Headquarters: Thames Ditton, United Kingdom
Assessed: Large assessment catalogue including natural-language-processing assessments that score spoken, written and video responses.
Rubric: version 1. Search protocol applied and all sources accessed: 2026-09-22.
Documented 1, partial 3, absent 4, of eight criteria. This records what is published about the validity and fairness of the scores. It is not an assessment of the product, the model or the underlying science.
| # | Criterion | Level |
|---|---|---|
| C1 | Technical manual or validity report publicly available without a sales conversation | D |
| C2 | Validity coefficients reported with sample size and uncertainty | A |
| C3 | Adverse impact reported by named subgroup | P |
| C4 | Scored construct named and defined, not described only by outcome | A |
| C5 | Evidence of comparability across languages, versions or delivery modes | A |
| C6 | Human oversight documented, with a candidate route to contest a score | P |
| C7 | Independent review named and the reviewer identified | P |
| C8 | Reliability reported, and reported by group | A |
C1. Technical manual or validity report publicly available without a sales conversation
Documented.
A dated technical paper is downloadable from the vendor site without a form: "Version: 1.3 | Last updated: 19 February 2025".
Source: https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
The document is dated and versioned, which few documents in this assessment are, and it downloads without a form.
C2. Validity coefficients reported with sample size and uncertainty
Absent.
No public source was found for this criterion by the search protocol.
Pages examined include https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
C3. Adverse impact reported by named subgroup
Partial.
"We perform the same audits on all AI systems to ensure they are fair and unbiased across gender, ethnicity, and age groups before they are made available to our customers for use. The results from these audits are made publicly available for customers".
Source: https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
Three grouping variables are named and an audit process is described. The results are stated to be available to customers rather than published, and no figures were found.
C4. Scored construct named and defined, not described only by outcome
Absent.
No public source was found for this criterion by the search protocol.
Pages examined include https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
C5. Evidence of comparability across languages, versions or delivery modes
Absent.
No public source was found for this criterion by the search protocol.
Pages examined include https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
C6. Human oversight documented, with a candidate route to contest a score
Partial.
"No AI assessment should make decisions without human oversight" and "Provide a notification, explanation, and request consent (where and when required) from candidates who will be assessed by AI".
Source: https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
Notification, explanation and consent are set out as principles. They are stated as commitments rather than as a route a candidate can use, and no contest mechanism was found.
C7. Independent review named and the reviewer identified
Partial.
Audits are described as conducted "against the best practice standards established by industry bodies such as the British Psychological Society and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission".
Source: https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
External standards are named. The audits described are the vendor own and no external reviewer is named.
C8. Reliability reported, and reported by group
Absent.
No public source was found for this criterion by the search protocol.
Pages examined include https://www.shl.com/assets/documents/how-shl-is-using-ai-and-machine-learning-white-paper.pdf (accessed 2026-09-22).
Absent records the outcome of the published search protocol on 2026-09-22. Where a source is supplied that the search did not reach, the cell is re-scored under the corrections policy, with the date of the change recorded and the previous level retained.
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