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 test takers during assessments. It provides a lightweight, Excel-like interface where candidates can perform calculations, use supported formulas, and work through problems without leaving the test environment.

1. Test Taker View

Test takers can access the Excel Scratch Pad from:
  1. The toolbar inside the test window.
  2. They can find the Excel Scratch Pad icon within their test 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 test 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 Candidates

• 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 test response.
• The sheet is cleared after the assessment and is not saved.