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Online assessment pattern, reported

Cisco, Online Assessment pattern

Code with Cisco Common Entrance Test, and Cisco campus online assessment

90 min totalDifficulty: moderate-hard2 sections

Compiled from public sources, verify before you rely on it. Cisco revises this test regularly. Source corroboration: Reasonably corroborated. Checked 2 Nov 2026 (OPR-RES-010) against Cisco's own Code with Cisco page (timeline, 90 minutes, no negative marking, proctoring) and 2025 candidate reports for the question split. Confirm the pattern on the current notice.

Test structure

Reported

MCQs: aptitude and CS fundamentals

about 40 to 42 (candidate and prep-site reports; Cisco does not state it) questions
shares the 90 minutes with the coding part (official for Code with Cisco) minutes
  • Computer networks: subnetting, OSI and TCP/IP, protocols (weighted more than in most tests)
  • Operating systems, OOP, DBMS
  • Quantitative aptitude
  • No negative marking (official for Code with Cisco)

Coding

2 problems (reported) questions
shares the 90 minutes with the MCQs minutes
  • Graphs, tries with BFS, dynamic programming
  • One medium and one medium-hard or hard problem reported
  • Partial credit by test case implied in one 2025 report
  • Languages reported: C, C++, Java, Python (unconfirmed for 2026)

Reported, careers.cisco.com, internshala.com, faceprep.in, leetcode.com, geeksforgeeks.org, Reasonably corroborated

How the test works

Reported

Cisco's own Code with Cisco page (read 2 Nov 2026) says: students passing out in 2027, based in India, with no backlogs and 'no barriers based on CGPA, specialization, or location'. The same page's timeline says eligible final-year students from specific universities register through their placement cell, so check with yours. The 2026 cycle was: registration from 1 Jun, a 90-minute Common Entrance Test on 25 Jun (MCQs and coding, no negative marking, AI and video proctoring, no rescheduling), the top 75 named on 30 Jun, a two-day in-person code-a-thon on 16-17 Jul, then four virtual interview rounds. That cycle has closed; the next is expected around June 2027. The MCQ and coding split and the problem types come from 2025 candidate reports, not from Cisco. Cisco also hires interns and graduates through ordinary campus drives; one 2025 report describes a HackerRank test of 40 MCQs plus 2 coding problems, then technical, managerial and HR interviews. Cisco gives pay only at the offer stage; online figures conflict.

Reported, careers.cisco.com, internshala.com, faceprep.in, leetcode.com, geeksforgeeks.org, Reasonably corroborated

How the interviews go

Reported
  1. 1Technical
  2. 2Managerial
  3. 3Executive (Code with Cisco)
  4. 4HR / ETR

Projects and how they were built, tested and deployed; networking and OS fundamentals; light DSA and puzzles rather than heavy LeetCode.

Based on several candidates' reports, checked 2 Nov 2026. Interviews vary by drive and interviewer.

Reported by, GfG Cisco summer intern 2025, GfG Cisco SWE internship 2025, Code with Cisco official (four interview rounds)

What to prep

  • Computer networks first: subnetting, OSI and TCP/IP layers, ARP, DHCP, DNS
  • OS (mutex, semaphores, deadlock), OOP and DBMS fundamentals
  • Graph and dynamic programming problems, and tries with BFS
  • Practise MCQs and 2 coding problems in one 90-minute sitting with a webcam on
  • Ask your placement cell whether your college is on Cisco's registration list

Cut-offs and eligibility (indicative)

Reported

Cisco publishes no score cutoff. For Code with Cisco 2026, the top 75 were named after the test (official). One 2025 report gives about 30,000 applicants and about 23,000 test takers for 75 places, which is a single report.

Reported, careers.cisco.com, internshala.com, faceprep.in, leetcode.com, geeksforgeeks.org, Reasonably corroborated