Using the Excel Scratch Pad in Mercer | Mettl

Using the Excel Scratch Pad in Mercer | Mettl

The Excel Scratch Pad is a powerful tool available to participants during assessments. It provides a lightweight, Excel-like interface where participants can perform calculations, use supported formulas, and work through problems without leaving the assessment environment.

1. Participant View

Participants can access the Excel Scratch Pad from:
  1. The toolbar inside the assessment window.
  2. They can find the Excel Scratch Pad icon within their assessment interface. 
  3. Clicking the icon opens a resizable Excel-style sheet where they can enter data, apply formulas, and perform calculation.
This does not affect the assessment timer and can be opened/closed anytime during the test.

2. Supported Formulas

The Excel Scratch Pad supports a wide range of formulas similar to standard spreadsheet tools. Based on the available formula library shown in the screenshot, the following categories and functions are supported:

Formula Categories Available
• AutoSum
      o SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, MIN
• Financial Functions
      o Examples: PMT, FV, RATE, NPV, IRR (as per standard library)
• Logical Functions
      o IF, AND, OR, NOT, TRUE, FALSE
• Text Functions
      o CONCAT, LEFT, RIGHT, MID, LEN, LOWER, UPPER, TRIM
• Date & Time Functions
      o TODAY, NOW, DATE, TIME, DAY, MONTH, YEAR
• Lookup & Reference Functions
      o ADDRESS
      o AREAS
      o CHOOSE
      o COLUMN / COLUMNS
      o FORMULATEXT
      o HLOOKUP
      o HYPERLINK
      o INDEX
      o INDIRECT
      o LOOKUP
      o MATCH
      o OFFSET
      o ROW / ROWS
      o TRANSPOSE
• Math & Trigonometry Functions
      o ABS
      o ACOS, ACOSH, ASIN, ASINH, ATAN, ATAN2, ATANH
      o BASE
      o CEILING, CEILING.MATH, CEILING.PRECISE
      o AGGREGATE
      o COMBIN
      o More similar Excel-style math functions
• More Functions
      o Includes extended function list similar to Excel's "More Functions" category.

These lists are derived directly from the test-taker UI screenshots included in the document.

3. Example Use Cases

• Performing quick calculations during numerical reasoning tests.
• Tabulating values for data interpretation questions.
• Using IF formulas for logic based decision making.
• Creating short tables for comparison.

4. Notes for Participants

• The Scratch Pad does not affect your final answers — it serves as a versatile working space where you can organize information, explore ideas, perform computations, structure data, and support your problem solving process.
• Anything you enter in the Scratch Pad is not evaluated as part of your assessment response.
• The sheet is cleared after the assessment and is not saved.