025
GardaWorld Pre-Board Screening Officer Preparation Pack has been updated to account for recent changes in test content and difficulty level, offering accurate preparation.
GardaWorld Screening Officer Test Practice
Each of the practice tests below comes with full explanations and solving tips
- X-Ray Object Recognition: 17 practice tests & study guide with useful X-Ray analysis techniques
- Math: 11 practice tests and study guides
- Next in Series Pattern Recognition: 6 practice tests
- English Skills: 32 practice tests
- Interview Prep: 2 study guides & video tutorial
GardaWorld Pre-Boarding Officer Test FAQs
If you fail any of the tests or interviews given to GardaWorld pre-board screening officer candidates, you will be able to reapply after six months.
To pass the screening officer exam, you need to get 80% correct questions in each test (x-ray & multiple choice aptitude test). As only 70% of candidates make the cut, this is not an easy task. Therefore, we highly recommend taking the test well-prepared.
Pre-board screening officers are part of aviation security. The major task of pre-board screeners is to conduct a reliable security check of passengers and their luggage to ensure that no threatening goods are brought onboard the aircraft.
Pre-boarding screening officers also conduct body checks to prevent passengers from bringing prohibited objects on boards underneath their clothes. Body checks at the checkpoint are done by a metal detector or manually. Effective communication with passengers helps officers quickly understand what unclear objects are used for and whether they might be threatening.
GardaWorld is a Canadian company that provides a wide range of security services. Headquartered in Montreal, The number of its well-trained, skillful employees is now over 62,000 strong, and its workforce is still increasing. When hiring pre-screening officers, Garda and other Canadian Security Companies are obligated to have their employees pass the CASTA (Canadian Air Transport Security Authority) x-ray test.
Salaries at GardaWorld range from $31,000 to $60,000 a year, depending on the position. GardaWorld extends its helping hand as far as the United States, Africa, and the Middle East.
What is The GardaWorld Pre-Board Screening Officer Test?
Pre-board screening officer candidates who apply for GardaWorld are required to pass two tests- an object recognition test (ORT), and a math, English, and pattern multiple-choice test.
Like the TSA and other security companies, the most challenging part of the GardaWorld assessment is the ORT exam, also known as the CASTA x-ray test, in which you have to decide if there are specified items in provided x-ray images within just 20 seconds.
Check out our Free TSA CBT Test for more practice!
The Object Recognition Test (ORT)
On the X-Ray Object Recognition Test, you will be asked to look at 20 x-ray images of passenger bags and to judge whether objects appearing on the screen can be allowed to enter an aircraft. You will have 20 seconds to decide if each bag is safe.
Here is an example of a possible ORT question:
Object Recognition - Sample Question
Is there a grenade in this bag?
In this question there is a grenade. When identifying an object that may be a grenade, look for the most prominent features of the grenade – the lever and safety pin. The grenade in this question is masked by a pot.
When the bag is cluttered, the objects can overlap, making it difficult to distinguish between items. This is one of the major difficulties you will encounter on the X-Ray Test.
💡 Solving Tip
The best approach for coping with this is to look for the unique features of the target item. You need to become an expert in identifying the parts of a range of weaponry and other popular items. In the example above, this would be granade lever and safety pin. Granades will typically appear in blue or green.
How to Pass the X-ray ORT Test
To pass the X-ray ORT test, you'll need to correctly answer 16 out of 20 questions (80%). About 70% of candidates usually flunk, so this is no easy goal. It will require the ability to rotate objects mentally, differentiate between overlaying shapes, perform figure-ground segregation, and quickly identify specific patterns in complex images.
To help you become an expert at identifying items in any variation, we have designed item-specific X-ray tests as part of our Object Recognition practice, that present diverse images and perspectives of the same item. Practicing these tests, along with detailed answers and tips for each question, will enable you to effectively identify each item in any possible variation.
GardaWorld Pre-Board Screening Officer Preparation Pack
- Accurately Simulate questions from the actual GardaWorld screening officer test.
- Improve your ability to spot suspicious items quickly on the object recognition test with practice tests for varied item types and tips on what to look for and how to interpret images.
- Brush up on math skills, and improve abstract, logical reasoning, and English skills to increase your score.
- Enhance your interviewing skills using professional study guides and a video tutorial (created by occupational psychologists).
The Math, English, & Pattern Aptitude Test
If you pass the first test (X-Ray Object Recognition Test), you will be asked to take another examination, designed to assess your English language proficiency, your math skills, your reading comprehension, and your logical thinking.
The questions are distributed as follows:
| Part of the Test | Number of Questions |
| Spelling | 40 |
| Grammar Knowledge | 10 |
| Reading Comprehension | 10 |
| Logic | 10 |
| Math (pattern recognition, calculations) | 20 |
| Competency-based | 10 |
Overall, this test is comprised of 100 multiple choice questions and should be completed within 60 minutes. To pass it, you'll need to correctly answer at least 80 questions.
Sample Questions- English & Math
The following questions are examples of the type of questions that appear on the test:
Spelling - Sample Question
How many words are spelled incorrectly in line E of the following paragraph?
A The new comission report on work place safetty has deamed the Robert D.
B Lewis Building a suitabel work environment. If your department is still
C utilizzing space in room 315 please contact Dr. David Mendel from human
D resources to schedulle the movemant of materials. All materials must be
E moved before the demolition on August 22 to ensure that nothing is lost in the move.
Reading Comprehension - Sample Question
Answer the question below based on the following passage:
Employees working within organizations have a legislative obligation to monitor the content of e-mails sent to external bodies and to eliminate potentially sensitive internal information regardless of the perceived importance of that information. To guarantee that employees fulfill their legislative obligation and to prevent the possible leak of exclusive information, employers have prepared mandatory contracts stipulating this responsibility, to be signed by all employees, and additionally, inserted a copyright section to every external e-mail that emphasizes the confidentiality of the information provided. Employees’ carelessness in handling information circulated via email may result in serious punitive action.
Which one of the following provides the best summary of the main point of the passage?
Grammar - Sample Question
The investigator is averse to conforming to the rules imposed upon him by the law but admits that he has no plan on breaking said rules.
How would you correct this sentence?
Math - Sample Question
John's monthly salary is $7,000. If John deposits 0.75 of his paycheck into a savings account.
How much money does he put in his savings account every month?
💡 Solving Tip
If multiplying complex numbers like 7,000 × 0.75 seems to be a bit too difficult, we can also use estimations and eliminate wrong answer choices. Let’s round 0.75 down to 0.70, while keeping in mind that the correct answer must be slightly larger than the result.
7,000×0.70=
7,000×(70/100)
=70×70
=4900.
Answers A and B can definitely be eliminated as they are too low. Since we only rounded down by 0.05, know that the correct answer will only be slightly larger than 4900. We can therefore conclude with fair certainty that C is the correct answer.
Math questions in the GardaWorld screening officer test require basic knowledge such as performing calculations, working with percentages, and solving simple word problems. However, you need to be quick and accurate to solve enough questions correctly and on time. Our GardaWorld pre-screening practice tests include varied math drills and solving tips to brush up your math skills and practice answering questions under a time limit before taking the test.
Practice Online for the GardaWorld Screening Officer Test
To get you fully covered for the GardaWorld assessment test, we have created a thorough preparation with questions and answers for all GardaWorld test sections. Here is how it will help:
- Identify any item on the X-ray test easily and accurately- practice X-ray simulations of different types of items to become skilled at identifying the unique characteristics of X-ray images of specific items, enhancing your ability to correctly identify any item
- Know exactly what to expect on the object recognition test with full simulations that highly mirror the images you will see on the object recognition test.
- Improve your proficiency in basic math, literacy, and logic skills to ensure success in the aptitude test segment.
- Prepare for the pre-screening officer interview using a video tutorial and a study guide to the most common interview questions and how you should answer them.
'This PrepPack is a really great refresher! Pay ATTENTION to everything they say. You should plan ahead of time, do your research, practice, be confident, and make sure you eat before your exam or interview. First I took the X-ray test, if you pay attention to the instructions it should be fiarly easy and stragihtforward.'
Dula M., Pre-board Screening Officer
Pre-board Screening Officer Interview Questions
Once you pass both assessments, you'll move on to the final stage of the hiring process- two GardaWorld screening officer interviews. Right after passing the second test, you will be invited to a first, short interview (5-10 minutes) with GardaWorld assessors, which is mainly competency-based. A second interview is usually scheduled between a few days to a few weeks after the first one and lasts about half an hour.
Most GardaWorld interview questions are designed to learn more about your motivation to work at the company, your general attitude toward the position, and your values and personal capabilities.
GardaWorld interviewers might ask you the following questions:
- Why do you want to work as a pre-board officer?
- What would you do on your first working day, if you are hired?
- Give an example of a time you gave exceptionally good customer service.
- Give an example of a time when you tried to do something better in the office and you were told that this wasn't a good idea. How did you deal with this?
- What qualities do you possess to make you a good candidate for this position?
- What do you think customer service as a pre-screening officer means?
- What would you do if a customer refused to show his or her bag?
- Why do you want to work at GardaWorld?
- What would your references say about your work qualities and what might they say that you could improve?
How to answer pre-board screening officer interview questions?
To create a favorable impression, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the company and its goals, as well as with the specificity of the job you wish to get. When hiring airport pre-board security officers, GardaWorld looks for the following qualities and values:
- A friendly and empathic attitude toward passengers
- The ability to remain service-oriented and kind in spite of possible objections or stressful circumstances.
- The ability to remain calm and composed under pressure.
- A High sense of responsibility and professionalism, someone who executes tasks according to procedures and without taking any shortcuts or potential risks.
When answering any of the questions above, make sure that your answers help demonstrate these qualities. To do so, try thinking of examples from past experiences or jobs before going into the interview. When speaking about weaknesses, or things you could improve, make sure these are unrelated to the essential qualities above.
To help you feel more confident when answering GardaWorld interview questions, we have created a more detailed interview guide with possible answers to the most common questions, as part of our GardaWorld assessment preparation.
