On competence :

1) Mark - Easily the most efficacious in both the business and gameshow aspects of the show. The only problem I have is that there seems to be a Ruth Badger disconnect between what he produces and how many times his teams have actually won.

2) Katie - This year's Margins Queen. Seems fairly easy to lead as well and hard-working, saving her disruptive side for after the task has finished. Was a disaster this week though.

3) Solomon - Solid salesman, seems likeable, and a hard worker with good insight, but I'd need to see him lead a team on a proper task, not that Youtube garbage, to get a better picture.

4) Roisin - Very good creative, well-presented, but has made a couple of horrible "common sense" mistakes (not realising she needed money on the first task, that reed diffuser mess) that really cost her teams badly, and seriously lost control of James as PM. Might be better at talking the talk than walking the walk.

5) Felipe - Seems to flit around the edges doing the maths and bits of managing. Hasn't really messed anything up too horribly other than the advert, which isn't really a strong indicator of Apprentice ability given that all the adverts on this show ever have been crap

6) Sanjay - Good creative, solid factory manager, nothing really special otherwise, horrific PM.

7) James - Has very strong sales skills, but no real self-control, difficult to manage, and it's becoming more obvious that none of the others really take him seriously

8) Bianca - Greatest talent is her plausability. Otherwise doesn't seem to contribute and makes panic-errors all over the shop.

9) Daniel - Absolute disaster-zone fantasist who can't work with anyone.

On likeability :

1) Roisin
2) Daniel
3) Bianca
4) Solomon
5) Felipe
6) Sanjay
7) Katie
8) Mark
9) James

Which, adding it up Strictly style, makes

1) Roisin
2) Solomon
3) Katie
4) Mark
5) Felipe
6) Daniel
7) Bianca
8) Sanjay
9) James

1. Queen Roisin
2. Solly
3. Mark
4-8. The rest
9. James

1. Katie
2. Roisin.
3-4 Solomon/Mark
5 Bianca
6-9 Daniel, Sanjay, James, Felipe.

None of my bottom 4 have any chance whatsoever in my view - it's just a case of which order they're fired in.

I'm honestly amazed that some people have scored Sanjay so highly - he has done absolutely nothing of any note that I can recall so far other than flash a friendly smile a lot.

1. Katie Bulmer-Cooke
Clear standout - smart, dependable.

2. Roisin Hogan
Silly on the candles task, but otherwise dependable.

3. Mark Wright
I think he's an utter berk, I would neither hire him nor start a business with him... but, he is an incredibly good salesman.

4. Sanjay Sood-Smith
5. Solomon Akhtar
6. Felipe Alviar-Baquero
Shrug.

7. Daniel Lassman
I like him, but think he comes off better as a person than a candidate.

8. Bianca Miller
Bit of a liability.

9. James Hill
Thinks he's talented, but can only sell by slashing prices. High quantity, shit quantity - straps the training wheels on and thinks he's Lance Armstrong.

1. Mark
2. Katie
3. Roison
4. Sanjay
5. Soloman
6. Bianca
7. Felipe
8. Daniel
9. James

anyone that has Mark low down obviously hasn't watched the show. Yes he is argumentative and a bit manipulative but he has completely shone far more than others in pitching and selling ideas.

The only ones worth mentioning are roisin, mark and at a push solomon but he is completely cringeworthy. anyone that thinks sanjay has done anything to even warrant a mention has been watching another show also. other than stumbling through the odd pitch, fawning over that imbecile in the guide task, and throwing his toys out of the pram this week.

at least rate them on their merits rather than likeability

Mark
Roisin
Solomon
katie

the others are dreadful and meritless

1. Roisin - Managed to bounce back from an early PM loss. Has been impressive in recent weeks, more in the understated way of a Michelle (and my favourite US winner) then the more in your face way of Yas. Only problem is that she might be too nice (which would be lethal in any future final boardrooms and in the interview stage).

2. Solomon. Has a very solid edit. A good PM win and seems to stay out of the fights and manages to even have some bromances. As with my number one, he might be too nice?

3. James. Yes, I know. He is very irritating at times and takes high risk strategies, but he did manage to PM himself to a win and basically saved the task this week. Don't like the guy that much either, but we are not ranking them in regard to that.

4. Mark. Perhaps the best sales man left in the series. Mind you, I have never been impressed with sales people on this show (yes, even the badger). Except his sales skills all he really has is this game he seems to be playing within the series itself. Like an uberfan he is trying to scheme his way to a victory (I bet he has all of Katie Hopkin's quotes on tape).

5. Katie. Really middle of the road for me. The last few episodes you only see her give some awkward faces in the boardroom. Yes, she does have a PM win, but for the price of one candle (not a real big victory, right?). Though I do rate her higher then Jemma, I can see her going the same way as her (getting fired at first opportunity; which might be at the interviews)

6. Bianca. Probably would have been in my top 3, but two big mistakes in a row and that coupled with a very poor directing job means that even her most vocal fans would have to agree that she only gets to the final if she does a "Tom".

7. Daniel. Ah, bless. He does try his best even if that ain't a high level at all.

8. Felipe. Started of quite good, though I had him pegged as an obvious week 1 elimination. It is not a good sign when you're fired can still only think of third person jokes this far into the series. Mind you, his charming personality has kept him out of the boardroom so far.

9. Sanjay. Is there a point to him?

How quickly we forget his amazing Carol Vorderman maths skills when making the candles!

on what basis Mark a poorer candidate than Sanjay, Felipe, Daniel and Bianca? Bizarre

Fortunately I'm not looking for an apprentice, so I judge on entertainment and likeability, which Mark is weak in both areas.

If I was a Mark fan I'd be concerned that the edit keeps showing his arrogant confessionals to the viewers. Seems foreshadowing in some way.

I think they contrast well with the likes of Daniel and James arrogant confessionals bearing in mind those are based on zilch achievement

I actually do like Mark and find him highly entertaining and luckily for him Sugar seems to as well.

I think the fact that people are always comparing Mark with James and Daniel kind of proves the point.

I very rarely see Mark get compared to the genuine contenders. His attitude seems to have removed himself from that group and put himself in the group of annoyances.

You mentioned arrogant confessionals didn't you Only Daniel and James have done these. I'm happy to compare him to the other contenders and have done so in my post where I list my rankings. I am definitely marking on business acumen and Apprentice ability though I have no problem with liking Mark but I see you are marking on likability and entertainment factor so I suppose are rankings are incomparable.

I agree with a lot of this apart from Katie who I think is awful.

I meant in a general sense. I mean this Daniel vs Mark thing has overshadowed, or is at least threatening to overshadow, what they bring to the tasks. I think Mark is playing the Apprentice game almost too much, rather than letting his ability speak for itself.

Yeah, we all approach the show in different ways and none of it really matters what we think as Sugar makes the decision of who is hired and fired. But since I was pulled up on my opinion I had to go into further detail.

Why are some posters surprised that Mark has been so lowly ranked by others? Believe me, even in business, likeability goes a long way as you have to actually want to work with your business partner! It's not just about the numbers; many times in corporate environments I've watched the people well-liked by senior management rise up the ranks even if their output in a strictly numeric sense is worse than others in competition with them.

I'm more surprised that he is deemed so unlikeable. I really don't get it tbh. In the show he seems liked by everyone he lives with bar Daniel maybe and he seems liked by Nick and Sugar. I feel there's been an over the top and unwarranted negative reaction to some of Mark's tactics on here and an ignoring or tolerance even of some of the other's tactics in this game

It seems very personal and that surprises me.

Not forgotten, Chris, just irrelevant in the context of the competition - a bit like Lauren's Blenheim tour extravaganza. Being good at maths (compared to Nurun and Lindsay - a low bar) is impressive, but hardly a sign of business ability.

Each to their own, but I agree with you. I don't particularly like Mark (although I don't think he's the embodiment of evil some make him out to be) but his selling skills are undeniable and I agree he seems well liked in the house. He even seems to be friendly with James, even though the two could be seen as being similar types who might rub each other up the wrong way. In terms of commercial business ability, I'd take Mark over Daniel, James, Felipe and Sanjay put together.

Arguably more relevant than Simon Ambrose's trump card of breakdancing though.

1. Roisin - the frontrunner for me, got over an early PM loss which she wasn't blamed for and has been quietly competent since.

2. Katie - had a very good PM win and a good people person, she's just been a bit off the radar recently.

3. Mark - definitely the best salesperson this year and seems competent, but this is being overshadowed by his game playing.

4. James - enthusiastic and energetic and there's probably a good businessperson hiding under his clowning about, but doesn't seem to be liked by LS or some of the other candidates.

5. Solomon - seems good at sales and probably has a tech-based business plan that LS will like.

6. Sanjay - very likeable, but hasn't done anything to really stand out as a contender. I'm surprised people have ranked him highly.

7. Bianca - didn't seem to do much early on then made some awful howlers and was strongly criticised as PM.

8. Felipe - likeable but seems to do very little and has been lucky to get this far.

9. Daniel - a completely talent-free zone.

Ranking the candidates based on any sign of competence is fairly pointless since the winner will be whoever has the business idea Sugar wants in on. The rest are just here for entertainment.

1) Katie - likeable, and hasn't been in the boardroom as of yet (all the others have) and seems to be focused and have clear business knowledge. Strikes me as the type to have a good business plan.
2) Roisin - strong and very consistent candidate, and was close to being number one, though messed up in the candles task. Seems to be playing a very safe game.
3) Solomon - seems nice and focused though aside from the PM win not much has been seen of him. Could be portrayed as the underdog though.
4) Mark - quick to criticise everyone else never takes criticism well, though hasn't been terrible this year.
5) Bianca - meh. Started off well though has gone downhill in the further stages, particularly from week five to week seven.
6) James - would've been lower but has been better the last two weeks, though I doubt he'll stay much longer.
7) Sanjay - lost as project manager and don't see him getting much further. Had no standout moments.
8) Felipe - nice and likeable but he seems far to reliant on everyone else, then seems to go under the radar.
9) Daniel - thinks highly of himself when he knows nothing. Also his defences of himself are extremely poor. (I am complete in what I know in business - so is everyone else)

You say that, but I can count the number of times I've used breakdancing during my career in business ... no, you're right ...