British Council Assessment Tests

British Council Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a case officer at Redhill Directorate. Your team leader asked you on Monday to spend today clearing a backlog of thirty routine renewals. Yesterday you promised an applicant that you would call her back today with a decision on her case, which has already been deferred twice and is holding up her college place. The renewals have no external deadline. Your team leader is contactable by message and answers quickly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Assume the applicant will ring again if it matters, and spend the day on the renewals as your team leader asked.
   2. Message your team leader saying you will make the call first and then start the renewals, because the applicant has been deferred twice and a college place is waiting on it.
   3. Call the applicant, deal with her case properly, and say nothing at all to your team leader about how much of the renewal backlog is left at the end of the day.
   4. Do the thirty renewals as instructed and call the applicant tomorrow, telling her then that the delay was outside your control.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Message your team leader saying you will make the call first and then start the renewals, because the applicant has been deferred twice and a college place is waiting on it.

   Least effective: A. Assume the applicant will ring again if it matters, and spend the day on the renewals as your team leader asked.

   A: Assumes the problem will chase itself: she was promised a call, her case has been deferred twice and a college place depends on it, and none of that is likely to survive her having to ring again.

   C: Solves the clash and hides it: the call is made and your team leader ends the day believing thirty renewals were cleared, so the next instruction is built on a false picture.

   D: Ranks the instruction above the commitment without asking: the renewals have no external deadline and the applicant has, and a message answered quickly would have settled which came first.

   The most effective response is to message your team leader saying you will make the call first and then start the renewals: one claim on your day has an external consequence and the other has none, the applicant was promised a call, and a message tells the person who set your day what you are doing while she can still say otherwise. It beats calling the applicant and saying nothing about how much of the backlog is left, because your team leader ends the day with a false picture. It beats doing the thirty renewals and calling the applicant tomorrow, because the renewals have no deadline and she does. The least effective response is assuming the applicant will ring again if it matters: a promise made yesterday to somebody deferred twice, with a college place waiting, is left to be rescued by her ringing back. That makes it worse than the silent call, which keeps the promise, and worse than the delayed call, which at least makes it the next day. The principle: when an instruction collides with a promise you made, put the clash in front of whoever set the instruction rather than assuming one of them away.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a programme support officer at Brantwood Services. Purchase orders over five thousand pounds need a second approver before they are raised, and the second approver for your programme is on annual leave until Monday. A supplier will hold a six thousand four hundred pound order at today’s price only until 5pm. Your manager is contactable, and a named deputy approver is listed for exactly this situation, though nobody in your team has used them before. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Contact the named deputy approver now, explain the price deadline and the amount, and ask them to give the second approval today, telling your manager you have done so.
   2. Raise the order and sign the second approval off in your manager's name, then mention it to them when they are next free, keeping the price you were quoted.
   3. Ask your manager to approve it themselves as a one-off, noting on the order that the usual second approver is away and that the price expires at 5pm.
   4. Let the price expire and raise the order on Monday when the second approver is back, telling the supplier the order is coming and asking what the new price will be.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Contact the named deputy approver now, explain the price deadline and the amount, and ask them to give the second approval today, telling your manager you have done so.

   Least effective: B. Raise the order and sign the second approval off in your manager's name, then mention it to them when they are next free, keeping the price you were quoted.

   B: Puts your name to somebody else's approval: the second approver exists so that two people have actually looked at a large commitment, and an approval signed in an absent manager's name means one person looked.

   C: Escalates prematurely: a named deputy exists for exactly this situation, and asking a manager to step outside the control is a bigger ask than using the route designed for it.

   D: Gives up before the options are used: the deputy approver is listed for this case and has not been asked, so the price is lost to an assumption that the control cannot be satisfied today.

   The most effective response is to contact the named deputy approver now, explain the price deadline and the amount, and ask for the second approval today: the control exists to put a second pair of eyes on a large commitment, a deputy is listed for precisely this case, and using them satisfies the control and the 5pm price at once. It beats asking your manager to approve it themselves as a one-off, because it does not need an exception when a designed route is available. It beats letting the price expire and raising the order on Monday, because that loses money to an assumption nobody has tested. The least effective response is signing the second approval off in your manager’s name: only one person has looked at a large order, and the record now says two did. That makes it worse than the one-off exception, which keeps a real second person in the decision, and worse than waiting for Monday, which costs money but leaves the control intact. The principle: when a control blocks the work, use the route the control provides before asking for an exception, and never satisfy it on paper only.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a shared services administrator at Brantwood Services. Two things are due at 4pm today. Finance closes its supplier payment run at 4pm and needs your check on eleven invoices before it can go. The training team needs its twenty course confirmations sent by 4pm or the venue releases the rooms. Each job takes about two hours and you have two hours left. Your team leader is at another office and answers messages within ten minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Message your team leader now with both deadlines, the two hours you have and what each job needs, and ask which one to run first while you start on the invoices.
   2. Assure both teams that their work will be done by 4pm, then start on the invoices and get as far through the course confirmations as the remaining time allows.
   3. Split the remaining two hours evenly between the invoices and the course confirmations, leaving both jobs part done when 4pm arrives rather than choosing one of the two teams over the other.
   4. Work through the eleven invoices first, and send the course confirmations tomorrow morning with a note to the training team explaining why they missed the venue deadline.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Message your team leader now with both deadlines, the two hours you have and what each job needs, and ask which one to run first while you start on the invoices.

   Least effective: B. Assure both teams that their work will be done by 4pm, then start on the invoices and get as far through the course confirmations as the remaining time allows.

   B: Gives an assurance you cannot deliver: two hours of work cannot cover four hours of jobs, so the promise is untrue at the moment it is made, and it uses up the ten minutes in which your team leader could have chosen.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: at 4pm the payment run has no completed check and the venue has no confirmations, so both fixed deadlines fail instead of one.

   D: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it decides on your team leader's behalf that the payment run outranks twenty room bookings, when a message answered in ten minutes could have settled it.

   The most effective response is to message your team leader now with both deadlines, the two hours you have and what each job needs, and start on the invoices while you wait: both deadlines are fixed and external, only one is reachable in the time, and she can answer in ten minutes, so the choice belongs to the person who owns both commitments. It beats splitting the remaining two hours evenly between them, because that misses both deadlines instead of one. It beats working through the eleven invoices and sending the confirmations tomorrow with an explanation, because that makes the same call without asking, and the ten minutes it would have cost were available. The least effective response is assuring both teams their work will be done by 4pm: it tells them something that is not true when it is said, so neither can arrange cover, and the venue and the payment run both discover the problem with no time left. That makes it worse than splitting the time, which at least leaves real work done on both jobs, and worse than doing the invoices, which delivers one deadline in full and tells the other team what happened. The principle: when two fixed commitments collide, surface the clash to whoever owns both rather than choosing on their behalf or promising both.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a business support officer at Calder Group. A training course you administer is being run on Thursday by an external tutor. This morning the tutor emails to say she has broken her wrist and cannot travel. Twenty-two people are booked, the venue is booked, and the team that sends joining instructions does so at 2pm today. It is 11am and your manager is in a meeting until noon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cancel Thursday's course yourself this morning and email all twenty-two attendees to tell them it will be rearranged for a later date once another tutor has been found.
   2. Tell the joining instructions team now that Thursday is in doubt and ask them to hold, then put the tutor's email to your manager at noon with the options.
   3. Reply to the tutor promising that you will find a replacement in time, and let the joining instructions go out at 2pm as normal.
   4. Wait until your manager is free at noon before doing anything, and let the joining instructions team work to their usual 2pm schedule.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell the joining instructions team now that Thursday is in doubt and ask them to hold, then put the tutor's email to your manager at noon with the options.

   Least effective: C. Reply to the tutor promising that you will find a replacement in time, and let the joining instructions go out at 2pm as normal.

   A: Acts alone on a decision that is not yours: cancelling a booked course with twenty-two attendees and a booked venue commits the team to a cost before anybody who owns the budget has been asked.

   C: Promises an outcome you have not secured: no replacement tutor has agreed to anything, and twenty-two people will receive joining instructions at 2pm for a course that may not happen.

   D: Fails to warn a team that is about to act: the joining instructions go out at 2pm whether or not your manager is free at noon, and one message now would have held them.

   The most effective response is to tell the joining instructions team now that Thursday is in doubt and ask them to hold, then put the tutor’s email to your manager at noon: a team is going to act at 2pm on a course that is now in doubt, holding them costs nothing and is reversible, and the decision belongs to your manager, who is free at noon. It beats cancelling Thursday’s course yourself and emailing all twenty-two attendees, because cancelling a booked course and venue is not yours to decide this morning. It beats waiting until noon before doing anything, because the joining instructions leave at 2pm whether or not the meeting has happened. The least effective response is promising the tutor you will find a replacement in time and letting the instructions go out: it commits you to a replacement nobody has agreed and lets twenty-two people receive instructions for a course that may not run. That makes it worse than cancelling early, which is premature but tells the attendees something true, and worse than waiting, which is passive but promises nothing. The principle: when a downstream team is about to act on a fact that has changed, stop them acting before you decide what the answer is.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a correspondence officer at Ashmere Trust. A newsletter going to nine thousand subscribers tomorrow morning states that a grant scheme reopens in April. It reopens in July. The wrong date came from a colleague, Ravi, who sent it in good faith from an old briefing. The newsletter editor is at her desk and can still change it. Ravi is at lunch, and you are the only person who has spotted it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the date yourself in the newsletter system if you have access, and mention it to the editor afterwards when the newsletter has gone.
   2. Wait for Ravi to come back from lunch so he can correct his own error with the editor before the newsletter goes tomorrow.
   3. Email the editor and Ravi's team leader together saying that Ravi has put a wrong date into a newsletter going to nine thousand people, and let them sort it out.
   4. Tell the editor now that the April date is wrong and that the scheme reopens in July, and tell Ravi when he is back so he knows where it came from.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the editor now that the April date is wrong and that the scheme reopens in July, and tell Ravi when he is back so he knows where it came from.

   Least effective: C. Email the editor and Ravi's team leader together saying that Ravi has put a wrong date into a newsletter going to nine thousand people, and let them sort it out.

   A: Acts on somebody else's product without telling them: the editor owns the newsletter and finds out after it has gone that its content was changed by somebody outside her team.

   B: Waits on the person rather than the deadline: the editor can still change it now, and a lunch hour is spent on nine thousand subscribers receiving a wrong date tomorrow morning.

   C: Judges a colleague in the same message as the correction: the date does get fixed, but the fastest route is now carrying an accusation against somebody who acted in good faith from an old briefing.

   The most effective response is to tell the editor now that the April date is wrong and that the scheme reopens in July, and tell Ravi when he is back: nine thousand people receive it tomorrow, she can change it and is at her desk, and telling him afterwards keeps him in the loop about something he sent in good faith. It beats correcting the date yourself in the newsletter system and mentioning it afterwards, because she owns the newsletter and should not learn after publication that its content was altered. It beats waiting for him to come back from lunch to correct it himself, because the correction does not have to wait for a lunch hour. The least effective response is emailing the editor and his team leader together saying he has put a wrong date into a newsletter going to nine thousand people: the correction arrives wrapped in an accusation about an honest mistake from an old briefing. That makes it worse than correcting it yourself, which is aimed only at the date, and worse than waiting, which leaves ownership where it belongs. The principle: send bad news by the shortest route to whoever can act, and keep the question of who caused it out of that message.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a supplier liaison officer at Calder Group. A supplier has invoiced for work that a site inspection has just found was not completed. The invoice is in tomorrow’s payment run. The supplier’s director is due in your office this afternoon about a different contract. Your contracts manager is on a call until four, and the payments team can pull an invoice until five. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise the inspection finding with the supplier's director this afternoon and ask him to withdraw the invoice himself before tomorrow's run.
   2. Wait until your contracts manager is free at four and put the whole thing to her, and let tomorrow's run take its course if there is no time.
   3. Ask the payments team to hold the invoice now and tell your contracts manager as soon as she is free, because tomorrow's run cannot be reversed once it has gone.
   4. Tell the supplier's director this afternoon that the invoice will be fine, and raise the inspection finding with your contracts manager next week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Ask the payments team to hold the invoice now and tell your contracts manager as soon as she is free, because tomorrow's run cannot be reversed once it has gone.

   Least effective: D. Tell the supplier's director this afternoon that the invoice will be fine, and raise the inspection finding with your contracts manager next week.

   A: Negotiates before the facts are settled: the inspection finding has not been through your contracts manager, and asking a director to withdraw an invoice puts the organisation's position in his hands.

   B: Waits past the point of no return: the payments team can pull an invoice until five and your manager is free at four, so the plan works only if nothing overruns.

   D: Tells the supplier something the inspection contradicts: the payment goes out tomorrow and cannot be reversed, and the finding surfaces a week after the money has gone.

   The most effective response is to ask the payments team to hold the invoice now and tell your contracts manager as soon as she is free: the run cannot be reversed, holding is reversible and takes minutes, and she can pick up a held invoice at four but not a paid one tomorrow. It beats raising the inspection finding with the supplier’s director and asking him to withdraw the invoice, because the organisation’s position has not been settled and a director should not be asked to fix it. It beats waiting until four and putting the whole thing to her then, because that depends on nothing overrunning. The least effective response is telling the director this afternoon that the invoice will be fine and raising the finding next week: the supplier is told it is fine when the inspection says the work was not done, and the money goes out beyond recall. That makes it worse than approaching the director to stop it, which is premature but aimed at stopping the payment, and worse than waiting, which says nothing untrue. The principle: when bad news has a deadline attached, stop the irreversible thing first and tell the person who owns it second.

7. Question 7 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.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a programme support officer at Redhill Directorate. Last week you booked the wrong room for a two-day workshop starting Monday. The room you booked seats twelve and thirty-one people are registered. Nobody has noticed, and the confirmation you sent shows only the building. A larger room is free on Monday but not Tuesday, and the bookings team needs three working days’ notice. It is Wednesday and your programme manager is in all week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Email the thirty-one registered attendees now to say that the room has changed, and give them the larger room for Monday and the original small room for Tuesday.
   2. Tell your programme manager today what you booked, that Monday can move to a larger room and Tuesday cannot, and ask how they want to handle the second day.
   3. Book the larger room for Monday and say nothing about Tuesday, and deal with the thirty-one people in a room for twelve when Tuesday morning arrives.
   4. Ask the bookings team to make an exception and release a larger room for both days at two working days' notice, and wait to hear what they say.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your programme manager today what you booked, that Monday can move to a larger room and Tuesday cannot, and ask how they want to handle the second day.

   Least effective: C. Book the larger room for Monday and say nothing about Tuesday, and deal with the thirty-one people in a room for twelve when Tuesday morning arrives.

   A: Tells the wrong people first: thirty-one attendees are given a two-room arrangement nobody has agreed, and the manager who has to stand in the small room on Tuesday hears about it from them.

   C: Withholds a problem that is certain to arrive: Tuesday's room seats twelve and thirty-one people will be at the door, and the two working days in which somebody could have solved it are spent in silence.

   D: Waits on a request instead of raising the problem: the bookings team may say no, and Wednesday to Monday is the whole of the time anybody has to arrange an alternative.

   The most effective response is to tell your programme manager today what you booked, that Monday can move to a larger room and Tuesday cannot, and ask how to handle the second day: the mistake is yours, half of it can be fixed and half cannot, and the person who has to run a workshop for thirty-one people in a room for twelve needs to know on Wednesday rather than on the day. It beats emailing the thirty-one attendees now with a larger room for Monday and the small one for Tuesday, because they are told about an arrangement nobody has agreed. It beats asking the bookings team to make an exception for both days, because they may say no and the days before Monday are all the time anybody has. The least effective response is booking the larger room for Monday and saying nothing about Tuesday: the day that cannot be fixed is discovered by thirty-one people at a locked door. That makes it worse than emailing attendees, which is out of order but tells somebody, and worse than the exception request, which is passive but tries to solve both days. The principle: when your own mistake has a part that cannot be fixed, that is the part to raise first and earliest.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a casework assistant at Brantwood Services. A woman comes to the counter in tears because her childcare payment has stopped. The rules require a signed form and a bank statement before any payment can be restarted; she has the form and no statement, and says her bank charges for paper copies. Payments restart within two days of a complete application. A supervisor can accept alternative evidence. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the signed form now, ask the supervisor whether the bank details she can show on her phone count as alternative evidence, and tell her what happens either way.
   2. Tell her the rules require a bank statement and that nothing can be done at all until she brings one in, and give her a leaflet explaining the process.
   3. Take the signed form and hold it on your desk until she comes back with a statement, and tell her to return as soon as she has one.
   4. Restart the payment on the form she has brought and add her bank statement to the file whenever she manages to get hold of one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Take the signed form now, ask the supervisor whether the bank details she can show on her phone count as alternative evidence, and tell her what happens either way.

   Least effective: D. Restart the payment on the form she has brought and add her bank statement to the file whenever she manages to get hold of one.

   B: Applies the rule and skips the route inside it: a supervisor can accept alternative evidence, which is the part of the rules written for exactly this, and she leaves with a leaflet and no payment.

   C: Holds the form and helps nobody: the two-day clock starts on a complete application, so a signed form on your desk changes nothing while she is charged for a statement she cannot afford.

   D: Breaches a payment control on a sympathetic case: the evidence requirement exists for every claimant, and a payment restarted without it is a decision you are not entitled to take, however deserving.

   The most effective response is to take the signed form now, ask the supervisor whether the bank details on her phone count as alternative evidence, and tell her what happens either way: the rules themselves allow a supervisor to accept alternative evidence, and taking the form means the two-day clock starts the moment that question is settled. It beats telling her the rules require a bank statement and that nothing can be done until she brings one, because that stops at the first sentence of a rule written for this situation. It beats taking the form and holding it until she returns with a statement, because a form on your desk does not start anything. The least effective response is restarting the payment on the form she has brought: it goes ahead without the evidence every other claimant provides, on a decision that is not yours, and leaves a payment nothing supports. That makes it worse than the flat refusal, which is correct, and worse than holding the form, which is harmless. The principle: sympathy is a reason to use every route inside the rules, never a reason to step outside them on your own authority.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a shared services administrator at Ashmere Trust. You process staff mileage claims. Last month you approved a claim of four hundred and twenty pounds when the correct figure, on the rates in force, was two hundred and ten; you used last year’s rate. The money has been paid. The claimant has not noticed. Nobody audits approved claims. Your team leader is in the office. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Email the claimant directly to explain the overpayment and ask them to repay the difference, without involving anybody else in the team.
    2. Tell your team leader today what you approved and how it happened, and ask how the overpayment should be raised with the claimant.
    3. Amend the claim record to show two hundred and ten pounds, and let the difference sit as an unexplained variance in next month's figures.
    4. Correct the rate table you were working from and leave the paid claim alone, on the view that a single overpayment is not worth the trouble.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Tell your team leader today what you approved and how it happened, and ask how the overpayment should be raised with the claimant.

    Least effective: C. Amend the claim record to show two hundred and ten pounds, and let the difference sit as an unexplained variance in next month's figures.

    A: Acts alone on somebody else's money: a demand for two hundred and ten pounds arriving from one administrator, with nobody in the team aware, gives the claimant nothing to check it against.

    C: Amends a record to match what should have happened: the claimant keeps two hundred and ten pounds the rates do not allow, and the file now shows a correct claim that was never paid.

    D: Fixes the cause and ignores the effect: the rate table is right from now on, and public money that was overpaid stays overpaid because nobody would have noticed.

    The most effective response is to tell your team leader today what you approved and how it happened, and ask how the overpayment should be raised with the claimant: the error is yours, the money has gone, and how it is recovered from a member of staff has rules attached that she knows and you do not. It beats emailing the claimant directly to explain and ask for repayment, because a demand from one administrator gives them nothing to check it against. It beats correcting the rate table and leaving the paid claim alone, because a corrected table does nothing about money already paid. The least effective response is amending the claim record to show two hundred and ten pounds and letting the difference sit as a variance: the record shows the claim that should have been made rather than the one that was paid, so the overpayment becomes invisible to everybody. That makes it worse than the direct email, which is irregular but honest, and worse than fixing the table, which conceals nothing. The principle: correct the record to what happened, and take the consequence to whoever owns the rules for dealing with it.