PROGRAMMING SKILLS

Django REST Framework test for hiring

See how candidates reason about Django REST Framework code and API behavior.

10 minutes
15 questions
Intermediate
Multiple choice
Questions in English
Phone and desktop

Use this test free See the question formats

The short answer

This 10-minute, 15-question Django REST Framework test is for intermediate back-end and full-stack developers who build or maintain REST APIs with Python and Django. Multiple-choice questions use small code snippets and realistic situations to assess API models and queries, serializers, views and viewsets, routing, authentication and permissions. Candidates identify code behavior or a change that gets the requested result.

What it measures

Practical knowledge of Django REST Framework: models and queries behind an API, serializers, views and viewsets, and routing, authentication and permissions.

Models and ORM in APIs

Candidates work out how models and queries supply the data an API returns.

Serializers

Candidates read serializer code and decide what it does with incoming and outgoing data.

Views and viewsets

Candidates judge how a view or viewset handles a request and which change gives the behavior asked for.

Routing, auth and API essentials

Candidates reason about how URLs are routed and which requests an authentication or permission setting lets through.

Question formats

Multiple choice

The candidate: Reads a short situation, table or statement and picks the right answer, or every right answer.

You see: Whether the candidate knows the material well enough to apply it, not just recognize it.

15 questions in 10 minutes, served one at a time.

Roles this test fits

Back-end and full-stack developers who build or maintain REST APIs with Python and Django, at a working (intermediate) level.

What this test can show

Reasoning from code
Small code excerpts ask candidates to identify behavior or choose a change that produces a requested API result.
Who gets through
Authentication and permissions questions show whether a candidate can tell which requests an API will accept before the code ships.
Serializer and viewset choices
Questions ask which change to a serializer or viewset gets the behavior asked for, an everyday decision in a Django REST Framework codebase.
Current code context
Code follows current Django and Django REST Framework releases and avoids features that behave differently between recent versions.

What you get for each candidate

Example report (fictional data)Django REST Framework (DRF)

71%Percentile 46. Benchmark: HireValid candidates, n = 247

Models and ORM in APIs71%

Serializers64%

Views and viewsets85%

Routing, auth and API essentials62%

Integrity ScoreHigh confidence

Stayed on the test tab throughout
No pasted answers
Answered at a steady pace

Scores, profiles and integrity signals are evidence for you to review alongside an interview, never an automatic decision.

Use this test free

Test integrity signals

Each candidate receives a different set of questions from large question pools. Questions appear in a different order for each attempt, with answer options shuffled. The browser displays one question at a time, and answer keys stay on HireValid’s servers. Server timing means reloading restores the same question with only the time left. Question text cannot be selected or copied; a blocked copy attempt is recorded in the timeline. HireValid records signals such as time away from the test tab, pastes into answers and answers faster than a question can be read. The employer reviews the Integrity Score and evidence timeline; neither makes a decision on its own. With the candidate’s consent, random webcam photos can be added. Read how HireValid builds its tests.

How we prevent AI cheating · Integrity signals

Use the score as evidence

Review the score alongside a work sample that asks the candidate to build or maintain a REST API with Python and Django. Then use the same structured interview questions for each candidate. Discuss their reasoning about models and queries, serializers, views and viewsets, or routing and permissions. Treat the test score as evidence for your review, not as a decision by itself. You can also compare its scope with the Django test and read our pre-employment testing guide.

Structured interview questions

An order endpoint returns data differently than the team needs. How would you investigate the API code and decide what to change?
Listen for a reasoned approach to tracing models and queries, serializers, and the endpoint’s behavior.
A booking API needs a new behavior. How would you work through the view or viewset and its routing?
Listen for a practical explanation of how the candidate would connect the requested behavior to views and routing.
How would you assess an authentication or permissions issue in an inventory API?
Listen for a relevant way to investigate authentication and permissions in the API context.

Understand scoring and benchmarks

Fairness and accommodations

Questions use neutral business examples such as orders, tickets, bookings and inventory, with plain English, no idioms and no knowledge of any country, currency or culture. Code follows current Django and Django REST Framework releases and avoids features that behave differently between recent versions. Every question is short enough to read and answer within its time, and names in the code come from many backgrounds.

You can give any candidate extra time as an accommodation. Results are evidence for a person to review, never an automatic decision.

Provisional: reliability is reported once 200 candidates have completed it.

Read our fairness approach

Test details

A short, timed check of hands-on skill with Django REST Framework for building web APIs in Python. Questions show small pieces of code and realistic situations about models and queries, serializers, views and viewsets, routing, authentication and permissions, and ask what the code does or which change gets the behavior asked for.

Questions are in English.
No aids are needed.
Each question is answered once, in order, with no going back.
4 practice questions, 4 minutes, before the timed test.

Django, Django REST Framework, Python are trademarks of their owners. HireValid is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Frequently asked questions

What is the format of the Django REST Framework test?+

It has 15 questions in 10 minutes. Some have one correct answer and others ask for every option that applies. Each question is answered once, in order, with no going back, and the test works on a phone or a desktop. A separate practice set has 4 questions and takes 4 minutes.

How are questions in the Django REST Framework test made fair?+

Scenarios use neutral examples such as orders, tickets, bookings and inventory. The questions use plain English, avoid idioms and do not require knowledge of a country, currency or culture. Code follows current Django and Django REST Framework releases and avoids features that behave differently between recent versions.

Can candidates use aids during the Django REST Framework test?+

No aids are allowed. Code excerpts are short enough to read and answer within the time, so candidates reason about what a serializer, view or permission does from the code on the screen rather than from documentation.

Who should take the Django REST Framework test?+

It is intended for intermediate back-end and full-stack developers who build or maintain REST APIs with Python and Django. It checks practical work with serializers, API views and viewsets, and routing and permissions, so consider whether those responsibilities match the role.