Cognitive impairment is common in patients with cerebral small vessel disease, but is not well detected using common cognitive screening tests which have been primarily devised for cortical dementias. We developed the Brief Memory and Executive Test (BMET); a rapid screening measure sensitive to the impaired executive function and processing speed characteristic of small vessel disease (SVD). To assess the BMET's validity for general use, we evaluated it when administered by non-psychologists in a multicentre study and collected control data to derive normative scores.