The 9 Civil Service Behaviours: What Each One Means and How to Show It
Most UK Civil Service jobs assess a few of nine behaviours, such as Delivering at pace or Making effective decisions. You show them in written examples on your application, in the Judgement Test and at interview, and the job advert says which ones count.
This page explains each behaviour at two grade bands, gives an example question for each, shows how to build a STAR answer and how panels often score it. The descriptions are based on GOV.UK's Success Profiles guidance, linked below.
Civil Service Behaviours at a Glance
What are they?
One of the five elements of Success Profiles, with strengths, ability, experience and technical skills. They describe actions linked to doing the job well.
How many count?
Not all nine. The recruiting manager picks the ones that suit the role and the advert lists them.
Same at every grade?
No. GOV.UK describes each behaviour separately for each grade, from AA and AO up to Director General. See the Civil Service grades.
Where are they tested?
Application examples, the Civil Service Judgement Test, interviews and assessment centres.
How are they scored?
Many departments use a 1 to 7 scale and need at least 4 for each behaviour. Check your advert.
The 9 Civil Service Behaviours
GOV.UK lists them in this order. Jump to the ones named in your job advert:
Each section paraphrases what GOV.UK looks for at two grade bands: AA to EO, and HEO to Grade 7 and 6. The example questions are written by Candidate Falcon in the style panels use. GOV.UK notes that you don't need to show every point listed for your grade to be successful.
Seeing the big picture
Understanding how your role fits with and supports your organisation’s objectives and the wider priorities of the Civil Service, and keeping your work in the national interest.
AA, AO and EO
Know your responsibilities and how they support your team’s priorities
Link your work to wider objectives and to what stakeholders need
Keep up with issues in your area and think about how your work affects different people
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Understand the strategic drivers for your area and align plans with them
Watch for emerging issues and wider economic, social and technological developments
Bring together the views of different stakeholders
Example question: “Tell us about a time you changed how you worked because of a wider priority or a change outside your team.”
A strong example: Show that you looked beyond your own task: what the wider goal was, how you found out about it and what you did differently because of it.
Changing and improving
Looking for ways to make effective change, suggesting new ideas for improvement, reviewing how work is done and seeking and giving feedback.
AA, AO and EO
Review your own and your team’s work and suggest improvements, including digital tools
Learn new procedures and help colleagues do the same
Explain changes constructively and help others understand them
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Simplify processes and use fewer resources, using technology where it helps
Explain the reasons for change and weigh its effect on people and end users
Encourage challenge and share good ideas from across the team
Example question: “Describe a time you spotted a better way of doing something and made it happen.”
A strong example: Show the problem with the old way, how you tested or argued for the new one, how you brought people with you and what measurably improved.
Making effective decisions
Using evidence and knowledge to reach accurate, expert decisions and advice, weighing the alternatives, implications and risks.
AA, AO and EO
Use guidance, analyse information and ask colleagues for input
Fix errors or gaps in the information before you decide
Make fair, timely decisions, consider who is affected and explain your reasoning
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Use credible information from several sources and invite challenge
Keep decisions at the right level to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy
Decide with confidence when evidence is incomplete or the answer is unpopular
Example question: “Tell us about a decision you made when the information was incomplete or people disagreed.”
A strong example: Show the options you considered, the evidence you used, the risk you weighed and why you chose as you did, then what happened.
Leadership
Showing pride and passion for public service, engaging people in a shared vision and valuing diversity and inclusion. It applies at every grade, not only to managers.
AA, AO and EO
Show enthusiasm and take personal responsibility for your work
Act fairly and respectfully and promote an inclusive team
Deal promptly with inappropriate behaviour and recognise colleagues’ contributions
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Make sure people understand the objectives and timescales
Champion inclusion and equality and manage conflict
Welcome challenge and keep the team motivated
Example question: “Give an example of when you encouraged others to work towards a shared goal.”
A strong example: Show how you set the direction, how you involved people with different views and what you did to keep them engaged, even without a formal role.
Communicating and influencing
Communicating purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm, and respecting other people’s needs, responses and opinions.
AA, AO and EO
Put your views across clearly, in plain language, through the right channel
Listen and ask questions to understand others
Handle difficult conversations with sensitivity
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Explain complex issues in accessible terms and check understanding
Deliver difficult messages clearly and persuasively
Build trust and respect the range of interests involved
Example question: “Tell us about a time you had to persuade someone who disagreed with you.”
A strong example: Show who you needed to influence, how you adapted your message to them, how you handled their objections and what changed as a result.
Working together
Forming effective partnerships and relationships inside and outside the organisation, and sharing information, resources and support.
AA, AO and EO
Contribute to the whole team, ask for help and offer it
Build contacts beyond your own team and share what you know
Support colleagues’ wellbeing and treat bullying and discrimination as unacceptable
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Encourage joined-up work across teams and build stakeholder networks
Seek input from people with different backgrounds
Challenge assumptions while staying willing to compromise
Example question: “Describe a time you worked with people outside your team to get something done.”
A strong example: Show what each side needed, how you built the relationship, what you shared or gave up and what the partnership achieved.
Developing self and others
Focusing on continuous learning and development for yourself, for others and for the organisation as a whole.
AA, AO and EO
Identify gaps in your skills and plan how to close them
Act on feedback and share what you learn with colleagues
Support colleagues’ development, for example by delegating tasks they can learn from
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Identify capability gaps for yourself and your team
Coach and mentor colleagues and make development open to everyone
Model continuous learning and act on feedback
Example question: “Tell us about a time you learned a new skill to do your job better, or helped a colleague develop.”
A strong example: Show the gap, what you did about it (not just a course you attended), how you used the new skill and what difference it made.
Managing a quality service
Delivering service objectives with professional excellence, expertise and efficiency, taking account of the diverse needs of customers.
AA, AO and EO
Understand what your customers need and plan your time to deliver it
Report problems early and suggest solutions
Keep people updated and balance customer and business needs
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Review systems and processes so the service stays high quality
Set priorities with stakeholders and manage risks
Find and act on customer feedback while meeting legal and security requirements
Example question: “Tell us about a time you improved the service a customer or user received.”
A strong example: Show who the customer was, what was going wrong for them, what you did about it and how you knew the service got better.
Delivering at pace
Taking responsibility for delivering timely, quality results with focus and drive.
AA, AO and EO
Finish tasks on time and to a high standard, following the right procedures
Keep your manager updated and spot what is slowing progress
Support colleagues when tasks are challenging
HEO, SEO, Grade 7 and Grade 6
Keep the team focused on the top priorities and set clear roles and standards
Reassess workloads when demands conflict
Stay steady and effective under pressure
Example question: “Describe a time you delivered something important to a tight deadline.”
A strong example: Show the deadline and what was at stake, how you planned and prioritised, what you did when something got in the way and the result.
Where Behaviours Are Assessed
Application form. Some adverts ask for a written example per behaviour, or a personal statement that covers them. The advert or application pack sets any word limit. See how to write a Civil Service personal statement.
Online tests. The Civil Service Judgement Test builds its scenarios around the behaviours chosen for the job. Our guide to the Civil Service online tests explains how it works. GOV.UK's guidance for recruiters adds that the test gives interviewers a report with suggested interview questions, so expect follow-up on it.
Interview. An interview usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes and may ask you to describe specific times you showed a behaviour, or how you would handle a situation. It can be in person, live on video or pre-recorded on an online platform.
Assessment centre. Some roles combine an interview with a presentation, a written exercise or a role play, where you may need to show a behaviour in real time.
Interviews often mix behaviour questions with strengths questions about what you enjoy and do well. Those need a short, natural answer, not a STAR story. See our Civil Service interview questions for examples of every type.
How to Use the STAR Method for Civil Service Behaviours
GOV.UK suggests STAR because it lets you set the scene, show what you did and how, and give the outcome.
Situation
Where you were and what was going on, in one or two sentences.
Task
What you personally had to achieve, and why it mattered.
Action
The steps you took and how, in order. This is where the behaviour shows, so give it the most space.
Result
What changed, with a number where you can, and what you learned.
Candidate Falcon's advice:
Say “I”, not “we”: the panel scores what you did.
Match the example to the grade you are applying for, using the points listed above.
Pick examples from work, work experience, volunteering or a hobby, as GOV.UK allows.
A less successful example can work if you explain what you learned and how you would avoid the mistake.
Prepare one or two examples per behaviour in the advert, and write each one around that behaviour.
Civil Service Behaviour STAR Examples
Two illustrative answers written by Candidate Falcon, one for each grade band. They show the shape of a strong answer; they are not official model answers, and yours should use your own experience.
Managing a quality service: Applying for AA to EO roles
“Tell us about a time you improved the service a customer or user received.”
Situation
I worked on a council benefits helpline. Callers often rang back two or three times because they did not know which documents to send, and repeat calls made up about a fifth of our queue.
Task
My manager asked me to find out why people were calling back and suggest a fix.
Action
I logged the reason for every repeat call over two weeks and found that most were about the same three documents.
I drafted a one-page checklist in plain language, tested it with two colleagues and one regular caller, and cut it down after their comments.
I agreed with my manager that we would send it by text or email at the end of every first call, and showed the team how to do it in our system.
Result
Over the next month repeat calls fell from about 20% to 8% of the queue, and two colleagues asked to adapt the checklist for other claim types. I learned to check the data before proposing a solution.
Delivering at pace: Applying for HEO to Grade 7 roles
“Describe a time you delivered something important to a tight deadline.”
Situation
As an HEO policy adviser, I was given ten working days to produce a briefing pack for a minister’s visit after the original author went on sick leave, with only a rough outline in place.
Task
I had to deliver an accurate pack on time while my two team members kept their existing work going.
Action
On day one I split the pack into eight sections, ranked them by what the minister needed most and agreed the order with the private office.
I took the three hardest sections myself and asked policy leads in two other teams for short inputs by fixed dates, explaining why each was needed.
When one input arrived late and incomplete, I drafted it from published data, flagged the gap to my Grade 7 and had the lead check it rather than write it.
I held a 10-minute check-in each morning so the team could raise blockers and I could move work around.
Result
The pack went to the private office a day early, needed only minor changes, and the format was reused for the next two visits. Next time I would agree the input deadlines with other teams even earlier.
How Civil Service Behaviours Are Scored
GOV.UK's behaviours page does not set out a scoring scale, but many departments describe the same 1 to 7 scale for behaviours at sift and interview. Defra, for example, asks for a score of 4 or more on each assessment to move to the next stage.
Score
Label
7
Outstanding demonstration
6
Strong demonstration
5
Good demonstration
4
Acceptable demonstration
3
Moderate demonstration
2
Minimal demonstration
1
Not demonstrated
Some departments accept a single 3 when the other scores are high, and a panel can set a higher bar for a role. The application pack or invitation letter says which rule applies.
How to Prepare Your Behaviour Examples
List the behaviours in the advert and read GOV.UK's description for your grade.
Brainstorm two or three real situations for each, then keep the one where your own actions were clearest.
Write each one as STAR, with most of the words on your actions and a concrete result.
Cut it to the word limit in the application pack, if there is one.
Say it out loud for interview. A spoken answer of two to three minutes is usually enough to cover all four parts without rushing.
Expect follow-up questions such as “what would you do differently?” and prepare a short answer.
Rehearse your answers out loud
Some Civil Service interviews are pre-recorded on an online platform. Candidate Falcon's one-way video interview practice lets you record timed answers and get feedback on what you said. It is general interview practice, not a Civil Service simulation, and Candidate Falcon is not affiliated with the UK Civil Service.
They are nine behaviours the UK Civil Service uses in recruitment as part of Success Profiles: Seeing the big picture, Changing and improving, Making effective decisions, Leadership, Communicating and influencing, Working together, Developing self and others, Managing a quality service and Delivering at pace. GOV.UK describes what each looks like at each grade.
Will I be assessed on all nine behaviours?
No. The recruiting manager chooses the behaviours that suit the role, and GOV.UK says you will not be asked to demonstrate all of them for one job. The job advert lists the ones that apply, so prepare examples for those.
Where are Civil Service Behaviours assessed?
In written examples on the application form, in the Civil Service Judgement Test, at interview and at assessment centres. An interview usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes and often asks you to describe a time you showed a particular behaviour.
Should I use the STAR method for Civil Service Behaviours?
GOV.UK suggests it: STAR lets you set the scene, show what you did and how, and give the outcome. Spend most of the answer on your own actions and say "I" rather than "we". Strengths questions are different and do not need STAR.
How are Civil Service Behaviours scored?
Many departments use a 1 to 7 scale at sift and interview, from "Not demonstrated" to "Outstanding demonstration", and usually need at least 4, "Acceptable demonstration", for each behaviour. Panels can set a higher bar, so check the advert or application pack.
Can my examples come from outside work?
Yes. GOV.UK says examples can come from work or from elsewhere, such as work experience, volunteering or a hobby. Choose ones where you can explain in detail what you personally did.