McKinsey says accommodations are available for a disability, health condition or specific learning difficulty, and that you should speak to your recruiter. It publishes no list of accommodations, no amount of extra time and no decision time, so ask early, ask in writing and plan only around a written reply.
| Question | Answer | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Do accommodations exist? | Yes, for a disability, health condition or specific learning difficulty in the recruiting process. | Official |
| Who do you ask? | Your recruiter. The Solve technical support address is for technical issues only. | Official |
| Which accommodations are available? | McKinsey publishes no list. | Not published |
| How much extra time? | No amount is published, and none is promised. | Not published |
| How long a decision takes | No processing time is published. | Not published |
| Outside aids during Solve | Banned, except an accommodation for a disability approved in writing by McKinsey. | Official |
Does McKinsey offer accommodations for Solve?
Yes: McKinsey's official Solve FAQ says it offers accommodations in its recruiting process for a disability, health condition or specific learning difficulty, and the route is to “please speak to your recruiter to discuss potential accommodations”. That is an official statement, and it is the whole of what the FAQ says about the process. It names no accommodation, no form and no decision time. The FAQ also links to McKinsey's page on navigating McKinsey with a disability, which is the place for the firm's wider position.
Official
- Accommodations are available for a disability, health condition or specific learning difficulty.
- You raise them with your recruiter.
- A disability accommodation approved in writing is the one exception to the banned-aids rule.
- McKinsey links a separate page on navigating the firm with a disability.
Not published
- Which accommodations exist.
- How much extra time can be approved.
- What evidence or documents are needed.
- How long a decision takes.
- Whether you can ask after the invitation date is set.
Left column: McKinsey's Solve FAQ (August 2025) and Solve page. Right column: points absent from every McKinsey source reviewed on October 11, 2026. Anything quoted elsewhere on these points is unverified.
You do not need an exact label: a health condition that is not a disability, or a learning difficulty with no formal label, still falls under the words McKinsey uses. The recruiter decides each request, and nothing public says how. Rules that apply to everyone are in the test-day checklist and the camera and integrity guide.
Can you get extra time on McKinsey Solve?
You can ask for extra time, but McKinsey publishes no amount of extra time and does not say extra time is one of its accommodations, so no figure can be quoted and no outcome promised. The FAQ lists no accommodation by name. Any number you read elsewhere, whether a percentage or a fixed addition, has no McKinsey source behind it and should be treated as unverified.
So describe what helps you in exams or study, in your own words, and let the recruiter decide how it applies. McKinsey states only that the length of the assessment is in the invitation email. Naming the effect on you, such as needing longer to read and re-read data, gives the recruiter something concrete without asserting a number you cannot back.
Original fictional scenario: a candidate finds timed data tasks harder than untimed ones because of a reading-related difficulty. They do not demand a set percentage. They write that longer to read and check data helps, and ask what Solve can offer. Reported game clocks are in the Red Rock time budget, which is candidate context, not a McKinsey rule.
Road to Offer offers one complete free run of each of four practice formats: Red Rock, Sea Wolf, SFL Classic and SFL Island. Red Rock includes the full Study and six Cases; Sea Wolf includes all three sites. Start without an account, then create a free account to finish and keep your score and worked debrief. The first run and its review need no payment. Review shows where points went and worked feedback on submitted decisions, with visual explanations.
Who do you ask, and when?
Ask your recruiter, in writing, before you start the Solve sitting: the recruiter is the official contact for accommodations, while the timing advice is ours because McKinsey publishes no deadline for asking. Use the sender of your invitation or the recruiting contact it names, not Solve technical support, which is for technical issues.
Who
Your recruiter
Official
McKinsey names the recruiter as the person to speak to.
When
Before you start the sitting
Our advice
McKinsey sets no deadline for asking. Asking early is our advice, so any answer can arrive before your date.
What
The need, the help you think would work, a request for the process and written confirmation
Our advice
McKinsey lists no required content. This list is our suggestion.
Who is from McKinsey's Solve FAQ. When and what are our editorial reading, labelled so, because McKinsey sets no deadline and no required content.
- Read the date in your invitation
Note the cutoff and the length your email states.
- Write to your recruiter first
Before you book a slot. The recruiter is the contact McKinsey names.
- Describe the need and the help that works
Name the category in plain words and what helps you in study or exams.
- Ask what they need from you
McKinsey publishes no document list.
- Get the decision in writing
McKinsey words its aids exception as approval in writing. Plan from the reply.
- Confirm how it will work on the day
Ask how any approved support is applied, and who to contact if it is missing.
Our suggested order. Only two parts come from McKinsey: the recruiter is the contact, and the aids exception depends on written approval.
Start before you book a slot because a decision may change when and how you sit. If your date is close, say so in the first message and see the deadline and extension guide. The invitation guide shows what to take from the email first.
What should your accommodation request say?
A good request names who you are, the category of need in plain words, the help you think works, and asks the recruiter what they need and for written confirmation. McKinsey provides no template, so the wording below is original, fictional and ours. It is built so the recruiter can reply with next steps rather than questions, and it leaves the decision with them.
- To
- The recruiter named in your invitation
- Subject
- Accommodation request for the Solve assessment, your role or application
- 1. Who you are
- Hello recruiter name, I received the Solve invitation for role or application. The date in the email is date and timezone.
- 2. The need
- I have a disability, a health condition or a specific learning difficulty and would like to discuss accommodations for the assessment.
- 3. What helps
- In my studies and exams, the support you normally use, in your words helps me. I understand the decision is yours.
- 4. The ask
- Please tell me what information you need, how to send it and who will confirm the outcome. Could you confirm any approved accommodation in writing before I sit it?
- 5. Timing
- I plan to sit it on planned date. If the date is at risk while this is decided, please say so. Thank you, your name.
Replace each underlined slot with your own details and delete lines that do not apply. Sending this changes nothing by itself: only a written reply from your recruiter does.
Keep it short and truthful, and add detail when the recruiter asks. The Solve FAQ roundup answers neighbouring questions worth checking before you send.
What proof or detail do you need to give?
McKinsey does not publish what evidence an accommodation request needs, so the safe approach is to describe your need briefly and ask the recruiter what they require and how to send it. Neither the Solve FAQ nor the Solve page tells candidates to attach records to a first email. Sending sensitive documents before you are asked is your decision, not a McKinsey instruction.
Share only what the process needs. Our advice is to ask first, then send what is requested through the channel the recruiter names. Whether McKinsey asks for anything at all is unknown, and the invitation guide explains why steps differ between candidates, so avoid comparing yours with another person's.
What stays the same when an accommodation is approved?
The integrity rules, the way your result is used and the technical support route stay in place for every candidate, and McKinsey states no change to them beyond one exception for aids approved in writing. Treat an approval as a specific, recorded permission and do not assume it widens to anything else. If you are unsure whether something is covered, ask before the sitting.
| Rule | Without an accommodation | With an approved one |
|---|---|---|
| Outside apps, websites, AI tools, prepared notes | Not permitted. | Official The one exception is an accommodation for a disability approved in writing. |
| Recording or screenshots | Not permitted. | Official Same exception, same written approval. |
| Taking it alone | Expected, without assistance from others. | Not published No exception is stated. Ask what your approval allows. |
| Length of the assessment | Stated in your invitation email. | Not published Whether an approval changes it is not published. |
- The rules are the same for everyone. The integrity rules apply to every candidate. An approval is a recorded exception, not a loosening of the rule.
- A result is read the same way. McKinsey says Solve is taken into account together with the rest of your application and any other assessment results.
- Support still handles technical faults. The technical support route and its limits do not change. Report faults while they happen.
- The recruiter still decides on multiple factors. No public source says an accommodation changes how the recruiter weighs your application.
Read from McKinsey's Solve FAQ and Solve page, checked October 11, 2026. The last item is about what no public source says, not a statement from McKinsey.
On the result, the FAQ says Solve is taken into consideration “together with the rest of your application and any other assessment results”. That wording is the same for every candidate; see how the Solve result is used and the scores and results guide.
Can you use your own assistive tools, notes or recording without approval?
No: McKinsey bans outside applications, websites, AI tools, prepared notes, recording and screenshots in Solve, “except as an accommodation for a disability approved in writing by McKinsey”. That is an official rule, and the written approval is what makes an aid allowed. If you rely on a screen reader, magnifier, dictation or other tool, do not assume it is covered. Ask your recruiter whether it is, and wait for the answer in writing.
Pre-prepared notes are banned, and the FAQ gives no detail on other note-taking. McKinsey's general assessment integrity page mentions pen and paper for assessments and interviews, but for Solve your invitation and recruiter govern. The Red Rock calculator and journal guide covers a reported in-game tool, which is not an outside aid.
Assume it is fine
You use a tool you rely on every day, expecting that a good reason is enough, and mention it to no one.
McKinsey bans outside tools unless an accommodation is approved in writing, so an assumed permission protects nothing.
Ask and keep the reply
You name the tool in your request, ask whether it is covered, and keep the written reply with your invitation.
McKinsey's exception depends on approval in writing, so a written reply is your evidence.
Both statements follow the August 2025 Solve FAQ. How a decision is communicated is not published, so confirm the form your recruiter will use.
If the answer is partial, ask what the recruiter can offer instead; McKinsey publishes nothing on how that is handled. The system requirements guide covers the device checks that apply to everyone.
Should you ask the recruiter or Solve support?
Ask the recruiter about accommodations and Solve support about technical faults: McKinsey's FAQ sends non-technical questions to the recruiter and technical issues to [email protected] or live chat. An accommodation is not a technical issue, so a support ticket is the wrong channel for it. Support can offer extra time or a reset for a fault, which is a different remedy for a different cause.
- You need extra time or another adjustment because of a condition
- You want to use a tool or aid of your own
- You are unsure whether your situation counts
Your recruiter
Official route
Raise it before the sitting. Approval, scope and timing are not published.
- The link will not load
- The technical check fails
- The game freezes or graphics fail while you play
Solve technical support
Official route
Email [email protected] or use live chat while it happens. Support may give extra time or reset the link, depending on the issue.
Contact routes from McKinsey's Solve FAQ, August 2025. Extra time from support applies to technical issues only, and you must contact them when the issue arises.
Do not wait for a game to go wrong to ask for help you already know you need. The FAQ says support will “offer you extra time or reset your link depending on the issue”, but that is about a fault, not a standing need. The overview of McKinsey online assessments by role shows where else a recruiter fits.
For a step-by-step practice path, Learning mode gives coaching and feedback as you go in all four formats, untimed in the clocked games. It is included with the matching game pack, the Solve pack or qualifying Annual access. A separate Solve plan is free with a free account: enter your invitation length and test date for dated practice steps.
Does asking for an accommodation change how McKinsey treats your result?
McKinsey does not say whether asking for an accommodation changes how your application or Solve result is judged, so this stays unknown. What it does say is that Solve is considered with the rest of your application and any other assessment results, and that the recruiter decides on multiple factors. The FAQ presents accommodations as part of its recruiting process, which is the only framing it gives.
Forum titles show the worry, not an answer. Nothing public ties an accommodation to a different weighting or pass line, and nothing rules it out, so plan around what you control: ask early, get approval in writing, and prepare with the prep plan and the Solve tips.
If you are an MBA candidate or an experienced hire, the route is the same: your recruiter. The retake and reapply guide covers a sitting that goes wrong, the Reddit claims check tests the stories about extra time, and the Solve guide and timeline give the overall picture.
Sources and evidence boundaries
- Official, checked October 11, 2026: McKinsey's Solve page and Solve FAQ (August 2025 PDF). The FAQ is the source for the accommodations answer, the banned-aids exception, the recruiter and support routes, and the language choice. The Solve page repeats the aids exception and points to the disability page.
- Official, checked October 11, 2026: McKinsey's page on navigating McKinsey with a disability, which the FAQ and Solve page link. This guide relies on the FAQ and Solve page for its claims and adds nothing from that page. Read it for the firm's wider approach.
- Official, checked October 11, 2026: assessment integrity expectations, a general page for assessments and interviews. The Solve-specific FAQ governs Solve.
- Reported: candidate forum threads exist asking how to request an accommodation and whether you can ask after an assessment date is set. They establish that readers ask, not what McKinsey decides in any case.
- Unknown in the public sources reviewed: a list of accommodations, an amount of extra time, what evidence is needed, how long a decision takes, whether you can ask after the date is set, whether an approval changes the stated length, and whether asking affects how a result is read. Your recruiter's written reply governs your case. The timing advice and the email wording in this guide are ours.
