The FS Civil Service tests are unique and only recruits once a year, and only the top applicants get the desired civil service schemes.
The Fast Stream Test includes a Work Style Questionnaire and a Situational Judgement Questionnaire. The SJQ consists of 12 videos which require you to rate possible courses of action.
To get ahead of the competition for your desired civil service career path - we made a Fast Stream bundle pack covering the entire hiring process!
⦿ Accurate SJQ Practice simulating the real thing
⦿ Assessment Centre practice exercises to know exactly what to expect when you'll get there
⦿ Work-based scenarios and video interview prep to cover each step of the hiring process
⦿ Fully detailed solutions and explanations for every question- to help you learn as effectively as possible
Let JobTestPrep get you through the hiring process and make sure you get the job!
Keep reading for more info, free sample questions, and the full preparation pack.
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Click here for our dedicated page on the Fast Stream Assessment Centre. This page has also the information you need for what comes after the online tests.
After registering with the Civil Service and selecting a Fast Stream Scheme, you will need to take the Civil Service tests, provided by Cubiks.
The Civil Service gives you up to five days to complete these tests, providing you with practice material. We highly recommend that you use this time to practise as much as possible.
The tests consist of a Work Style Questionnaire and Situational Judgement Questionnaires, which are both multiple-choice.
In this assessment, you will be presented with statements regarding yourself, and are required to mark on a scale the point that best reflects the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement. There are four statements per page.
Here are a few Work Style sample questions:
A. I keep everything in its place so I will know exactly where it belongs.
1 (Strongly Disagree) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |6 | 7 (Strongly Disagree)
B. Helping is very satisfying for me.
1 (Strongly Disagree) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |6 | 7 (Strongly Disagree)
C. I don't feel very energetic.
1 (Strongly Disagree) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |6 | 7 (Strongly Disagree)
Subsequently, you will be shown the same statements again, but this time you will be asked to select one that most represents you and one that less so.
This is how it looks:
Which of the following two statements represents you more accurately?
Helping is very satisfying for me. | I don't feel very energetic.
Even though it may seem that there are no right or wrong answers, this section can be the deciding factor on you failing/passing the test. it is very crucial that you maintain the following 3 tips to acing the Work Style Questionnaire:
#1 There ARE right and wrong answers
There are right/wrong answers, even if the test instructions say otherwise. This test is part of an assessment meant to find the ideal candidates- you can find yourself eliminated from the hiring process due to your performance on this test!
#2 Your personality profile needs to make sense
As mentioned, you will rank questions individually before ranking them compared to one another. If you ranked a statement higher than another in the first stage but then gave it a lower ranking on the second one, you will be seen as inconsistent.
#3 It's about your work persona, not you as a person.
The test checkers do not care about your personality outside of work- you should answer each question regardless of how you act outside of a professional setting, and only address your behavior patterns as a worker.
There are two SJQ tests you’ll need to complete:
Both tests have the same structure: You will be shown a scenario, and must rank the effectiveness of responses to it. The effectiveness rankings are:
Both tests are comprised of 12 scenarios and 4 responses for each scenario.
For both tests, the rankings of each response are independent- this means you can rank up to all 4 responses equally effective, theoretically.
The interpersonal skills SJQ examines how well you make judgments and decisions involving other individuals in real civil service work scenarios. It consists of 12 video scenarios, each followed by 4 possible courses of action, that you will have to rate according to how effective you believe them to be.
Interpersonal Skills SJQ Sample Question 1
You and your team have been given a new project to complete with a two-week deadline. You are scheduled to start this project in a week's time. You arrange a team meeting to discuss the project, outline the tasks, and delegate these. In order to complete this project on time, you propose that each of your six team members take one of the outlined tasks. Katie voices that she is already struggling with meeting the deadlines of her current tasks and does not feel she can take on any new tasks. Jake reminds you that his annual leave was approved and that he is abroad during that time. Lisa is also on leave during this time as her children break up for half term.
Rate the effectiveness of the following actions:
Please rate each response independently of the others, whereby each rating can be used more than once (1=Effective, 2=Partially Effective, 3= Ineffective, 4= Counterproductive).
Interpersonal Skills SJQ Sample Question 2
You manage a small department in a large company. A few weeks ago your department was assigned to work on an important project. As the deadline approaches, it seems that the department is very far behind and the pressure is rising. You announced that in the upcoming week you need everyone to put in extra efforts and stay extra hours to close the gap. You begin to feel that employees' morale is dropping – you notice that employees take longer breaks, make more errors and you even overhear someone saying that staying extra hours for this mission is an overreaction as it’s not important enough.
Rate the effectiveness of the following actions:
Please rate each response independently of the others, whereby each rating can be used more than once (1=Effective, 2=Partially Effective, 3= Ineffective, 4= Counterproductive).
The Thinking Skills SJQ assesses your thinking skills, in particular how well you can make judgments in a civil service work context, involving limited information that is given in the form of tables, charts, and graphs. It also comprises of 12 scenarios, with 4 different responses you must rank.
Thinking Skills SJQ Sample Question
You are part of the management team that oversees Manchester's job centres. There are 10 job centres, each processing 100 new job seeker applications per week. You are aware that there are approximately 66,000 unemployed individuals in Manchester. Based on recent audits, you know that each staff member can process 2 additional jobseeker applications per day. You have just been informed that a well-known travel agency is closing down, making 2000 of their employees redundant.
Rate the effectiveness of the following actions:
Please rate each response independent of the others, whereby each rating can be used more than once (1=Effective, 2=Partially Effective, 3= Ineffective, 4= Counterproductive).
Should you pass successfully the online tests, you will have an additional 5 days to complete the next stage.
Tip: Deciding between giving a statement the Ineffective/Partially effective rankings can be quite difficult. It is usually more efficient to decide whether either of the extreme rankings (Effective/Counterproductive) apply: If one of them does not apply, try to think if the other does. If the other does, partially- You should give the statement closest to that one. This applies to both types of SJQ!
The Fast Stream Assessment Preparation Pack Includes accurate simulations of the SJQ, specifically built for this assessment.
Practicing with realistic materials is the most effective way to boost your performance on the real thing.
Get the preparation pack now and land your dream job in civil service!
After passing the online tests, you will be invited to take a video interview as well as an e-tray exercise. Following that, you will be invited to the FSAC - Fast Stream Assessment Centre, to take part in several other exercises. If you want to learn more about the assessment centre, click here.
Looking for other Civil Service tests? Check out more of our practices:
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