The BCAB Test: EEI's Basic Competency Battery

If a utility has asked you to sit the BCAB, you are applying for an administrative or support role rather than a line or plant job. BCAB stands for Basic Competency Assessment Battery, and it is the core of the Edison Electric Institute's Support and Administrative Selection System.

It is the battery that confuses people most, because employers refer to it by three different names — BCAB, SASS, and "Support and Administration Selection System – BCAB (SASS)", which is how Hawaiian Electric lists it on its own employment testing page.

What sits inside it

The information guide that Southern California Edison publishes for candidates names the components and their EEI test numbers:

• Classifying — test 5161
• Spelling and Grammar — test 5162
• Basic Mathematics — test 5163
• Filing/Sorting — test 5164

The complete battery carries its own number: "The complete BCAB battery (5206) includes Classification, Spelling and Grammar, Basic Mathematics, and Filing/Sorting."

Those numbers matter more than they look. Employers often name a test by number in the invitation email — "test 5206" or "test 5163" — without explaining what it is. If you have been given a bare number in the 5160s or 5206, this is the battery you are sitting, and the number tells you whether you are taking the whole thing or a single component.

You may not sit all four

The guide is explicit that the battery is modular: candidates are directed to read only "the section of this info guide that describes the test or tests you will be taking". A role may call for the full 5206, or for one or two components.

Check your invitation. Preparing for filing and sorting when the employer only wants basic mathematics is wasted effort, and the reverse is worse.

What each part is asking for

EEI does not publish detailed specifications for BCAB the way it does in the CAST and POSS brochures, so what follows is a description of the skills each named component addresses rather than a count of items or a timing. We do not publish timings for this battery, because the figures circulating online come from prep vendors and from EEI's login-gated practice area, where the parameters describe the practice material rather than the real test.

• Classifying — sorting lists of names, addresses, numbers or codes according to a stated rule. Accuracy at speed on repetitive, detail-heavy material.
• Spelling and Grammar — identifying errors in written material, of the kind that would appear in utility correspondence and records.
• Basic Mathematics — arithmetic and everyday calculation rather than the applied, diagram-based work in the craft batteries.
• Filing/Sorting — placing items into the correct position in an ordered sequence, alphabetically and numerically.

How BCAB differs from the craft batteries

It is a different kind of test for a different kind of job. The CAST, POSS and MASS batteries assess mechanical reasoning, spatial ability and applied arithmetic against diagrams, because those jobs involve physical plant. BCAB assesses clerical accuracy, written English and basic numeracy, because the jobs involve records, correspondence and data.

EEI's own catalogue describes SASS as being "used to help select employees for a wide range of administrative positions within an electric utility, such as Administrative Assistant and Clerk." Our overview of the EEI batteries sets out how the whole family fits together.

One consequence worth knowing: practice aimed at the CAST or POSS will not help you here. The sections do not overlap. Our Mathematical Usage demo and Reading Comprehension demo are the closest in kind on this site, and even they are built for the craft batteries rather than for BCAB.

Where employers send you to prepare

Utilities that use the battery generally point candidates at EEI's own brochures and practice area and supply login details themselves. Hawaiian Electric does this, and pairs it with a caution worth repeating: "Being prepared to take a test is an important part of the testing process and may improve your chances of qualifying on the test. However, there is no guarantee that by reading the brochures and the test preparation guides you will qualify."

If your employer has given you credentials, use them. The material behind those logins is the closest thing to an authoritative description of the battery, and it comes from the test developer rather than from anyone selling preparation.

Scores and retakes

As with every EEI battery, no cut score is published. Employers set their own, and they do not disclose them — our guide to EEI scoring explains why. Retake rules are also set by the employer: Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, for example, publishes that "a minimum of 15 days must pass between the first and second attempts to qualify on the same EEI test" and that applicants "may not take the same test more than twice (2 times) in a twelve (12) month time frame." Other utilities differ. Our retake policy guide collects what employers publish.

If you already passed it elsewhere

Results can sometimes transfer between utilities. AECC asks candidates who have taken the required test with another company to complete an EEI authorisation to release form, and notes that if results cannot be obtained within a week it may ask the candidate to test again anyway. Our score transfer guide covers how this works in practice.

Frequently asked questions

What does BCAB stand for?

Basic Competency Assessment Battery. It is the core battery within EEI's Support and Administrative Selection System (SASS).

What is on the BCAB test?

Classifying (5161), Spelling and Grammar (5162), Basic Mathematics (5163) and Filing/Sorting (5164). The complete battery is test 5206.

Is BCAB the same as SASS?

They are closely related. Employers such as Hawaiian Electric list the battery as "Support and Administration Selection System – BCAB (SASS)". BCAB is the basic competency component of SASS.

What jobs use the BCAB?

Administrative and support roles at electric utilities — EEI names administrative assistant and clerk as examples of the positions SASS covers.

How long is the BCAB test?

EEI does not publish timings for this battery in the materials employers self-host, and we do not repeat the figures circulating on prep sites. Your invitation or test administrator is the reliable source.

Can I use a calculator on the Basic Mathematics section?

That is decided by the employer and the test administrator. Across the EEI brochures that employers publish, the only explicit calculator permission is on CAST-R's Graphic Arithmetic. See our calculator rules guide.