UK Civil Service · AA to Grade 7

Civil Service Judgement Test Practice: Rate Every Action Like the Real CSJT

Civil Service Judgement Test practice: rate four actions per scenario from Counterproductive to Effective, by behaviour and grade, with every rating explained.

Practice: 6 self-assessment statements, then 9 scenarios (3 for each of 3 behaviours), untimedAlso called “CSJT”Also called “Civil Service situational judgement test”

How the practice module works

01Choose the grade band closest to the job and three behaviours from the job advert, or let us pick three at random.
02Start with a short self-assessment of your ambition, motivation and flexibility. It is not scored here; answer as you would honestly.
03Then rate every action in each scenario as Counterproductive, Ineffective, Fairly Effective or Effective. Judge each action on its own: two actions can share a rating.
04There is no timer. At the end you see how your ratings compare with Candidate Falcon’s key and why each action earns its rating. The key is our own view of good practice, not GOV.UK’s.

Controls

Choose your grade band and three behaviours
Pick one rating for every action; the same rating can be used twice
Next once all four actions are rated

Included in 1 Game Platform Prep (when you choose the UK Civil Service tests), All Games Platforms Prep and Full Access. See plans

Format: Self-assessment, then workplace scenarios with four actions each
Ratings: Counterproductive, Ineffective, Fairly Effective, Effective; ratings can repeat
Scenarios: Three per behaviour chosen for the job, some as short videos
Self-assessment: 15% of the overall score
Time: Untimed; two to four minutes per scenario
Result: A percentile against other applicants, with an automatic feedback report

What the Civil Service Judgement Test looks at

GOV.UK says the Judgement Test measures judgement and decision-making on the Civil Service Behaviours chosen as important for the job you applied for.

Each behaviour has three scenarios at the level of the job. For each scenario you rate four possible actions, one at a time.

Before the scenarios you rate how ambitious, motivated and flexible you are at work. That self-assessment is 15% of the overall score.

How the Civil Service Judgement Test practice works

Choose a grade band (Administrative to Executive Officer, or Higher Executive Officer to Grade 7) and three of the nine behaviours, or let us pick three at random.
Answer six self-assessment statements on a seven-point scale, from completely disagree to completely agree. They are not scored in this practice.
For each of the nine scenarios, rate all four actions as Counterproductive, Ineffective, Fairly Effective or Effective. You can give the same rating to more than one action.
At the end, see your agreement with Candidate Falcon’s key for each behaviour, and open any scenario to see why each action earns its rating.

Civil Service Judgement Test tips

Rate each action on its own merits. Ask whether it would make things worse, not help, help a little or resolve the situation.
Use the whole scale. If two actions are both good, rate both Effective; there is no rule that each rating appears once.
Think about the level of the job: an Executive Officer is expected to handle more than an Administrative Officer before escalating.
Actions that are honest, follow the rules, involve the right people and fix the cause usually rate higher than shortcuts or quick fixes.
Read the job advert first: it names the behaviours, and the same behaviours often come up at interview.

Common Civil Service Judgement Test mistakes

Treating it as a ranking and giving each rating to one action only.
Rating every action Fairly Effective to play safe: the scale only helps you when you use it.
Choosing what sounds impressive rather than what would actually work at that grade.
Rushing the self-assessment: GOV.UK says you may be asked about your answers at interview.

A short Civil Service Judgement Test practice routine

Run the free official CSJT practice once to see the real interface.
Practise the behaviours named in your job advert at the right grade band.
Review every action where your rating was two or more steps from ours, and read why.
Repeat with the remaining behaviours so no scenario type surprises you.

Civil Service Judgement Test FAQ

How does the Civil Service Judgement Test work?

GOV.UK says it starts with a self-assessment of how ambitious, motivated and flexible you are, worth 15% of the score. Then you see three scenarios for each behaviour chosen for the job and rate four actions per scenario as Counterproductive, Ineffective, Fairly Effective or Effective. It is untimed.

Can I give two actions the same rating?

Yes. GOV.UK says each action is rated on its own and the same rating can be used more than once. This practice works the same way.

Is this the real CSJT or its answer key?

No. The scenarios and ratings are Candidate Falcon’s own, written for practice. GOV.UK does not publish its key, and the real test reports a percentile against other applicants, which this practice cannot calculate.

Which grades does the practice cover?

Two bands: Administrative to Executive Officer (AA, AO and EO) and Higher Executive Officer to Grade 7 (HEO, SEO and Grade 7), with three scenarios for each of the nine Civil Service Behaviours in each band.

Does the real test use videos?

GOV.UK says scenarios for three of the behaviours are short videos and the rest are text. This practice uses text for every scenario.

Practise other Civil Service tests

Sources

Independent practice by Candidate Falcon, based on the format in GOV.UK’s guidance; the scenarios, the self-assessment statements and the effectiveness key are Candidate Falcon’s own. Not affiliated with the UK Civil Service, Civil Service Jobs or the Government People Group, and not their scoring. Practice results are not Civil Service scores. For scores, pass marks, banked results and GOV.UK's free official practice tests, read the free guide to the Civil Service online tests.