Financial Conduct Authority Assessment Tests

FCA Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an audit associate testing a client’s stock records. Four of the thirty items in your sample have no paperwork behind them. Your senior told the client’s finance team yesterday that the testing was going well. The file is reviewed on Friday, and the four items would change what it concludes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask the client's finance team to find the missing paperwork, and decide what the working paper should say once you have seen whether they can produce it.
   2. Write the four items up in the working paper today and take them to your senior straight away, so the conclusion can be revisited well before the file is reviewed on Friday.
   3. Write the four items up in the working paper without telling your senior, so the file records the position and nobody has to reopen what the client has already been told about the testing.
   4. Finish the remaining testing first and put all of the sample's problems to your senior together on Friday morning, so the discussion happens once rather than in pieces.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Write the four items up in the working paper today and take them to your senior straight away, so the conclusion can be revisited well before the file is reviewed on Friday.

   Least effective: C. Write the four items up in the working paper without telling your senior, so the file records the position and nobody has to reopen what the client has already been told about the testing.

   A: Lets the client settle a file point: the gap is evidence in its own right, and whether it is recorded stops being your judgement or your senior's.

   C: Stays silent on a point the reviewer needs: the paper is technically complete, but the one person who could act on it before Friday learns nothing, and the client keeps a picture that is now wrong.

   D: Delays the decision: Friday morning is the review itself, which leaves no time to do anything about four items that change the conclusion.

   The most effective response is to write the four items up in the working paper today and take them to your senior straight away: four unsupported items in a sample of thirty is a finding, your senior owns the conclusion, and there are days left to act on it. It beats finishing the remaining testing and putting all the sample’s problems to them together on Friday morning, because Friday is the review, so raising it then is raising it too late to change anything. It beats asking the client’s finance team to find the missing paperwork first, because missing paperwork is itself the evidence, and waiting hands them the decision about what your file says. The least effective response is writing the four items up without telling your senior: the paper is complete and the one person who could act is not told, so the error survives review and the client keeps an assurance that is no longer true. That is silence about something somebody needed, which is a different kind of wrong from raising it late, or from keeping the question open with the client. The principle: put evidence in front of the person who owns the conclusion while they can still use it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an onboarding analyst. A client’s go-live has slipped by three weeks. The client’s project manager is relaxed about dates; your own sales colleague has a bonus tied to this quarter and has been telling people it will land. Both need to know today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send both of them the same written note at the same time, without speaking to your sales colleague first about what it is going to say.
   2. Tell your sales colleague first so he is not blindsided, then send both him and the client the same written note setting out the new date and why.
   3. Tell the client first and blame your sales colleague for the dates, explaining that he has been giving out timings he was never in a position to commit the firm to.
   4. Tell your sales colleague today and leave him to decide when and how the client should be told about the three-week slip.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your sales colleague first so he is not blindsided, then send both him and the client the same written note setting out the new date and why.

   Least effective: C. Tell the client first and blame your sales colleague for the dates, explaining that he has been giving out timings he was never in a position to commit the firm to.

   A: Treats two very different stakes identically: he reads about his quarter in a group email, which is the part that could have been handled.

   C: Criticises a colleague to the client: the slip is real, and what the client now knows is that your own firm's people contradict each other.

   D: Hands the client message to the person most likely to delay it: the client needs the date today.

   The most effective response is to tell your sales colleague first so he is not blindsided, then send him and the client the same written note setting out the new date and why: both get the same facts in writing, and the person with most at stake hears it from you first rather than in a group email. It beats sending both the same note at the same time without speaking to him first, because a two-minute warning costs nothing and matters a lot to him. It beats telling him today and leaving him to decide when the client hears, because the client’s date should not wait on his convenience. The least effective response is telling the client that your colleague has been giving out timings he could not commit the firm to: a delivery slip reaches the client as a criticism of your own side, so the firm looks divided and he is undermined in front of the account. That is personalising it rather than sequencing it badly. The principle: same facts to both, and warn the one who will take it hardest.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an onboarding analyst. A colleague in sales asks you to confirm to his prospect that their account can be live by the end of the month, which would win the deal. Accounts like this usually take six weeks and the checks are not yours. It is the eighteenth. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him six weeks is typical, that you cannot commit to month end, and offer to ask the checks team today whether this one could be prioritised.
   2. Promise him the account will be live by month end, since he needs it to win the deal and there is a reasonable chance the checks come back quickly this time.
   3. Tell him the timing is nothing to do with you at all, and that he will have to ask the checks team himself if he wants a firm date for the prospect.
   4. Tell him you will find out and come back to him, without saying anything now about how long these accounts normally take.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him six weeks is typical, that you cannot commit to month end, and offer to ask the checks team today whether this one could be prioritised.

   Least effective: B. Promise him the account will be live by month end, since he needs it to win the deal and there is a reasonable chance the checks come back quickly this time.

   B: Gives a promise about somebody else's process: the prospect signs on it, and when six weeks turns out to be six weeks the firm has broken a commitment it never made.

   C: Passes a colleague away from help you could give: you know the typical timescale and could ask, and he is left starting from nothing.

   D: Withholds the useful part: he is talking to the prospect today, and the six-week norm is the thing that would stop him promising anything.

   The most effective response is to tell him six weeks is typical, that you cannot commit to month end, and offer to ask the checks team today whether this one could be prioritised: it gives him the fact that matters now, refuses the commitment that is not yours, and offers the one action that might help. It beats telling him the timing is nothing to do with you and he must ask the checks team himself, because you hold information he needs and can ask a question he cannot. It beats saying you will find out and come back without giving him the usual timescale, because he may promise month end today while waiting. The least effective response is promising the account will be live by month end: a firm date is given for a process run by another team, and a prospect signs a deal on it. That is a commitment you cannot back rather than an unhelpful answer. The principle: give the norm, refuse the promise, and offer the ask.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a client services associate. A client emails asking why a charge on her statement is £45 rather than the £30 she expected. Charges are calculated by another team, but the tariff is on a page you can see, and it takes two minutes to read. She has asked twice already. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Read the tariff, reply today explaining exactly how the £45 is made up, and offer to raise it with the charges team if the breakdown still looks wrong to her.
   2. Reply asking her to send you last month's statement as well, so that you can compare the two before saying anything about how the charge was calculated.
   3. Send her email over to the charges team without reading the tariff yourself, and close the query on your side so that it no longer shows on your own list.
   4. Reply with a general explanation of how monthly charges can vary, and offer to look up the exact breakdown for her if she still wants it after that.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Read the tariff, reply today explaining exactly how the £45 is made up, and offer to raise it with the charges team if the breakdown still looks wrong to her.

   Least effective: C. Send her email over to the charges team without reading the tariff yourself, and close the query on your side so that it no longer shows on your own list.

   B: Asks the customer for work you do not need: the tariff explains this month's figure on its own, and she is given a task instead of an answer.

   C: Passes the question on for a second time: she has asked twice, the answer is two minutes away on a page in front of you, and she is handed to a team she has no relationship with.

   D: Answers a specific question with a general one: she asked how £45 was arrived at, and she has to ask a third time to get it.

   The most effective response is to read the tariff, reply today explaining exactly how the £45 is made up, and offer to raise it with the charges team if the breakdown still looks wrong: the answer is two minutes away, she has asked twice, and the offer keeps the door open without promising an outcome. It beats replying with a general explanation of how monthly charges can vary, because that does not explain £45. It beats asking her to send last month’s statement for comparison, because nothing in it is needed to read this month’s tariff. The least effective response is sending her email to the charges team unread and closing the query on your side: the question she has now asked three times moves to another team, and she waits again for something you could have answered today. That is handing it on rather than answering it poorly. The principle: if the answer is within reach, reach for it.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a customer service adviser. You and a colleague set up a daily handover at 2pm and run it together. She disagreed with you sharply in front of the team on Monday and it has been awkward since. Nobody else attends, and the afternoon shift works from what comes out of it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop turning up to the handover so that you do not have to face her every afternoon, and leave the afternoon shift to work out for themselves that it has stopped.
   2. Keep going to the handover and say nothing at all about Monday, on the basis that these things fade if nobody picks at them.
   3. Ask your team leader to take the daily handover over from the two of you entirely, without explaining to her that Monday is the reason you would rather not be running it.
   4. Keep going to the handover, and tell her plainly that Monday is finished as far as you are concerned so that it does not sit between you every afternoon.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Keep going to the handover, and tell her plainly that Monday is finished as far as you are concerned so that it does not sit between you every afternoon.

   Least effective: A. Stop turning up to the handover so that you do not have to face her every afternoon, and leave the afternoon shift to work out for themselves that it has stopped.

   A: Withdraws from a shared commitment to avoid somebody: the afternoon shift loses the handover it works from, and the people who pay for Monday are the ones who were not in the room.

   B: Waits out an atmosphere: the handover keeps running and both of you keep having it in a silence neither can break.

   C: Hands off a working arrangement without the reason: your team leader inherits it not knowing why, and the disagreement is still there underneath.

   The most effective response is to keep going to the handover and tell her plainly that Monday is finished as far as you are concerned: the handover matters to a shift that was not part of the argument, and saying it is closed is the smallest thing that lets both of you carry on. It beats keeping going and saying nothing at all about Monday, because an unspoken disagreement makes every handover harder. It beats asking your team leader to take the handover over without explaining why, because handing it upward without the reason solves nothing and loses the arrangement. The least effective response is stopping turning up to the handover so you do not have to face her: a commitment you set up yourself is dropped to avoid somebody, and the afternoon shift finds out by missing it. That is withdrawal as payback rather than an awkward or evasive response. The principle: never let the people outside the argument pay for it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. The board pack goes at 9am tomorrow and one department has not sent its cost figures. Their manager is uncontactable until the morning. Last month’s figure for that department was £84,000 and the trend has been flat. Everything else in the pack is finished. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the pack without that department's page at all, so that everything in it is a figure somebody has actually supplied.
   2. Enter a figure that you work out from last month's £84,000, since the trend has been flat, and finish the pack as complete without saying where the number came from.
   3. Hold the pack until the department's manager can be reached in the morning, and send it out as soon as the real figure has arrived.
   4. Put the pack together with that department's line marked as not yet received, and tell the finance director tonight which line is missing and why.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Put the pack together with that department's line marked as not yet received, and tell the finance director tonight which line is missing and why.

   Least effective: B. Enter a figure that you work out from last month's £84,000, since the trend has been flat, and finish the pack as complete without saying where the number came from.

   A: Removes the gap from view: a missing page reads as an oversight, and the board cannot ask about a line they cannot see is absent.

   B: Invents a figure and records it as reported: the board reads a number nobody in that department has given, and nothing on the page says it was estimated.

   C: Puts a fixed 9am deadline at the mercy of one telephone call: the board gets nothing at all if the manager is late.

   The most effective response is to put the pack together with that department’s line marked as not yet received, and tell the finance director tonight which line is missing and why: the pack lands at 9am, every figure in it is one somebody supplied, the gap is visible, and the director knows before the room does. It beats holding the pack until the department’s manager can be reached in the morning, because a 9am board pack cannot wait on one manager’s morning. It beats sending it without that department’s page at all, because a silently absent page hides the very thing the board should be asking about. The least effective response is entering a figure worked out from last month’s £84,000 and finishing the pack as complete: an invented number is presented to a board as a reported one, and every decision on that page rests on it. That is a false record rather than a poor way of handling a gap. The principle: ship on time with the hole visible, never with the hole filled in.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are an audit junior. Your manager asked you on Monday to finish the revenue testing by Wednesday. On Tuesday she mentions in passing that it would be “really useful” to have a summary of the client’s new contracts. The summary would take a day. The revenue testing is half done. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Finish the revenue testing by Wednesday as agreed, and say nothing at all about the contracts summary unless and until she raises it with you again.
   2. Ask her which she wants first, saying plainly that the contracts summary would take a day and would put Wednesday's revenue testing at risk.
   3. Start the contracts summary straight away without saying anything about Wednesday, since it was the most recent thing she asked for and it is plainly what is on her mind.
   4. Work on the contracts summary in the evenings so that both the testing and the summary are delivered by Wednesday without anything having to change.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask her which she wants first, saying plainly that the contracts summary would take a day and would put Wednesday's revenue testing at risk.

   Least effective: C. Start the contracts summary straight away without saying anything about Wednesday, since it was the most recent thing she asked for and it is plainly what is on her mind.

   A: Ignores the second request: an offhand remark from your manager is still a request, and leaving it unanswered means she does not know it is not happening.

   C: Drops a committed deadline in silence: she is expecting revenue testing on Wednesday and has no idea it has stopped, so she cannot re-plan anything.

   D: Solves a scheduling problem with your own time: it works once, and it hides from your manager that she asked for two days of work in one.

   The most effective response is to ask her which she wants first, saying plainly that the contracts summary would take a day and would put Wednesday’s revenue testing at risk: only she can rank her own two requests, and she cannot do it without the fact that one costs a day. It beats finishing the revenue testing as agreed and saying nothing about the summary unless she raises it, because a manager’s passing request still needs an answer. It beats working on the summary in the evenings so both are delivered, because absorbing it privately conceals that the ask was not possible. The least effective response is starting the contracts summary straight away without saying anything about Wednesday: the committed deadline is abandoned for the newer request and she discovers on Wednesday that the testing is where it was on Tuesday. That is a silent switch rather than a debatable ordering. The principle: when two asks collide, hand the choice back with the cost attached.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a branch adviser. The colleague who does the weekly cash reconciliation has left and nobody has been trained to replace her. It is due Friday. You have watched her do it a few times and there is a written procedure. Your branch manager is aware the role is vacant. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Attempt the reconciliation on Friday from the written procedure, and ask your branch manager to look over it afterwards rather than before you start on it.
   2. Tell your branch manager that the reconciliation cannot be done this week because the trained person has left, and leave it until somebody is trained.
   3. Tell your branch manager you will attempt it from the written procedure this Friday, and ask her to check it with you the first time so nothing is missed.
   4. Refer the reconciliation on to the area operations team and take it off the branch's list, without sending them the branch records they would need to do it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your branch manager you will attempt it from the written procedure this Friday, and ask her to check it with you the first time so nothing is missed.

   Least effective: D. Refer the reconciliation on to the area operations team and take it off the branch's list, without sending them the branch records they would need to do it.

   A: Puts the check after the work: a first attempt at a cash control is reviewed once it is already done rather than while it can still be steered.

   B: Treats a written procedure as no procedure: the document exists precisely so somebody else can pick it up.

   D: Passes a branch task to a team that does not do it: nobody there has the branch's records, and Friday arrives with the reconciliation no closer to being done.

   The most effective response is to tell your branch manager you will attempt it from the written procedure this Friday, and ask her to check it with you the first time: the procedure exists, you have seen it done, and asking for a check on the first attempt is what makes trying it safe. It beats attempting it from the procedure and asking her to look it over afterwards, because an unchecked first cash reconciliation is the one most likely to be wrong. It beats telling her it cannot be done this week because the trained person has left, because a written procedure is what allows the work to continue. The least effective response is referring it to the area operations team without sending them the branch records: the task goes to people who neither own it nor hold what they would need, and Friday still arrives. That is offloading it rather than attempting it unsafely or declining it. The principle: pick it up from the procedure, and ask to be checked the first time.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a reconciliations clerk. For six weeks a colleague has taken credit in the daily meeting for breaks you cleared. This morning he did it again and your team leader thanked him warmly in front of everybody. You are tired and it is the sixth time. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing again this morning and raise the whole six weeks of it at your next performance review, when there will be proper time to set the pattern out in full.
   2. Correct him in the meeting as it happens, so that everybody present hears immediately which of the breaks were actually cleared by you.
   3. Stop clearing the breaks that fall in the overlap between your work and his, so that he has nothing to take credit for and can explain the gap himself.
   4. Wait until after the meeting, then tell your team leader factually which breaks you cleared, and say you would rather sort it out with him directly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Wait until after the meeting, then tell your team leader factually which breaks you cleared, and say you would rather sort it out with him directly.

   Least effective: C. Stop clearing the breaks that fall in the overlap between your work and his, so that he has nothing to take credit for and can explain the gap himself.

   A: Banks a grievance for months: nothing changes in the meantime and the record of who did what gets harder to reconstruct.

   B: Chooses the worst room for it: a live correction in front of the team makes the meeting about the two of you.

   C: Withdraws the work to make a point: the breaks are the firm's, not his, and the people who lose are the desks waiting on items that nobody is now clearing.

   The most effective response is to wait until after the meeting, then tell your team leader factually which breaks you cleared, and say you would rather sort it out with him directly: it is factual, immediate enough to be credible, and offering to deal with him keeps it recoverable. It beats correcting him in the meeting as it happens, because doing it live turns the meeting into a dispute. It beats saying nothing again and raising the six weeks at your next performance review, because months of silence changes nothing and weakens the evidence. The least effective response is stopping work on the breaks that fall in the overlap so he has nothing to take credit for: work the firm depends on is stopped to make a point, so the desks waiting on those breaks pay for a disagreement that is nothing to do with them. That is retaliation rather than mistiming or over- patience. The principle: correct the record calmly, and never make the work the weapon.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an assurance trainee. A confirmation from the client’s bank is three weeks late and the file cannot close without it. Firm policy is that only the engagement manager contacts third parties. She is on holiday until Monday and the file is due Wednesday. You have the bank contact’s details. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Telephone the bank contact yourself today to chase the confirmation, since the manager is away and one telephone call is all that stands between the file and closing on time.
    2. Ask the engagement manager's cover today whether she will chase the bank, and set out that the file is due Wednesday and the confirmation is three weeks late.
    3. Ask the client to chase their own bank for the confirmation, since they hold the relationship and it would reach the bank far faster coming from them than from you.
    4. Wait for the engagement manager to come back on Monday and ask her to chase the bank then, which still leaves two clear days before the file is due on Wednesday.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Ask the engagement manager's cover today whether she will chase the bank, and set out that the file is due Wednesday and the confirmation is three weeks late.

    Least effective: A. Telephone the bank contact yourself today to chase the confirmation, since the manager is away and one telephone call is all that stands between the file and closing on time.

    A: Contacts a third party the policy reserves to somebody else: an unauthorised approach on an audit confirmation puts the evidence itself in question, whoever ends up receiving it.

    C: Routes the evidence through the client: a confirmation the client has chased is exactly the independence that a direct request from the audit team exists to protect.

    D: Spends three of the five remaining days: a bank that has taken three weeks is unlikely to answer inside two.

    The most effective response is to ask the engagement manager’s cover today whether she will chase the bank, setting out that the file is due Wednesday and the confirmation is three weeks late: a cover exists precisely for a week like this, the request is squarely within her authority, and it costs a message. It beats waiting for the engagement manager on Monday and asking her to chase then, because that leaves two days for a bank that has taken three weeks. It beats asking the client to chase their own bank, because a confirmation the client has chased is no longer independent of the client. The least effective response is telephoning the bank contact yourself: a third party is contacted by somebody the policy does not permit to contact them, which is the one thing that can make the confirmation worthless. That is breaching the policy rather than applying it too slowly. The principle: the cover exists so the rule and the deadline do not have to fight.