Flex Assessment Tests

Flex Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a school office administrator. A parent rings to say the minibus driver who takes pupils to swimming was, in her son’s account, using a mobile phone while driving yesterday. You have no other information. The same driver is booked to take a group this afternoon. The headteacher is in school and the transport contractor can be reached. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the parent's account in full and tell the headteacher now, so she can decide about this afternoon's trip before it leaves.
   2. Ring the transport contractor to pass on the parent's report and ask them to speak to the driver before this afternoon's trip.
   3. Log the parent's call and raise it at the next transport review, since it is one child's account, there is no other evidence and the driver has never given cause for concern.
   4. Speak to the driver when he arrives this afternoon to hear his account before deciding whether the report needs taking any further.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Take the parent's account in full and tell the headteacher now, so she can decide about this afternoon's trip before it leaves.

   Least effective: C. Log the parent's call and raise it at the next transport review, since it is one child's account, there is no other evidence and the driver has never given cause for concern.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: the contractor does need to know, and the decision about whether children travel with that driver this afternoon is the school's, not the contractor's, to take.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: an allegation of a driver using a phone with children aboard is about this afternoon's trip, and treating it as an agenda item defers it past the very journey it concerns.

   D: Acts outside own authority: it makes a single administrator the judge of a safety allegation about children, on the driver's own account, in the minutes before the trip departs.

   The most effective response is to take the parent’s account in full and tell the headteacher now, so she can decide about this afternoon’s trip: an allegation about a driver using a phone with children in the vehicle concerns a trip leaving in hours, she is in school and it is her decision whether pupils travel, and the full account gives her something to act on. It beats ringing the transport contractor to pass on the report and ask them to speak to the driver, because they should certainly be told, but whether the school’s pupils travel with that driver today is the school’s call. It beats speaking to the driver when he arrives to hear his account first, because putting the allegation to him minutes before departure makes an administrator the judge of a child safety report. The least effective response is logging the call and raising it at the next transport review: it defers an allegation about children’s safety so it is considered long after the journey it concerns. That is worse than the other two, which act on the wrong authority but act today. The principle: a safety allegation goes immediately to the person who can stop the thing it concerns, with the account you were given.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a housing officer at a housing association. On Friday afternoon three things land at once: a tenant reports no heating with a cold weekend forecast, your manager needs the quarterly arrears return by 5pm for a board paper, and a colleague asks for help preparing Monday’s tribunal bundle. You cannot do all three. The heating contractor takes emergency calls until 4pm. It is 2pm. The tribunal bundle can be finished on Monday morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the heating repair with the contractor before 4pm, then do the arrears return, telling your manager now that the tribunal bundle will have to wait until Monday.
   2. Start the arrears return and the tribunal bundle together and leave the heating report until Monday, when the contractor's normal service resumes and the office is quieter.
   3. Finish the arrears return first because your manager needs it for a board paper at 5pm, then log the heating repair and help with the bundle if any time is left.
   4. Ask your manager to decide which of the three should come first, since all three have been asked for by different people and you cannot complete them all this afternoon.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Log the heating repair with the contractor before 4pm, then do the arrears return, telling your manager now that the tribunal bundle will have to wait until Monday.

   Least effective: B. Start the arrears return and the tribunal bundle together and leave the heating report until Monday, when the contractor's normal service resumes and the office is quieter.

   B: Stays silent about a known welfare risk: it leaves a household without heating through a cold weekend, having let the emergency window close with nobody told. That is a different order of failure from mis-sequencing paperwork.

   C: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it ranks a reporting deadline above a household with no heating for a cold weekend, and spends the contractor's emergency window on a return that could have been flagged as running late.

   D: Escalates prematurely: the ranking here is not genuinely unclear, and the contractor's window closes at 4pm while you wait for an answer to a question you are able to settle.

   The most effective response is to log the heating repair with the contractor before 4pm, then do the arrears return, telling your manager now that the tribunal bundle waits until Monday: only the heating has a window that closes today and a consequence that cannot be undone, a household cold all weekend, so it goes first even though it takes least time. The arrears return then still fits before 5pm, and the bundle genuinely can wait. It beats finishing the arrears return first for the 5pm board paper, because that treats a board paper deadline as outranking a welfare risk, and spends the contractor’s last emergency hour on a report whose slippage could simply have been flagged. It beats asking your manager to decide which of the three comes first, because the ordering here is not genuinely unclear and the 4pm window closes while you wait to be told what you already know. The least effective response is starting the arrears return and the tribunal bundle together and leaving the heating until Monday: it lets the emergency window close in silence and leaves a household without heating for a cold weekend, while doing the two tasks that could both have waited. The principle: do the thing whose window is closing and whose harm cannot be undone, then tell people early about what will now be late.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an administrator at a driving school. Instructors record their lesson hours on timesheets, which the school uses to invoice pupils. You notice that one instructor has recorded a two-hour lesson for a pupil who cancelled, and you know the pupil cancelled because you took the call. The instructor says the pupil cancelled too late to rebook the slot, so the time is chargeable. The school’s policy on late cancellations is written and you have read it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Amend the timesheet yourself to remove the lesson, since the pupil did not receive a lesson and the invoice would otherwise be wrong.
   2. Check what the written late-cancellation policy says, and if it does not cover this, tell the instructor the entry needs correcting before the invoice goes out.
   3. Process the timesheet as submitted, since the instructor knows the late-cancellation rules better than you do and the pupil will probably not query a single lesson.
   4. Report the entry to the school owner as a possible false claim, since you took the cancellation call and the lesson definitely did not take place.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Check what the written late-cancellation policy says, and if it does not cover this, tell the instructor the entry needs correcting before the invoice goes out.

   Least effective: C. Process the timesheet as submitted, since the instructor knows the late-cancellation rules better than you do and the pupil will probably not query a single lesson.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: the late- cancellation policy may well make the slot chargeable, and altering an instructor's timesheet without speaking to him decides a question you have not checked.

   C: Passes responsibility to others: it invoices a pupil for a lesson that did not happen on the strength of the instructor's say-so, and relies on the pupil not noticing. Deferring to him does not make the charge correct.

   D: Escalates prematurely: the written policy may make the slot chargeable, so a claim of falsification is made before the one document that settles it has been read.

   The most effective response is to check what the written late-cancellation policy says, and if it does not cover this, tell the instructor the entry needs correcting: the policy decides whether a late cancellation is chargeable, reading it takes a minute, and if it does not cover this then he is the person to correct it. It settles the facts before anyone is accused of anything. It beats reporting the entry to the school owner as a possible false claim, because calling it that before reading the policy risks accusing a colleague of dishonesty over something the rules permit. It beats amending the timesheet yourself to remove the lesson, because that decides the same question without checking, in the opposite direction. The least effective response is processing the timesheet as submitted because the instructor knows the rules better: it invoices a pupil for a lesson that did not happen without checking the policy at all, on the basis that she probably will not query it. That is worse than the other two, which act hastily but do not let an unverified charge reach a customer. The principle: read the rule that settles it, then take the correction to the person who made the entry.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a field support technician for a telecoms company. You are on site installing a new phone system for a small business that closes for the weekend at 5pm today. By 2pm it is clear one part is missing and the system cannot be finished today; it can be completed on Monday. The office manager who booked the work is on site. Your own scheduler, who arranges return visits, is at her desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work on until 5pm, leave once the office has closed, and let your scheduler contact the office manager on Monday morning to arrange the return visit for the missing part.
   2. Ring your scheduler to book Monday's return visit, then carry on until 5pm so the office manager sees the work has progressed as far as it possibly could today.
   3. Tell the office manager that you have hit a snag and are doing everything you can, and give her a full picture on Monday once you know exactly what is needed to finish.
   4. Tell the office manager now that a missing part means the system cannot go live today, confirm what still works over the weekend, and agree a Monday return before you leave site.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the office manager now that a missing part means the system cannot go live today, confirm what still works over the weekend, and agree a Monday return before you leave site.

   Least effective: A. Work on until 5pm, leave once the office has closed, and let your scheduler contact the office manager on Monday morning to arrange the return visit for the missing part.

   A: Hides the problem / silent deadline slip: the business closes believing its phones are live and discovers on Monday that they are not. Leaving site without telling the customer is concealment, and it removes every chance she had to arrange cover.

   B: Tells the wrong audience first: the person standing on site, whose business runs on the phones this weekend, learns last about a problem you have already reported internally.

   C: Delays the message: a snag with no detail leaves her unable to plan her weekend cover, when you already know the specific fact she needs, that the system will not go live before Monday.

   The most effective response is to tell the office manager now that a missing part means the system cannot go live today, confirm what still works, and agree a Monday return before you leave: she is standing there, she runs a business that depends on those phones over the weekend, and she needs those three facts before 5pm. It beats ringing your scheduler to book the return visit first, because that puts internal tidiness ahead of the person whose weekend depends on the answer. It beats telling her you have hit a snag and are doing everything you can, because a vague snag withholds the one hard fact she can plan around, when you already know it. The least effective response is leaving once the office has closed and letting your scheduler arrange it on Monday: it is the only response where she finds out after you have gone, which removes every opportunity she had to arrange cover, and it leaves the news to be broken by someone who was never on site. That is worse than the other two, which communicate imperfectly but in time. The principle: tell the person carrying the consequence first, tell them while they can still act, and tell them what you actually know.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a property manager for a block of flats. A leaseholder has been chasing you for three weeks about a leak into her flat from the roof. Today the contractor confirms the roof needs a full repair costing more than the reserve fund holds, which means a consultation with all leaseholders and no repair for at least two months. She has already reported damage to her ceiling. Your director is available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the leaseholder today, explain the roof needs full repair, that consultation means at least two months, and what will be done about her ceiling and the leak meanwhile.
   2. Wait until the consultation is under way before contacting her, so that you can give her firm dates rather than an open-ended answer she will only chase you about again.
   3. Write to all leaseholders with the consultation notice, so that everyone including her receives the same information about the roof at the same time.
   4. Tell her the roof repair has been approved in principle and that you will confirm timescales once the consultation process has been worked through.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ring the leaseholder today, explain the roof needs full repair, that consultation means at least two months, and what will be done about her ceiling and the leak meanwhile.

   Least effective: B. Wait until the consultation is under way before contacting her, so that you can give her firm dates rather than an open-ended answer she will only chase you about again.

   B: Hides the problem: she has water entering her flat and has chased for three weeks. Waiting for tidier information leaves her with no information at all, and the silence is chosen to avoid being chased rather than to help her.

   C: Tells the wrong audience first: she has been chasing for three weeks and has water coming into her flat, so receiving a standard notice with everyone else answers none of her particular questions.

   D: Over-promises: describing it as approved in principle implies more certainty than a consultation that has not started, and it withholds the two-month timescale she needs to plan around.

   The most effective response is to ring the leaseholder today, explain the roof needs full repair, that consultation means at least two months, and what will be done about her ceiling and the leak meanwhile: she has been chasing for three weeks, has an active leak and ceiling damage, and the news is bad in a specific way she needs to plan around. That treats her as someone with a live problem rather than one of a list. It beats writing to all leaseholders with the consultation notice, because a general notice answers the block’s question and not hers. It beats telling her the repair is approved in principle with timescales to follow, because that overstates where things stand and still leaves out the timescale. The least effective response is waiting until the consultation is under way so you can give her firm dates: it delays telling her anything until the information is neater, while water continues to come into her flat, and the reason is to avoid being chased. That is worse than the other two, which communicate partially but do communicate. The principle: tell the person carrying the consequence directly, give them the timescale even when it is bad, and say what happens in the meantime.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a duty assistant at a gym. A member tells you the emergency stop cord on one of the treadmills does not seem to work. You test it and the belt does not stop. The gym is busy, six other treadmills are working, and the maintenance contractor is not on site. Your duty manager is in the building and reachable on the radio. There is no out-of-order signage kept on the gym floor. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Note the fault in the maintenance logbook so it is picked up at the contractor's next scheduled visit, and mention it to your duty manager at the end of your shift.
   2. Ring the maintenance contractor yourself to ask how soon someone can attend and what should be done with the treadmill until then.
   3. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.
   4. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.

   Least effective: D. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.

   A: Delays the decision: the logbook is the right record and the wrong speed. It leaves a treadmill with no working emergency stop available to members for the rest of the day.

   B: Acts on assumptions without checking: the contractor's answer is useful and the decision about whether members may use a machine with no emergency stop belongs to your duty manager, who is in the building now.

   D: Stays silent about a known safety risk: you have confirmed the emergency stop does not work and leave the machine open to members anyway, with nobody told. That is a safety failure, not a judgement about priorities.

   The most effective response is to take the treadmill out of use immediately and radio your duty manager: an emergency stop that does not work on a moving belt is a safety fault, so the machine comes out of use first, and she is in the building and is the person who can arrange both signage and the contractor. It beats noting the fault in the maintenance logbook for the contractor’s next scheduled visit, because that records it for a future visit while members carry on using the machine today. It beats ringing the maintenance contractor yourself, because they can say when they will come but cannot decide whether the gym may keep a machine with no emergency stop in service; that is the duty manager’s call and she is thirty seconds away on the radio. The least effective response is leaving the treadmill in use because the belt can still be stopped with the console button: it is the only response that leaves a confirmed safety fault in service and tells nobody, on the reasoning that members have alternatives. That is worse than the other two, which are too slow but do report it. The principle: make a safety fault safe first, then tell the person on site who can decide what happens next.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a customer service assistant for a coach travel operator. Sorting a refund you notice that a driver’s tachograph records for a regular Friday service show consistently less rest than the schedule allows, across several weeks. You are not in operations and do not know the rules in detail, but the pattern looks wrong. The operations manager is on site. The Friday service runs tomorrow. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Look up the drivers' hours rules and check the records properly yourself first, so that you do not take an operations manager's time over something you have misread.
   2. Take what you have found to the operations manager today, show him the records, say you may have misread them, and let him judge before tomorrow's service.
   3. Leave it, since you are not in operations, you do not know the rules, and the records are presumably checked by people whose job it is to check them.
   4. Mention it to the driver next time you see him, since there may be a simple explanation and he would rather hear it from you than be reported over a misunderstanding.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Take what you have found to the operations manager today, show him the records, say you may have misread them, and let him judge before tomorrow's service.

   Least effective: C. Leave it, since you are not in operations, you do not know the rules, and the records are presumably checked by people whose job it is to check them.

   A: Delays the decision: the caution is reasonable and the clock is not. The service runs tomorrow, and teaching yourself the rules first spends the time in which the person who already knows them could have looked.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: a pattern suggesting a driver is under-rested runs again tomorrow, and the reason for silence is that somebody else must have noticed. Not being certain is a reason to ask, not a reason to say nothing.

   D: Personalises the conflict: it makes a compliance question into a private word with the person it concerns, which is the one route guaranteed not to reach anybody who can check the records.

   The most effective response is to take what you have found to the operations manager today, show him the records and say you may have misread them: you do not need to be right, you need the right person to look, and he can settle in minutes what you cannot settle at all. Saying you may have misread it is honest and costs nothing; the service runs tomorrow, so today is when it has to happen. It beats looking up the drivers’ hours rules and checking the records properly yourself first, because that is a day’s work to reach a conclusion he can reach in five minutes, and tomorrow’s service does not wait for it. It beats mentioning it to the driver next time you see him, because that is the one route that never reaches anyone able to check the records, and it puts him on notice rather than getting the question answered. The least effective response is leaving it because you are not in operations and do not know the rules: it leaves a possible under-rested driver on tomorrow’s service, on the assumption that the checks someone else does must be working, which is exactly what the pattern calls into question. That is worse than the other two, which are slow or misdirected but still act. The principle: when you spot something that might be a safety problem, take it to the person qualified to judge it, before the next time it matters, and be honest that you might be wrong.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a duty officer at a student halls of residence. A student tells you the fire door on the third floor stairwell has been propped open with a fire extinguisher for the past few days. You check and it is. The building has three hundred residents. Your accommodation manager is on call but off site, and the maintenance team start at 8am tomorrow. It is 9pm. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Close the fire door and return the extinguisher to its bracket now, then ring the accommodation manager to report that it has been propped for days.
   2. Log the issue for the maintenance team to deal with when they start at 8am tomorrow, and note that it has apparently been propped for several days.
   3. Put a notice on the door asking residents not to prop it open, and report it to the accommodation manager in the morning.
   4. Leave it until morning, since the door has apparently been propped for several days without incident and moving the extinguisher at night might leave it where residents cannot find it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Close the fire door and return the extinguisher to its bracket now, then ring the accommodation manager to report that it has been propped for days.

   Least effective: D. Leave it until morning, since the door has apparently been propped for several days without incident and moving the extinguisher at night might leave it where residents cannot find it.

   B: Delays the decision: the log is right for the repair and wrong for tonight. Three hundred residents sleep behind a fire door that cannot close.

   C: Passes responsibility to residents: a notice asks three hundred people to maintain a fire precaution, when closing the door yourself takes seconds and removes the risk outright.

   D: Stays silent about a known fire risk: a fire door that cannot close and an extinguisher out of its bracket are two failures at once, above three hundred sleeping residents, and the justification is that nothing has happened yet.

   The most effective response is to close the fire door and return the extinguisher to its bracket now, then ring the accommodation manager to report that it has been propped for days: those two actions remove two fire safety failures in seconds, and the pattern is a separate problem she needs tonight because it suggests the door will simply be propped again. It beats putting a notice on the door asking residents not to prop it, because that delegates a fire precaution to three hundred residents when you can restore it yourself immediately. It beats logging the issue for the maintenance team at 8am, because that addresses the repair and leaves the building unsafe overnight. The least effective response is leaving it until morning because nothing has gone wrong so far: it leaves a fire door incapable of closing and an extinguisher out of its bracket above three hundred sleeping residents. That is worse than the maintenance log and the notice, which are inadequate but reduce or record the risk. The principle: restore the safety measure yourself when you can do it in seconds, then report the pattern to whoever can stop it recurring.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You work at the counter of a bank branch. A customer in her eighties comes in distressed because a standing order to her energy supplier has not gone out and she has had a warning letter. You can see on screen that the standing order was cancelled last month, but not by whom. She insists she never cancelled it. The branch is quiet and your supervisor is at the next desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sit her down, tell her you will find out what happened to the standing order, check the account history with your supervisor, and explain what you find before she leaves the branch.
   2. Explain that the system shows the standing order was cancelled last month, and offer to set up a new one now so that next month's payment reaches the energy supplier on time.
   3. Tell her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder, so the instruction must have come from her, and advise her to check her own records at home.
   4. Give her the telephone banking number and suggest she rings the complaints team, who can look into the cancellation properly and write to her with an explanation.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Sit her down, tell her you will find out what happened to the standing order, check the account history with your supervisor, and explain what you find before she leaves the branch.

   Least effective: C. Tell her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder, so the instruction must have come from her, and advise her to check her own records at home.

   B: Ignores the customer's actual need: a new standing order fixes next month and leaves her holding a warning letter about this month, with no answer to the question she came in with.

   C: Acts on assumptions without checking: it tells a distressed customer she must be mistaken without opening the account history, and the screen does not in fact show who cancelled it. Blaming the customer on an unchecked assumption is a different order of wrong from the other options.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: she is standing in a quiet branch in front of someone who can see the account, and is sent to a phone queue to repeat a story she has just told.

   The most effective response is to sit her down and check the account history with your supervisor before she leaves the branch: she has a concrete problem, a warning letter, and an unanswered question, and everything needed to answer it is on the screen in front of you with a supervisor beside you. Settling it while she is here is both possible and what she came for. It beats offering to set up a new standing order now, because that solves next month while leaving this month’s letter and the cancellation unexplained. It beats giving her the telephone banking number for the complaints team, because sending her to a phone queue to retell the story makes her do the work when the branch could resolve it now. The least effective response is telling her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder: it asserts something the system does not actually show, tells an elderly customer she is mistaken on that basis, and sends her away with nothing. That is worse than the other two, which help partially, because it adds a false claim to an unmet need. The principle: when a customer’s problem can be investigated where they are standing, investigate it rather than redirecting or assuming.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a receptionist at a medical centre, sharing the front desk with your colleague Daniel. You disagree about how patient booking notes should be handed over between shifts, and mistakes have crept in from both sides. This morning Daniel posted in the team messaging channel that he is “tired of clearing up” your booking errors, naming two recent examples. Colleagues have seen the message, and you feel it is unfair. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Let the message go unanswered and quietly double-check your own bookings from now on, hoping the friction fades once Daniel has fewer errors to point to.
    2. Conclude that Daniel has a problem with you personally and ask the practice manager to reorganise the rota so the two of you rarely share the desk.
    3. Ask Daniel to talk privately, say the public post felt unfair, and suggest going through the recent mistakes together to agree one clear handover routine for both of you.
    4. Reply in the team messaging channel with a list of Daniel's own recent booking mistakes, so colleagues can see that the errors have come from both sides.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Ask Daniel to talk privately, say the public post felt unfair, and suggest going through the recent mistakes together to agree one clear handover routine for both of you.

    Least effective: D. Reply in the team messaging channel with a list of Daniel's own recent booking mistakes, so colleagues can see that the errors have come from both sides.

    A: Avoids the difficult conversation: quietly tightening your own bookings addresses only half the problem. The disputed handover routine and the public accusation are left untouched, so the friction and the mistakes are likely to continue.

    B: Personalises the conflict: treating a fixable disagreement about the handover routine as a clash of personalities asks the manager to separate you instead of solving anything, and leaves the underlying process producing mistakes for whoever shares the desk.

    D: Retaliates publicly: answering a public accusation with a public counter-attack escalates the conflict in front of the whole team and turns a solvable process disagreement into a personal feud. That is a category failure, not a defensible reply.

    The most effective response is to ask Daniel to talk privately and agree one clear handover routine: it takes the dispute out of the public channel, names the impact honestly, and moves both of you toward the real fix while preserving the working relationship. It beats leaving the message unanswered and quietly double-checking your own bookings, because that leaves both the disputed routine and the public accusation unaddressed, so the mistakes and the resentment are likely to continue. It beats asking the practice manager to reorganise the rota, because that treats a solvable process disagreement as a personality clash and asks for the two of you to be separated, fixing nothing for whoever staffs the desk next. The least effective response is replying in the team channel with a list of Daniel’s own mistakes: unlike saying nothing, which at least does no further damage, and unlike going to the practice manager, which at least involves someone who could help, it escalates the conflict publicly and converts a disagreement about process into a personal feud in front of the team. The principle: take conflict out of public view, address the issue rather than the person, and fix the process that is generating the friction.