Teaching Tests

Teaching Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an application assessor at Redhill Directorate. On Monday you told a college you would have all sixty of its student funding applications assessed by Friday. It is Wednesday afternoon and you have done twenty-two. The remaining thirty-eight need about fourteen hours and you have twelve working hours left, two of which are already booked for training you cannot move. The college holds its enrolment day on Monday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask your team leader whether another assessor can take fifteen of the applications off you, and carry on with the rest of them at the pace you have been working this week.
   2. Work through Thursday's training slot as well as your normal hours, and get as close to all sixty as the remaining hours allow before Friday comes round.
   3. Assume the estimate will come right once you get into a rhythm on Thursday, and leave the college to hear about any shortfall when Friday's batch arrives.
   4. Tell the college this afternoon that you are on track for about fifty by Friday, ask which ten matter least for Monday, and confirm the rest will follow first thing Monday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the college this afternoon that you are on track for about fifty by Friday, ask which ten matter least for Monday, and confirm the rest will follow first thing Monday.

   Least effective: C. Assume the estimate will come right once you get into a rhythm on Thursday, and leave the college to hear about any shortfall when Friday's batch arrives.

   A: Escalates prematurely: a second assessor has to be found, briefed and given the criteria, and the college has not yet been asked which applications it actually needs for enrolment day.

   B: Spends protected time to chase a number: the training was booked and cannot be moved, and even every remaining hour falls short of sixty, so the college still gets a short batch on Friday.

   C: Treats an estimate as a reason to do nothing: the shortfall is arithmetic rather than a matter of pace, and the college loses the two days in which it could have told you which applications matter for Monday.

   The most effective response is to tell the college this afternoon that you are on track for about fifty by Friday, ask which ten matter least for Monday, and confirm the rest follow first thing: the shortfall is arithmetic and it is Wednesday, so they still have two days to say what enrolment day needs. It beats asking your team leader whether another assessor can take fifteen off you, because the college’s own priorities have not been asked for and a second assessor cannot be briefed faster. It beats working through Thursday’s training slot as well, because that protects the original estimate at the cost of training you were told not to move. The least effective response is assuming the estimate will come right once you get into a rhythm: nothing about the arithmetic changes on Thursday, and the college finds out on Friday with the weekend in the way. That makes it worse than seeking a second assessor, which at least tries to close the gap, and worse than working the training slot, which spends every available hour. The principle: when an estimate you gave is going to be missed and there is still time, revise it with the person relying on it while they can still act.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an enquiries officer at Ashmere Trust. A man phones about a repayment demand for eleven hundred pounds. He is distressed, says he has just lost his job, and asks you to cancel the demand. Only the debt review team can pause or vary a demand, and they have a hardship form that takes ten minutes and can be started on the phone. He says he cannot face any more forms. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him you cannot cancel the demand and that the rules are the same for everybody, and suggest he writes in if he wants it looked at.
   2. Note on his record that he says he has lost his job, and let the debt review team pick it up when they next look at the account.
   3. Send him on to the debt review team with their number and tell him to ring them himself about the hardship form, then close the call.
   4. Stay on the line and complete the hardship form with him now, explaining that the debt review team can pause the demand once they have it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Stay on the line and complete the hardship form with him now, explaining that the debt review team can pause the demand once they have it.

   Least effective: C. Send him on to the debt review team with their number and tell him to ring them himself about the hardship form, then close the call.

   A: Answers the rule and not the person: a hardship route exists and takes ten minutes, and writing in is the one thing somebody who cannot face another form will not do.

   B: Records the hardship without starting it: the debt review team cannot pause a demand on a note, and nobody has told him that a route exists at all.

   C: Passes the caller on without owning it: he has said he cannot face more forms, and the ten-minute form he is being sent away to start is one you could have completed with him on this call.

   The most effective response is to stay on the line and complete the hardship form with him now, explaining that the debt review team can pause the demand once they have it: only they can vary it, but the thing standing between him and them is a form he has said he cannot face, and that is precisely what you can remove. It beats telling him the rules are the same for everybody and suggesting he writes in, because writing in is what somebody in this state will not do. It beats noting on his record that he says he has lost his job, because a note pauses nothing and tells him no route exists. The least effective response is giving him the debt review team’s number and telling him to ring them himself: a distressed caller is sent away to start the exact form you could have completed with him, which is the likeliest of the four to end with no application at all. That makes it worse than stating the position, which at least states it, and worse than the note, which puts something on the record. The principle: when a rule can only be varied elsewhere, take the person as far down that route as you can rather than pointing at it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a programme support officer at Redhill Directorate. Two weeks ago you told a board that a supplier survey would be ready for their meeting on the twelfth. You have since realised you never sent the survey out, and it needs ten working days in the field. Today is the fourth and the board papers deadline is the tenth. Nobody has asked you about it. Your programme manager is in the office today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the survey out this afternoon and keep it to yourself that it was never issued, and hope the responses come back fast enough to cover the gap.
   2. Send the survey out today and tell the board on the twelfth that responses are still coming in and that the full analysis will follow at their next meeting in six weeks.
   3. Email the board secretary to withdraw the survey item from the twelfth's agenda, and say nothing about why it is being withdrawn.
   4. Tell your programme manager today that the survey was never issued and that it cannot be ready for the twelfth, and ask what the board should be given instead.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your programme manager today that the survey was never issued and that it cannot be ready for the twelfth, and ask what the board should be given instead.

   Least effective: A. Send the survey out this afternoon and keep it to yourself that it was never issued, and hope the responses come back fast enough to cover the gap.

   A: Keeps your own failure quiet and hopes: ten working days of fieldwork cannot fit into six, so the board still gets nothing on the twelfth, and by then nobody has had a chance to arrange anything else.

   B: Reports a delay and not its cause: the board hears about response rates rather than about a survey that was never issued, so the next report they commission is planned on a false picture.

   C: Removes the item without the explanation: the board loses the paper and never learns why, and the programme manager who could have offered them something else is not asked.

   The most effective response is to tell your programme manager today that the survey was never issued and cannot be ready for the twelfth, and ask what the board should be given instead: it cannot exist by then on any arithmetic, the failure is yours, and the six days before the papers deadline are exactly when she could put something else in front of the board. It beats sending the survey today and telling the board responses are still coming in, because that describes a different problem from the one that happened. It beats emailing the secretary to withdraw the item without saying why, because that leaves nobody able to replace it. The least effective response is sending the survey and keeping it to yourself that it was never issued: the cause is hidden on a bet that ten days of fieldwork fits into six, so the board gets nothing anyway and the usable days are gone. That makes it worse than misdescribing the delay, which gives notice, and worse than the silent withdrawal, which frees the agenda. The principle: when a commitment cannot be met and the cause is your own, the cause goes in first, while there is still time to do something else.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a management information assistant at Redhill Directorate. A dashboard you presented last week has been well received, and your director has emailed the division praising your work on it. A colleague, Bea, built most of the underlying queries, and you have heard she is telling other people you took the credit. The director’s email is still being forwarded around the division. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Blame Bea to the rest of your team for spreading the story, and add that her queries needed a good deal of correcting before the dashboard worked at all.
   2. Speak to Bea today, agree between you what her contribution actually was, and then email the director correcting the record with Bea copied in.
   3. Reply to the director's email saying the dashboard was a joint effort, and leave it to Bea to raise her own part if she wants to.
   4. Say nothing publicly and thank Bea privately for the queries, on the view that the director's email will be forgotten in a fortnight.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Speak to Bea today, agree between you what her contribution actually was, and then email the director correcting the record with Bea copied in.

   Least effective: A. Blame Bea to the rest of your team for spreading the story, and add that her queries needed a good deal of correcting before the dashboard worked at all.

   A: Answers a grievance with an attack on the person: the director's email is still wrong, Bea's account of it becomes more credible, and your team is given a dispute instead of a correction.

   C: Corrects the credit without naming who earned it: a joint effort leaves the director none the wiser about Bea, and puts the burden of claiming her own work on the person with none of the standing.

   D: Settles the relationship and leaves the record wrong: a private thank you does nothing about an email still being forwarded round the division under your name alone.

   The most effective response is to speak to Bea today, agree what her contribution actually was, and then email the director correcting the record with her copied in: the email is wrong and still circulating, she built most of the queries, and a correction agreed with her fixes the record and the relationship at once. It beats replying that the dashboard was a joint effort and leaving her to raise her own part, because that tells the director nothing about who did what. It beats saying nothing publicly and thanking her privately, because a private thank you does not reach an email being forwarded round the division. The least effective response is blaming her to your team for spreading the story and adding that her queries needed correcting: a complaint about credit is answered by attacking the person who earned it, and the director’s email stays as wrong as it was. That makes it worse than the joint-effort reply, which moves the record towards the truth, and worse than the private thanks, which damages nobody. The principle: when credit has landed in the wrong place, correct it with the person who earned it, in writing, to whoever got it wrong.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a programme support officer at Brantwood Services. Every project closure needs a lessons-learned session recorded on the closure form before the project can be signed off. A project is being closed on Friday and the session has not happened; the team has dispersed and two members have left. Your programme manager wants the form completed today. Nothing stops you filling in the box, and nobody checks whether the session happened. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Complete the form leaving the lessons-learned box blank, and let whoever signs the closure off decide for themselves what they want to do about a session that never took place at all.
   2. Ask your programme manager to sign the closure off without the form, and raise the missing session at the next programme board instead.
   3. Tell your programme manager the session has not happened, and propose a thirty-minute call this week with the three people still here, because the form is the only record.
   4. Complete the lessons-learned box today from the project's own progress reports, and record the session as completed so the closure can be signed off on Friday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your programme manager the session has not happened, and propose a thirty-minute call this week with the three people still here, because the form is the only record.

   Least effective: D. Complete the lessons-learned box today from the project's own progress reports, and record the session as completed so the closure can be signed off on Friday.

   A: Leaves a gap without naming it: an empty box on a closure form is indistinguishable from an oversight, and the signer has to guess whether the session was missed or forgotten.

   B: Solves the paperwork and loses the substance: the form can be waived, but the three people still here are the last chance anybody has to capture what the project learned.

   D: Records a session as completed that never took place: the closure file will say lessons were captured from a meeting nobody attended, and the two people who left took the only account of them.

   The most effective response is to tell your programme manager the session has not happened, and propose a thirty-minute call this week with the three people still here: the session is the substance and the form is the record of it, and half an hour produces something real for a Friday sign- off. It beats completing the form with the lessons-learned box left blank, because a blank box tells the signer nothing about whether the session was missed or forgotten. It beats asking her to sign the closure off without the form, because waiving it loses the last chance to capture what the project learned. The least effective response is filling the box from the project’s progress reports and recording the session as completed: a meeting that never happened is written into the closure file, so the organisation’s record is an account nobody gave. That makes it worse than the blank box, which claims nothing, and worse than waiving the form, which does not falsify it. The principle: when a record requires a step that has not happened, do the step or say it is missing, and never write it in.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a contracts assistant at Brantwood Services. A community group that hires a hall from you every Saturday emails asking you to cancel their booking for the next six weeks. In the same email they mention that their usual room has been too cold to use since October and that they have complained twice. Cancelling loses them their Saturday slot permanently, and the heating fault has an open job number. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply asking whether the cold room is the reason for cancelling, tell them the heating job is open, and offer to hold their Saturday slot while it is fixed.
   2. Cancel the six bookings straight away as the email asks, release the Saturday slot to the waiting list, and close the enquiry as a customer request.
   3. Reply asking them to confirm the cancellation in writing from their group's secretary, and process it once you have that confirmation in front of you.
   4. Cancel the bookings as asked and separately chase the heating job, letting the group know when the room is warm again in case they want to come back to it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply asking whether the cold room is the reason for cancelling, tell them the heating job is open, and offer to hold their Saturday slot while it is fixed.

   Least effective: B. Cancel the six bookings straight away as the email asks, release the Saturday slot to the waiting list, and close the enquiry as a customer request.

   B: Closes the request on its face: the email contains a cancellation and a reason for it, and acting on the first while ignoring the second gives away a permanent Saturday slot over a fault that already has a job number.

   C: Delays the decision: a written confirmation adds a step to a cancellation that may not be wanted at all, and the six weeks run out while the paperwork goes back and forth.

   D: Ignores the customer's actual need: the group loses its Saturday slot permanently today and is invited back to a slot that will no longer exist, which is not what an offer to return means.

   The most effective response is to reply asking whether the cold room is the reason for cancelling, tell them the heating job is open, and offer to hold their Saturday slot: the email gives you a request and the reason behind it, the reason has an open job number, and a slot lost permanently cannot be given back. It beats asking them to confirm the cancellation in writing from their secretary, because that delays a cancellation nobody has established is wanted. It beats cancelling as asked and separately chasing the heating, because that offers them a return to a slot that will already have gone. The least effective response is cancelling the six bookings and releasing the Saturday slot to the waiting list: it acts on the words and discards the reason in the same email, and the group loses a permanent slot over a fault the organisation is already fixing. That makes it worse than the written confirmation, which is slow but leaves the slot intact, and worse than cancelling and chasing, which at least chases the fault. The principle: when a request and its reason arrive together, deal with the reason before acting irreversibly on the request.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a correspondence officer at Redhill Directorate. You handle complaints, so you can read every complaint file. A colleague from another team asks you, quietly, whether a named member of staff has had complaints made about them; she says she is on an interview panel for that person next week. Complaint files are not part of recruitment. Your team leader is available, and file access is logged but rarely reviewed. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Refuse to look and say nothing to anybody about the request, on the view that a conversation that goes no further has done no harm.
   2. Tell her you cannot help with that, and suggest she asks the member of staff's own line manager about their record instead.
   3. Tell her what you remember about that member of staff's complaint history from having read the files, and leave the panel to make of it what it will.
   4. Tell her complaint files cannot be used for recruitment and that you will not look, and mention the request to your team leader today.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell her complaint files cannot be used for recruitment and that you will not look, and mention the request to your team leader today.

   Least effective: C. Tell her what you remember about that member of staff's complaint history from having read the files, and leave the panel to make of it what it will.

   A: Declines and records nothing: file access is logged but rarely reviewed, so an approach asking a complaints officer to inform an interview panel leaves no trace unless you leave one.

   B: Moves the request rather than refusing it: a manager asked for somebody's record by a panel member is being asked to do the same thing through a different door.

   C: Judges a colleague to a panel deciding on them: a recollection of complaint files, unchecked and out of context, reaches an interview panel that has no right to it and no way to test it.

   The most effective response is to tell her complaint files cannot be used for recruitment and that you will not look, and mention the request to your team leader today: the answer has to be explicit, and because file access is logged but rarely reviewed, the only reliable record that the request was made is one you create. It beats refusing to look and saying nothing about the request, because a refusal nobody knows about leaves no trace of the approach. It beats suggesting she asks the member of staff’s own line manager, because that asks for the same thing by another route. The least effective response is telling her what you remember of that person’s complaint history: an interview panel is given your recollection of files it has no right to see, unchecked and without context, about somebody who cannot answer it. That makes it worse than the silent refusal, which discloses nothing, and worse than the redirection, which discloses nothing either. The principle: refuse information asked for outside its purpose, and report the request where nothing else would record it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a correspondence officer at Redhill Directorate. A briefing note you are about to send to a director was drafted by a colleague, Nia, who left the team last month; you updated two figures. Nia’s name is on the front of the document. The director has already praised the note in an email to your team leader, naming you. Nia is still employed elsewhere in the organisation. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take Nia's name off the front of the document before sending it, and keep it to yourself that the note was drafted by somebody who has left.
   2. Send the note with Nia's name still on it, and reply to the director's email saying that Nia drafted it and you updated two figures.
   3. Send the note as it is with Nia's name on it, and say nothing to the director about who drafted what.
   4. Reply to the director saying the note was a team effort, without naming Nia or saying which parts were hers.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Send the note with Nia's name still on it, and reply to the director's email saying that Nia drafted it and you updated two figures.

   Least effective: A. Take Nia's name off the front of the document before sending it, and keep it to yourself that the note was drafted by somebody who has left.

   A: Conceals the author to keep the credit: Nia is still employed here, her name was on the document, and taking it off is an act rather than an omission.

   C: Leaves the document right and the record wrong: the director's email names you, your team leader has read it, and the front of the note is not something either of them will look at.

   D: Blurs the credit rather than correcting it: a team effort leaves your name attached and Nia's absent, which is the part that matters to somebody still working here.

   The most effective response is to send the note with Nia’s name still on it, and reply to the director’s email saying she drafted it and you updated two figures: she wrote it, you changed two numbers, she still works here, and one reply corrects the record while it is fresh. It beats sending it as it is with her name on and saying nothing to the director, because the email naming you has already been read by your team leader. It beats replying that the note was a team effort, because that tells the director nothing about who did what. The least effective response is taking her name off the front before sending it: that is an act rather than an oversight, and it removes the only remaining evidence of who wrote it. That makes it worse than the silent send, which destroys nothing, and worse than the team-effort reply, which does not conceal. The principle: correct a wrong attribution in writing to whoever made it, and never remove the author’s name to make the credit fit.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a correspondence officer at Calder Group. In this morning’s stand-up a colleague, Nuala, said in front of the team that you never pick up your phone and that she ends up taking your calls. You share the duty line on alternate days. You do miss calls when you are drafting, and so does she. The stand-up has finished and your team leader was not there. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask Nuala for ten minutes today, agree what cover each of you actually needs when the other is drafting, and say the stand-up was not the place for it.
   2. Answer in the next stand-up with the number of her calls you have taken this month, since the team heard only one side of it.
   3. Say nothing and make a point of answering every call for the next fortnight, and see whether she raises it again.
   4. Stop picking up Nuala's calls after the way she raised it, and let her find out how many of hers you have been taking.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ask Nuala for ten minutes today, agree what cover each of you actually needs when the other is drafting, and say the stand-up was not the place for it.

   Least effective: D. Stop picking up Nuala's calls after the way she raised it, and let her find out how many of hers you have been taking.

   B: Answers a public remark in public: the figures may be on your side, and the two of you still share a duty line with a team now watching the score.

   C: Fixes the symptom for a fortnight: you both miss calls when drafting, and nothing about answering harder for two weeks settles what cover the line actually needs.

   D: Withdraws cover after a remark: the calls that go unanswered are the public's, not Nuala's, and she learns nothing about how the two of you should be covering the line.

   The most effective response is to ask Nuala for ten minutes today, agree what cover each of you needs when the other is drafting, and say the stand-up was not the place for it: the remark was public and partly fair, you both miss calls while drafting, and what needs settling is what the duty line requires. It beats answering in the next stand-up with the number of her calls you have taken, because a public rebuttal leaves you both keeping score in front of the team. It beats saying nothing and answering every call for a fortnight, because that does not settle what the line needs. The least effective response is stopping picking up her calls after the way she raised it: the unanswered calls belong to the public rather than to her, and the question of how the line is covered stays exactly where it was. That makes it worse than the public rebuttal, which is escalatory but factual, and worse than answering harder, which costs nobody. The principle: answer a public remark privately, and never let a disagreement about cover be settled by withdrawing it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a supplier liaison officer at Ashmere Trust. You told a supplier three weeks ago that their new contract paperwork would be signed and returned by the end of this month. Two of the four internal sign-offs are still outstanding and one of the approvers is away for a fortnight. The supplier has told you they are holding two staff on notice for the contract. There are nine working days left. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Reassure the supplier that the paperwork is on track for month end, and chase the two outstanding sign-offs quietly in the meantime.
    2. Ask the absent approver's deputy to sign in their place without telling the supplier anything about the delay until the paperwork is complete.
    3. Email the two outstanding approvers setting a deadline of Friday for their signatures, and decide at the end of the week whether the supplier needs to be told anything at all about it before month end.
    4. Tell the supplier today where the paperwork actually is and that month end is now at risk, because they are holding two people on notice and nine days is long enough for them to plan.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell the supplier today where the paperwork actually is and that month end is now at risk, because they are holding two people on notice and nine days is long enough for them to plan.

    Least effective: A. Reassure the supplier that the paperwork is on track for month end, and chase the two outstanding sign-offs quietly in the meantime.

    A: Gives an assurance the sign-offs do not support: two approvals are outstanding and one approver is away for a fortnight, so the supplier keeps two people on notice on the strength of a claim you cannot make.

    B: Solves the process and not the problem: a deputy signature may or may not be available, and the supplier is still holding two people on notice with no idea that anything is uncertain.

    C: Delays the decision: what matters to the supplier is that month end is at risk, and waiting until Friday spends four of the nine days they could have used.

    The most effective response is to tell the supplier today where the paperwork actually is and that month end is now at risk: they are holding two people on notice, the risk is genuine and already known to you, and nine days is enough for them to plan around it. It beats asking the absent approver’s deputy to sign while telling the supplier nothing, because a deputy signature may not be available and they are left uncertain either way. It beats emailing the two approvers a Friday deadline and deciding at the end of the week whether to tell them, because that spends four of the nine days. The least effective response is reassuring the supplier that the paperwork is on track: two approvals are outstanding and an approver is away for a fortnight, so two people stay on notice on the strength of something untrue. That makes it worse than the deputy signature, which is silent but tries to remove the blockage, and worse than the Friday deadline, which is slow but claims nothing. The principle: when an estimate is at risk and the other side is carrying a cost, tell them while the time is still worth something.