CASPer Typed and Video Responses: What Changes and What Transfers

CASPer typed and video responses test the same underlying judgment, but the delivery constraints are different. Typed questions share a 3.5-minute clock and reward concise written coverage; video questions give you one minute each and expose pacing, clarity, and recovery in real time. Both modes count toward one combined score.

What is the difference between written and video CASPer responses?

The main difference is how you communicate under pressure, not what counts as sound judgment. CASPer calls the written mode “typed response.” You see two questions at once and can allocate a shared clock. In video response, questions arrive one at a time and each answer is recorded in a separate one-minute window.

Are typed and video CASPer responses both scored?

Yes. Acuity's March 2026 scoring guidance says typed and video responses are both evaluated and combined into one overall score. Both questions in a scenario are seen by the same rater for context, but each question receives its own score. Different scenarios are handled by different trained human raters.

That means you should not treat the video section as a camera check or sacrifice one typed question to perfect the other. Every individual question is an opportunity to demonstrate your thought process. Acuity tells raters to focus on substance and response quality rather than grammar or spelling, which is a reason to prioritize a complete decision over sentence-level polish.

Does one response type count more?

Acuity confirms that both response types enter one combined score, but its public applicant guidance does not publish a typed-versus- video percentage weight. Avoid prep claims that assign an invented percentage to either mode. There are more typed scenarios, yet that alone does not reveal the exact score calculation.

The safest practice decision is to prepare both modes and use your own diagnostic to allocate extra time. A weak format still deserves more repetitions even when a marketer tells you the other section is “more important.”

What stays the same across typed and video answers?

Strong judgment transfers across both modes. You still need to identify the actual problem, avoid inventing facts, consider the people affected, choose a proportionate action, and explain what would change your decision. The words differ, but the reasoning spine should remain recognizable.

• Clarify uncertainty: say what you would verify before acting.
• Represent perspectives: include needs and constraints, not empty sympathy.
• Choose an action: do more than list competing values.
• Use conditions: explain what you would do if the facts change.
• Stay proportionate: escalate only when risk, policy, or repeated behaviour justifies it.

Our CASPer answer structureshows how to compress this reasoning without turning it into a memorized script.

How should you structure a CASPer typed response?

Give each typed question a direct answer before adding nuance. Since both questions share 3.5 minutes, a practical starting split is about 100 seconds for the first and 100 seconds for the second, leaving ten seconds to recover from a slow transition. Adjust only after timed evidence shows a better split for you.

1. Answer the question in the first sentence. State the action, priority, or lesson requested.
2. Name the missing information. Identify one fact that could change the action.
3. Balance the relevant perspectives. Usually two clear perspectives beat a long stakeholder inventory.
4. Make the plan conditional. Give a reasonable first step and an escalation threshold.
5. Move on. A complete second answer is worth more than decorative editing on the first.

Typing speed matters only when it prevents clear coverage. You do not need to sound literary. Use short sentences or bullets if they help: Acuity's own prep guidance says bullets are acceptable. See the CASPer typing-speed guidefor a realistic word-budget drill.

How should you structure a CASPer video response?

Speak in a visible sequence: issue, perspectives, action, reason. One minute is long enough for a defensible answer but too short for a scene recap or a memorized ethics lecture. Your goal is controlled thinking, not presenter-level performance.

1. Open with your focus: “My first priority is...”
2. Acknowledge uncertainty: name what you would ask privately or verify.
3. Give the next step: state what you would actually do.
4. Set a boundary: describe when safety, policy, or fairness requires escalation.
5. Finish the sentence: do not add a new branch in the final five seconds.

Eye contact with the camera can help communication, but substance still matters most. Practise recovering after a clumsy sentence instead of restarting. Our video-response practice planand video question examplesprovide mode-specific drills.

Which section is harder?

The harder section is the one where time pressure hides your reasoning. Slow typists may understand a dilemma but leave question two almost empty. Strong writers may freeze on camera because they cannot revise. Fast speakers may produce a minute of words without ever committing to an action.

Diagnose this with matched practice. Answer one scenario in the assigned typed format and a different scenario in video format. Review four outcomes: did you answer the exact question, include the central perspective, state a practical action, and finish? Repeat across three sessions before declaring a format weak.

How should you split practice between written and video?

Begin near the test's 7-to-4 scenario ratio, then shift extra repetitions toward your weaker mode. A ten-scenario starter block could use six typed and four video scenarios. If the diagnostic shows that video organization fails while typed answers finish, the next block might reverse that balance temporarily.

Finish preparation with Acuity's official full practice test. It is the best check that your switching, breaks, microphone, camera, and pacing work together. A bank of isolated prompts cannot reproduce the fatigue of the complete sequence.

What are the most common typed-response mistakes?

Typed mistakes usually come from spending the shared clock as if it belonged to one question. Applicants rewrite their opening, list every stakeholder, or build a universal framework before answering the actual prompt.

• Using most of the 3.5 minutes on question one.
• Writing a long scene summary instead of a decision.
• Assuming motives that the scenario never established.
• Offering empathy without a concrete next step.
• Editing grammar while question two remains incomplete.

What are the most common video-response mistakes?

Video mistakes usually come from treating delivery as either a performance or an afterthought. Over-rehearsed answers sound rigid; unstructured answers circle the issue until the recording ends.

• Repeating the prompt during the first 15 seconds.
• Speaking faster instead of choosing fewer, stronger points.
• Giving caveats but never stating an action.
• Restarting mentally after one awkward phrase.
• Watching your own preview instead of communicating naturally.

Review the most common CASPer mistakesfor problems that appear in both response modes.

Is the video-response section Snapshot or Duet?

No. Current CASPer video responses are part of the CASPer test and feed the combined Casper score. Snapshot was a separate recorded interview associated with the former Altus Suite name, while Duet was a separate values-alignment assessment. Older prep pages may blur those products together.

Acuity now also offers a product called Video Interviews for some programs. Its help centre explicitly distinguishes that product from Casper video responses. Always open the requirement attached to your specific program instead of assuming any camera-based task is the same assessment.

Bottom line

Typed and video CASPer responses reward the same defensible judgment through different constraints. Learn one reasoning process, then train its delivery twice: concise coverage under a shared typing clock and organized speech under a one-minute recording clock. Both modes are scored, so practise the transition—not just your favorite format.