Situational judgement tests

A situational judgement test (SJT) gives you short workplace scenarios and asks you to judge how good different responses would be. It measures judgement, and you do not need to know the employer’s policies to do well. The Civil Service uses one called the Civil Service Judgement Test for many campaigns. SJTs also turn up in police recruitment, medical and graduate selection, and some NHS trusts use them for high-volume roles.

What a question looks like

A typical scenario runs to a few sentences. For example, a hypothetical one: “You have been asked by your manager to finish a report by Friday. On Wednesday a colleague asks for urgent help with a customer complaint that will take most of a day. What would you do?”

You then see four or five possible responses, such as:

• Explain to the colleague that you are busy and cannot help
• Help the colleague and tell your manager the report may be late
• Speak to your manager to agree which task takes priority
• Help the colleague and work late to finish the report
• Suggest another colleague who might be free

You are asked to rate them, rank them, or pick the most and least effective.

Common answer formats

Rating: you score each response on a scale, often from “very effective” to “very ineffective” or “counterproductive”. Each response is marked separately.

Ranking: you put all responses in order from best to worst.

Most and least: you pick the single best and the single worst response.

The Civil Service Judgement Test uses a rating format. The instructions at the start of every test explain the format and give a practice question. Read them carefully, because the same scenario can be scored very differently depending on the format.

How SJTs are scored

Subject experts, usually experienced people in the role, set the scoring key by agreeing how effective each response is. Your answers are compared with that key.

In rating formats, you often get partial marks for being close. Rating a “very effective” response as “effective” scores more than rating it “ineffective”, so extreme answers are risky if you are unsure. In ranking formats, you are marked on how close your order is to the key.

Most public sector SJTs are used as a sift. Your score is compared with a pass mark or with other candidates in that campaign, and the cut-off can change between campaigns depending on how many people apply. You are not usually told the pass mark.

What the tests are looking for

Each SJT is built around a framework. The Civil Service Judgement Test is linked to the Civil Service Code values of honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity, and to Success Profiles behaviours such as Making Effective Decisions and Working Together. Police SJTs draw on the police competency and values framework. NHS SJTs draw on NHS values.

Across all of them, responses that tend to score well:

• Deal with the problem directly and promptly
• Involve the right person, often your manager, at the right time
• Are honest, including about mistakes and delays
• Put the public, patient or customer first
• Treat colleagues fairly and respectfully

Responses that tend to score badly involve ignoring the problem, passing it on without good reason, acting beyond your authority, breaking rules for convenience, or covering something up. Doing everything yourself is usually rated below involving the right people.

How to prepare

Read the framework the employer uses. For the Civil Service, that means the Civil Service Code and the Success Profiles behaviours. For police roles, it is the competency and values framework published by the College of Policing. For NHS roles, the NHS Constitution values and the trust’s own values.

Do the practice tests on offer. Civil Service Jobs links to familiarisation material for its online tests before you sit them. They are free and show you the exact format.

Answer as the employer would want someone in this role to behave. A response that suits a sales team, such as bending a rule to keep a customer happy, may score badly in a public service context.

Adjustments

If you have dyslexia, a visual impairment or another condition that affects reading or screen use, ask for reasonable adjustments before you start, such as extra time or a different format. Each campaign explains how to request them; see our guide on reasonable adjustments in recruitment. For a Civil Service application, our Civil Service online tests guide covers what else to expect, and assessment centres sometimes include a further SJT on the day.