How British Airways supported 300 candidates with TopScore
About the Customer
Organisation
British Airways is the United Kingdom’s flag-carrier airline and the largest UK-based carrier by international fleet and destination size.
Focus Area
The organisation recruits a significant volume of emerging talent each year across graduate, apprenticeship, engineering, head office, customer operations and regional programmes.
300
candidates supported this year alone
50%
reduction in assessor time
20-35
assessment days annually
The Challenge
Prior to implementing TopScore, British Airways relied on a combination of Microsoft Teams, breakout rooms and spreadsheets to manage virtual assessment centres. While functional, the process was highly manual, time-consuming and difficult to scale. Assessors had to manage multiple systems simultaneously, creating additional administration and operational complexity.
As assessment activity increased following the pandemic, the team recognised the need for a more streamlined, professional and scalable solution that could improve both operational efficiency and the candidate experience.
British Airways needed a solution that would:
-
Reduce the administration and complexity associated with running assessment centres.
-
Improve the candidate experience through clearer communication and a more professional process.
- Support high-volume emerging talent recruitment at scale.
-
Enable assessors to collaborate effectively and make informed hiring decisions.
-
Deliver a consistent experience across multiple business functions and locations.
The challenge was significant. Each year the team runs approximately 20–35 assessment centre days, often operating both morning and afternoon sessions, with between 250–300 candidates invited through the process across multiple schemes.
Our Solution
British Airways uses TopScore to manage its emerging talent assessment centres across graduate and apprenticeship programmes.
The platform supports a wide range of assessment activities, including:
- Presentations
- Group exercises
- Role plays
- Interviews
- Technical and practical exercises for engineering candidates
TopScore is used as the dedicated assessment centre platform alongside British Airways’ existing recruitment system, Manage My Recruitment, which manages applications and vacancy advertising. Once candidates reach assessment centre stage, TopScore becomes the central platform for assessors, scoring, feedback and candidate management.
“TopScore has been a fantastic tool for our assessment centres at British Airways. The platform is incredibly user-friendly for both candidates and assessors, and the consistency it brings to scoring and wash-ups is invaluable. The ability to provide clear, structured feedback to candidates is a real standout feature and hugely enhances the overall candidate experience. On top of that, the support team is exceptionally responsive, making the whole process seamless from start to finish.”
– Client feedback
Scale of Usage
The platform is used across British Airways’ entire emerging talent offering, including:
- Head Office
- Customer Operations
- Engineering
- Regional Operations
- International locations
Assessors from across the organisation use TopScore, including teams based in London, Glasgow, Cardiff and the United States.
Implementation
Implementation was rapid and seamless. Following procurement, British Airways was onboarded quickly and moved from contract signing to running live assessment centres within a matter of months.
The organisation signed during the autumn renewal period and was successfully using the platform for live assessment centres by January.
Results
Impact of implementing TopScore
One of the most significant benefits delivered by TopScore has been operational efficiency. By replacing manual administration, spreadsheets and complex Teams-based processes, the platform has enabled the recruitment team to manage large-scale assessment centres far more effectively. Assessors have access to one centralised platform for candidate evaluation, scoring and reporting, dramatically reducing coordination effort and administration time.
“The real cost savings for us are efficiency and time.”
– Joanne Walsh, Emerging Talent Recruitment Manager at British Airways
Reduced assessor time by at least 50%
Thanks to TopScore’s efficient and streamlined marking and feedback functionality. This allows our assessors to focus more on candidate interaction rather than administration.
300 candidates supported
Through using TopScore this year alone
Sustainability benefits
There are significant sustainability gains, as all assessment materials are hosted within TopScore. This removes the need for printed materials, reducing paper usage while also enhancing data security and confidentiality.
Candidate Experience Improvements
TopScore has significantly improved the candidate experience by creating a more professional, structured and supportive assessment journey.The professionalism of the platform, combined with clear communications and technical support, helped create a smoother and more engaging experience for candidates.
British Airways particularly valued the ability to provide feedback reports to candidates, ensuring that even unsuccessful applicants received meaningful insight from the process.
Specific Pain Points Solved:
- Reduced administration and manual effort
- Improved assessment centre organisation
- Enhanced candidate communication
- Delivered a more professional and branded experience
- Simplified assessor scoring and collaboration
- Provided responsive technical support
- Enabled scalable delivery across multiple locations and business functions
Sustainability & Hybrid Working
The platform enabled British Airways to successfully transition from virtual assessment centres during and immediately after the pandemic while maintaining consistency and fairness in the assessment process.
Even after returning to face-to-face assessment centres, British Airways continues to use TopScore for assessor scoring, evaluation and feedback reporting, demonstrating the long-term value of the platform beyond virtual delivery.
“The ongoing support we receive as an organisation from the TopScore team is always above and beyond, with very quick turnaround times, helpful answers and solutions. Nothing is ever too much trouble.”
– Joanne Walsh, Emerging Talent Recruitment Manager at British Airways
Conclusion
Today, TopScore supports hundreds of candidates and dozens of assessment centres annually, helping British Airways improve efficiency, enhance candidate experience and deliver consistent assessment outcomes across the organisation. The platform’s ease of use, flexibility and outstanding customer support have made it an integral part of the airline’s early careers recruitment strategy, as British Airways now uses TopScore to support:
- 20–35 assessment centre days annually
- Multiple assessment centre sessions each day
- Approximately 250–300 emerging talent candidates per cycle
- Assessment centres across numerous business functions and locations
Demo TopScore’s full range of features
Chat to our team to book in your bespoke demo of Unseen’s digital assessment centre platform, TopScore, to see its full range of features and how they can streamline your assessment centres.
