ISB PGP Written Ability Test: topics, format and timed practice
The ISB PGP Written Ability Test gives you two prompts inside a single 20-minute window on interview day, roughly 10 minutes per response. The second prompt appears only after you submit the first, so you cannot read both in advance or shift time between them.
ISB prompts are mostly second-person situational dilemmas: a teammate proposing a shortcut, an employer offering gifts, a friend who cheated. They are not the current-affairs debate topics that fill most WAT topic lists, and practising the wrong prompt type is the most common ISB preparation mistake.
The topic bank below is grouped by category, with candidate-reported prompts labelled separately from practice topics written in the same style, and a free account opens the full list. Start a timed simulation without signing in, then get your response scored on problem identification, decisiveness, cost acknowledgment and writing under pressure.
ISB PGP WAT timed practice
Timed practice · 20 minutes · 2 prompts
Both prompts share one 20-minute clock, and the second appears only after you submit the first, exactly as ISB PGP sets it. Target 200–250 words per response. Responses under 80 words cannot be submitted or scored.
No account needed to practise. Sign in when you want the response scored.
ISB PGP WAT format
| Structure | Two prompts inside a single 20-minute window |
|---|---|
| Time per response | Roughly 10 minutes each |
| Sequence | The second prompt appears only after you submit the first |
| Length | No stated word limit; 200 to 250 words is enough |
| Mode | Typed into a portal at the venue |
| When | Roughly 45 minutes before your interview slot |
| Panel | Can question what you wrote during the interview |
What the ISB PGP panel scores
These prompts are judgment tests, so the score follows what you decided and what you were willing to pay for it, not how much you knew about the topic. Your practice response is scored on exactly these dimensions.
- Problem identification
- Did you name the real conflict? Most situational prompts contain a conflict people miss on the first read.
- Decisiveness
- Balanced consideration is good. Ending without a decision is not, because refusing to commit reads as avoidance.
- Cost acknowledgment
- Anyone can write "I would report it." The stronger answer names what that costs you (the friendship, the team, your standing) and still chooses.
- Writing under pressure
- Short sentences, visible paragraph breaks, no hedging. A panel reads this in five minutes.
How to structure your ISB PGP WAT response
- 1Name the real conflict in one line: what is at stake, and for whom. Skip the introduction entirely and open here.
- 2Check the facts before acting. Say what you would confirm first, and why acting on an assumption would be worse.
- 3Have the direct conversation. Say who you speak to first and roughly what you would say.
- 4State your escalation threshold as a condition: "if the number is still in the deck after that conversation, I go to the professor." A threshold shows judgment.
- 5Close on what changes: what you would put in place so this does not recur, or what you took from it.
ISB PGP WAT: common questions
- How long is the ISB WAT?
- Two prompts inside a single 20-minute window, which works out to roughly 10 minutes per answer. The second prompt appears only after you submit the first, so you cannot read both in advance or move time between them.
- How many words should an ISB WAT answer be?
- There is no stated word limit. At roughly 10 minutes per response, 200 to 250 words is enough to make a case properly.
- Is the ISB WAT handwritten or typed?
- Candidates report typing into a portal at the venue. Format details shift between rounds and venues, and some cohorts report a written or fully online variant.
- What kind of topics does ISB ask in the WAT?
- Mostly second-person situational dilemmas: an ethics, team or workplace conflict where you have to decide and justify it. That is materially different from the current-affairs essay topics most WAT topic lists cover.
- Does the interview panel read your ISB WAT response?
- Candidates report that the panel can question the response in the interview that follows, so take positions you are willing to defend out loud.
Where these facts come from
Format details on this page come from our own research guide, which also carries the full topic list, ISB Written Ability Test (WAT): Comprehensive Preparation Guide. Selection formats change between rounds and venues, so confirm against your official interview call before you rely on any timing detail.
Last reviewed 19 August 2026.
ISB PGP WAT topics
73 topics for the ISB PGP Written Ability Test, across 8 categories. 13 are prompts candidates have reported from real interview days; the rest are written in the same style for practice. Any of them can come up in the timed simulation above.
What the bank covers
- Reported dilemmas (13)
- Ethics and integrity (6)
- Team and leadership (6)
- Campus and workplace (6)
- Business and economy (13)
- Technology (8)
- Society and policy (13)
- Abstract (8)
A sample (5 of 73)
- In a case competition, your teammate suggests taking a shortcut. What do you do?Candidate-reported
- Your manager asks you to adjust numbers so results look more favourable.
- Two team members disagree on approach and the conflict is delaying delivery. You lead.
- A peer has plagiarised part of a group assignment you are all submitting.
- Startups matter more than large corporations to the growth story.
Sign in free to see all 73 topics
A free account opens the full bank and gets you 20 scored responses an hour. The timed simulation above needs no account.
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