For a test-taker, the delivery platform is the exam. It is all they see, all they interact with and all they remember. For the organisations behind it, that platform is a direct reflection of their standards and their commitment to quality. And when it works well, it creates exactly the right conditions for test-takers to focus and perform at their best.
That is what great candidate delivery makes possible. And it is what we have been building towards with Cirrus Neo.
Cirrus Neo is a ground-up rebuild of everything a test-taker sees and touches. It started with a question we ask ourselves a lot: what would this look like if we built it again today, with everything we now know? The result is an exam experience that is faster, cleaner and more accessible than anything we have delivered before.
Responsiveness: one experience, every device
Neo is fully responsive across desktop, tablet and mobile. The experience is consistent and professional regardless of device.
For organisations, that flexibility is significant. Awarding bodies can run large-scale remote sittings without dictating what device candidates use. Universities can support students across personal laptops, shared library machines and tablets without managing exceptions. Employee testing programmes can reach staff wherever they are working. And for organisations assessing people in the field, construction site or training facility, a tablet is often the only practical option. Neo works just as well there as anywhere.
For test-takers, consistency across devices means one less unknown on exam day and more mental space for the exam itself.
Fair by design
Accessibility in Neo is a first-class feature, designed in from the start.
ReadSpeaker, a text-to-speech tool widely used by test-takers with dyslexia, visual impairments or other reading support needs, is fully integrated into Neo. As text is read aloud, it is highlighted word by word on screen.
Dark mode is also available throughout the exam via a simple toggle in the interface, with no configuration or advance setup required. For test-takers who find high-contrast screens uncomfortable or fatiguing, it is there when they need it.
Reliable accessibility support means every test-taker gets a fair experience, and organisations can demonstrate that with confidence.
Usability improvements throughout
Beyond the headline changes, we went through every element of the test-taker experience, every screen, every question type, and asked whether it could work better. The result is a series of usability improvements that run throughout: cleaner section layouts, full exam progress visible at a glance, time alerts before the exam closes and an updated score report, among others.
A phased rollout
The organisations we work with trust Cirrus to deliver their most important assessments. That trust shapes how we release Neo: in careful stages across 2026, each one solid before the next follows.
- Phase one is available now and covers the question types that account for the vast majority of assessments: Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Either/Or, Open Answer, File Response, and Numeric and Short Answer.
- Q2 and Q3 bring the remaining question types, as well as full offline mode with support for images and videos.
Ready to explore Neo?
Already a Cirrus customer? Neo is available now but is not enabled by default. You decide when to make the move from Classic to Neo, at a pace that works for your organisation and your test-takers. To get started, reach out to your Customer Success Manager and they will walk you through the options.
New to Cirrus? Neo is a great place to start. Get in touch and we will show you what modern exam delivery looks like in practice.
