Civil Service Assessment Tests

Civil Service Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a contracts assistant at Redhill Directorate. The contracts database has been down since yesterday. Orders normally go through it so that spend is checked against each budget before it is committed. Three budget holders are asking you to raise urgent orders today. You can raise orders directly with suppliers by email, which the system was brought in to stop, and there is no other way to check the spend. Your manager is available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the three budget holders that nothing can be raised until the database is back, and leave it to them to decide how urgent their orders really are.
   2. Tell your manager the database is down and ask which of the three orders genuinely cannot wait, and what check should stand in for the budget check today.
   3. Raise all three orders by email to the suppliers this afternoon, since the budget check can be done retrospectively once the database comes back up again.
   4. Raise the one order from the budget holder who shouts loudest and hold the other two, and mention it to your manager at the end of the day.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your manager the database is down and ask which of the three orders genuinely cannot wait, and what check should stand in for the budget check today.

   Least effective: C. Raise all three orders by email to the suppliers this afternoon, since the budget check can be done retrospectively once the database comes back up again.

   A: Declines without escalating: three budget holders calling something urgent is exactly the situation a manager exists to rank, and an outage is not a decision you have to take alone.

   C: Breaches the control the system exists to enforce: three orders are committed with no budget check at all, and a check made after the money is committed cannot stop anything.

   D: Substitutes volume for priority: which order is genuinely urgent is decided by who complained hardest, and the manager who could have decided hears about it after the order has gone.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager the database is down and ask which of the three orders genuinely cannot wait, and what check should stand in for the budget check today: the outage removes the only check that exists, three people are calling their orders urgent, and both the ranking and the substitute check belong to her. It beats telling the three budget holders nothing can be raised until the database is back, because an outage does not settle which of three orders is genuinely urgent. It beats raising the one from the budget holder who shouts loudest, because volume is not urgency. The least effective response is raising all three by email this afternoon on the basis that the budget check can be done retrospectively: three orders are committed with no check, and one performed afterwards cannot stop money already promised to a supplier. That makes it worse than refusing all three, which keeps the control, and worse than raising one, which exposes a single order rather than three. The principle: when a system failure removes a control, ask what replaces the control, rather than treating the failure as permission to go without it.

2. Question 2 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a contracts assistant at Ashmere Trust. Two things fall today. A supplier’s framework expires at five and needs a two-hour extension pack lodged before then, or a hundred orders cannot be placed next week. A tender opens at five and needs a two-hour compliance check before it goes live, or it opens with an error in the specification. It is one o’clock. Your team leader is available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do two hours on the framework pack and two hours on the compliance check by working until seven this evening, and lodge them both after their deadlines have passed.
   2. Message your team leader with both five o'clock deadlines and the four hours of work behind them, and start the framework pack while you wait for an answer.
   3. Assume somebody else in the team has picked one of them up, and work steadily through the framework pack until five o'clock arrives.
   4. Do the compliance check first, on the view that a live tender with a specification error is public, and lodge the framework extension first thing tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Message your team leader with both five o'clock deadlines and the four hours of work behind them, and start the framework pack while you wait for an answer.

   Least effective: C. Assume somebody else in the team has picked one of them up, and work steadily through the framework pack until five o'clock arrives.

   A: Works past the deadlines rather than around them: both items are timed at five, so four hours finished at seven produces two pieces of complete work that arrive too late to be of any use.

   C: Assumes cover that nobody has arranged: no one has been asked, both deadlines are at five, and the most likely outcome is that the tender opens with an error nobody looked for.

   D: Chooses between the two alone: the reasoning may be right, but a hundred orders against a public specification error is a trade- off your team leader can make in two minutes and has not been offered.

   The most effective response is to message your team leader with both five o’clock deadlines and the four hours behind them, and start the framework pack while you wait: four hours of work sit behind two deadlines four hours away, only one can be finished, and which matters more is a judgement she can make quickly. It beats working until seven on two hours of each, because work finished then arrives after both deadlines. It beats doing the compliance check first because a live tender error is public, since the trade-off has not been offered to the person who can make it. The least effective response is assuming somebody else has picked one up and working steadily through the framework pack: nobody has been asked to cover anything, so a tender very likely opens publicly with an error nobody looked at. That makes it worse than working late, which is futile but does the work, and worse than choosing the compliance check, which chooses badly but chooses. The principle: two fixed deadlines and half the time is a decision to hand upwards, not a gap to hope somebody else has filled.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an enquiries officer at Brantwood Services. You are alone on the duty line. One caller needs a forty-minute walkthrough of a twelve-page form and has already begun. Eleven calls are queued and the wait message says twenty minutes. Your team has a callback list for exactly this situation, which nobody has used this year. A colleague’s personal mobile is written on a note by the phone. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Give the waiting callers a colleague's personal mobile number from the note by the phone, and stay on the forty-minute walkthrough uninterrupted to the end.
   2. Ask the caller if you can ring them back in an hour, put the eleven waiting callers on the callback list, and work through it in the order they rang.
   3. Finish the forty-minute walkthrough exactly as started and let the eleven waiting callers either wait it out or ring off, and deal with whoever is still there afterwards.
   4. Cut the walkthrough short at ten minutes and take the eleven waiting calls, telling the first caller to try again tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask the caller if you can ring them back in an hour, put the eleven waiting callers on the callback list, and work through it in the order they rang.

   Least effective: A. Give the waiting callers a colleague's personal mobile number from the note by the phone, and stay on the forty-minute walkthrough uninterrupted to the end.

   A: Breaches a colleague's privacy and the call route: eleven callers are given a personal number belonging to somebody who is not on duty and cannot see their records, and the queue is solved by exporting it.

   C: Holds the queue rather than managing it: a callback list exists for exactly this, and eleven callers spend twenty minutes finding out whether they are prepared to wait forty.

   D: Sacrifices the call in progress to the queue behind it: the first caller is halfway through a twelve-page form and is sent away to start again tomorrow.

   The most effective response is to ask the caller if you can ring them back in an hour, put the eleven waiting callers on the callback list, and work through it in order: one call needs forty minutes, eleven are queued behind it, and the team already has a callback list built for exactly this. It beats finishing the walkthrough and dealing with whoever is still there, because a queue held that long empties by people giving up. It beats cutting the walkthrough short at ten minutes and telling the first caller to try again tomorrow, because somebody halfway through a twelve- page form is sent away to start again. The least effective response is handing the waiting callers a colleague’s personal mobile number: eleven people reach somebody not on duty who cannot see their records and never agreed to it. That makes it worse than finishing the walkthrough, which keeps every call inside the service, and worse than cutting it short, which handles the rest properly. The principle: when a long call blocks a queue, use the route your team has for it rather than exporting the queue to somebody else’s phone.

5. Question 5 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.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a shared services administrator at Ashmere Trust. Every month the leavers list from HR arrives after the payroll cut-off, so leavers are paid an extra month and the money is chased back afterwards. It has happened for at least a year. HR say the list is sent on time; payroll say it arrives late. Nobody has compared the timestamps. You have access to both mailboxes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Carry on chasing the overpayments back each month as everybody has done for a year, and raise it again the next time somebody happens to mention it in a team meeting.
   2. Pull the send and receive timestamps for the last six months from both mailboxes, and put the comparison to the two team leaders with a proposed cut-off.
   3. Record each month's leavers list as received on the cut-off date whatever time it actually arrives, since the overpayments are recovered afterwards anyway.
   4. Email both team leaders saying that leavers are being overpaid every month, and ask them to sort out between themselves whose deadline is wrong.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Pull the send and receive timestamps for the last six months from both mailboxes, and put the comparison to the two team leaders with a proposed cut-off.

   Least effective: C. Record each month's leavers list as received on the cut-off date whatever time it actually arrives, since the overpayments are recovered afterwards anyway.

   A: Keeps the workaround running for another year: the chase-back works, which is exactly why nobody has ever had to find out whose deadline is wrong.

   C: Records a receipt date that is not the receipt date: the timestamps are the only evidence of where the failure is, and writing the cut-off date over them destroys the thing that would settle it.

   D: Asks two teams to settle a dispute neither can win: HR and payroll have each stated their position for a year, and nothing changes without the timestamps that only you can pull.

   The most effective response is to pull the send and receive timestamps for the last six months from both mailboxes, and put the comparison to the two team leaders with a proposed cut-off: the dispute has run a year because nobody has the evidence, you are the only person with access to both sides, and that turns an argument into a decision. It beats chasing the overpayments back each month and raising it when somebody mentions it, because recovering the money is the reason nothing has ever had to change. It beats emailing both team leaders to say leavers are being overpaid and asking them to settle whose deadline is wrong, because both have stated their positions for a year and neither has the data. The least effective response is recording each month’s leavers list as received on the cut-off date whatever time it arrives: it writes over the only evidence capable of settling where the failure is, and the overpayments go on. That makes it worse than chasing the money, which preserves the record, and worse than the email, which harms nothing. The principle: when a recurring failure has two teams blaming each other, produce the evidence rather than repeating the workaround or the argument.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a records officer at Redhill Directorate. A member of the public phones about a document request she submitted three weeks ago. She has a tribunal hearing in nine days and wants to know whether the document will reach her in time. The team that holds it has told you only that it is with their reviewer, with no date. Your service standard is twenty working days, which expires in five. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the standard is twenty working days and that you are not able to comment on the timescale of any individual request, and suggest she contact the reviewing team directly if she needs a date.
   2. Put her through to the reviewing team so she can ask them about the date herself, and note on the file that the call was transferred.
   3. Take her tribunal date down on the file and end the call without telling her that you have no date from the reviewing team, leaving her free of unnecessary worry.
   4. Tell her what you actually know: the request is with the reviewing team, the standard expires in five working days, and you will chase it today and call her back on Thursday either way.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell her what you actually know: the request is with the reviewing team, the standard expires in five working days, and you will chase it today and call her back on Thursday either way.

   Least effective: C. Take her tribunal date down on the file and end the call without telling her that you have no date from the reviewing team, leaving her free of unnecessary worry.

   A: Ignores the customer's actual need: she has asked whether a document will arrive before a hearing in nine days, and a recital of the service standard answers a different question and leaves the chasing with her.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: the reviewing team has already given you all it has, so a transferred caller repeats her question to somebody who will say the same thing.

   C: Hides the problem behind a silent deadline: she puts the phone down believing her request is on track, and the one fact that would let her prepare for a hearing without the document is the fact she is not told.

   The most effective response is to tell her what you actually know: the request is with the reviewing team, the standard expires in five working days, and you will chase it today and call her back on Thursday. She needs to plan around a hearing, and that gives her something she can act on while the chasing stays where it belongs. It beats explaining the twenty- day standard and suggesting she contact the reviewing team herself, because that answers a question she did not ask and leaves the chasing with her. It beats putting her through to the reviewing team, because they have nothing more to tell her than you already have. The least effective response is taking her tribunal date down and ending the call without saying you have no date: she believes the request is on track, which is the one thing that stops her preparing for a hearing without the document. That makes it worse than explaining the standard, which at least tells her the timescale, and worse than the transfer, which is unhelpful but leaves no false picture. The principle: when you cannot give a certainty, give the position you actually have and a date you will come back on, rather than silence dressed as reassurance.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an application assessor at Redhill Directorate. Three weeks ago a panel awarded a training grant to twelve applicants, ranked on scores you supplied. You have found that one applicant’s score was entered as sixty-two instead of eighty-two, and corrected he would have ranked third rather than thirteenth. The twelve have been told. The panel chair is on leave for a week and there is a deputy chair. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the score in the system and say nothing to anybody, on the view that twelve awards have been announced and cannot easily be unpicked.
   2. Take the corrected score to the deputy chair today with what it does to the ranking, and ask how they want to handle an applicant who should have been awarded.
   3. Wait the week until the panel chair is back and put it to her then, because a decision about reopening an awarded grant round is properly hers.
   4. Email the applicant to say his score was recorded wrongly and that you are looking into what can be done about his application.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Take the corrected score to the deputy chair today with what it does to the ranking, and ask how they want to handle an applicant who should have been awarded.

   Least effective: A. Correct the score in the system and say nothing to anybody, on the view that twelve awards have been announced and cannot easily be unpicked.

   A: Withholds a correction from everybody who could act on it: the thirteenth applicant lost a grant to a transcription error, and the corrected score sits in a system nobody will look at again.

   C: Waits for the ideal decision-maker rather than an available one: a deputy chair exists for a week's absence, and every day is a day the applicant does not know and cannot ask.

   D: Tells the person who cannot act and not the people who can: the applicant learns he was scored wrongly and that somebody is looking into it, with nobody yet asked to decide anything.

   The most effective response is to take the corrected score to the deputy chair today with what it does to the ranking, and ask how they want to handle an applicant who should have been awarded: a twenty-point transcription error moved him from third to thirteenth, a deputy chair exists precisely for a week’s absence, and the question is the panel’s rather than yours. It beats waiting the week until the panel chair is back, because that buys a marginally better decision-maker at the applicant’s expense. It beats emailing the applicant to say his score was recorded wrongly, because it tells the one person who cannot do anything about it before anybody who can. The least effective response is correcting the score in the system and saying nothing: the number is repaired and an applicant who should have been awarded a grant is the only party permanently unaware anything went wrong. That makes it worse than waiting for the chair, which reaches the panel, and worse than emailing him, which at least tells him the truth. The principle: when a decision rested on a figure that has since been corrected, take it to whoever can still revisit the decision, and take it to somebody who is actually there.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a business support officer at Calder Group. You run bookings for a public advice service. A woman emails asking to cancel her Thursday appointment and rebook in six weeks. In the same email she mentions she is being evicted on the fifteenth of next month. The adviser she is booked with covers housing, and the appointment in six weeks would fall after the eviction date. There is a duty housing slot most weekday mornings. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply asking whether the eviction date is why she wants to move the appointment, keep Thursday open for now, and tell her about the duty housing slots.
   2. Reply confirming the six-week rebooking and assure her the adviser will still be able to help then, since housing advice is available at any stage of a case.
   3. Cancel Thursday and rebook in six weeks exactly as she has asked, and add a note to the file about the eviction date she mentioned.
   4. Reply telling her that the appointment in six weeks falls after the fifteenth, and ask her to let you know what she would like to do.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply asking whether the eviction date is why she wants to move the appointment, keep Thursday open for now, and tell her about the duty housing slots.

   Least effective: B. Reply confirming the six-week rebooking and assure her the adviser will still be able to help then, since housing advice is available at any stage of a case.

   B: Gives an assurance the timing does not support: the appointment she is being confirmed into falls after the date she is evicted, and telling her it will still help is the reason she will not look for anything sooner.

   C: Acts on the words and files the reason: the note records an eviction date that nobody will read before the appointment she has just moved past it.

   D: Names the problem and leaves the solution out: she now knows the date does not work and still has no idea that duty slots exist, which is the part that would actually help her.

   The most effective response is to reply asking whether the eviction date is why she wants to move the appointment, keep Thursday open for now, and tell her about the duty housing slots: her email contains a request and a fact that makes the request harmful to her, and holding Thursday keeps every option open until she has decided. It beats cancelling Thursday and rebooking in six weeks with a note about the eviction date, because a note on the file is read by nobody before the date passes. It beats telling her the six-week appointment falls after the fifteenth and asking what she would like to do, because that gives her the problem without the duty slots. The least effective response is confirming the six-week rebooking and assuring her the adviser can still help: it books a slot that lands after the eviction and adds a reassurance that makes it less likely she looks for help sooner. That makes it worse than the cancellation with a note, which at least records the reason, and worse than flagging the date, which is incomplete but true. The principle: when a request and a fact in the same message pull against each other, answer the fact before you act on the request.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a records officer at Brantwood Services. At a monthly team meeting a colleague, Dev, said in front of the whole team that your file indexing is careless and that he has to redo it. He gave no examples. You and Dev split the weekly archive run between you and rely on each other’s indexing. Your team leader was in the meeting and said nothing at the time. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Ask your team leader to raise the remark with Dev on your behalf, and avoid the subject with him yourself until the two of them have had that conversation, if they ever do.
    2. Say nothing to Dev and start keeping your own record of every file you index, in case the accusation is repeated at a later meeting.
    3. Ask Dev for the specific files he has had to redo, and go through them with him this week to see whether the indexing or the guidance is the problem.
    4. Stop doing the archive run for Dev after that remark, and let him find out how much of the indexing he has actually been relying on.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Ask Dev for the specific files he has had to redo, and go through them with him this week to see whether the indexing or the guidance is the problem.

    Least effective: D. Stop doing the archive run for Dev after that remark, and let him find out how much of the indexing he has actually been relying on.

    A: Escalates before asking: Dev gave no examples and has not been asked for any, and a team leader sent in first turns a vague remark into a formal matter.

    B: Prepares for the next argument instead of ending this one: a private file of your own work answers an accusation nobody has tested, and the archive run still depends on the two of you.

    D: Withdraws work after a remark: the archive run is a shared obligation, so the people who notice first are the ones waiting on the files, and Dev's actual examples are still unknown.

    The most effective response is to ask Dev for the specific files he has had to redo, and go through them with him this week: the accusation was specific in tone and vague in content, you depend on each other’s indexing every week, and asking for the files turns an unsupported remark into something checkable. It beats asking your team leader to raise it with him on your behalf, because he has not been asked for a single example and bringing a manager in first makes it formal. It beats keeping your own record of every file you index, because a private record answers an accusation nobody has tested. The least effective response is stopping the archive run for him after the remark: a shared obligation is withdrawn, so the people who feel it first are those waiting on the archive, and nobody ever finds out whether the indexing was wrong. That makes it worse than involving the team leader, which is heavy-handed but aimed at the problem, and worse than the private record, which harms nobody. The principle: answer an unsupported criticism by asking for the evidence, not by taking your work away.