Assistant Principal 2026

Assistant Principal aptitude test practice, in the Irish format

Prepare for the Assistant Principal stage in your current publicjobs invitation. Use original senior-judgement, numerical and verbal practice, then build capability examples from your own experience. The earlier July and September estimates have passed; your candidate account confirms your dates and format.

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At a glance

PracticeSJT, numerical and verbal

Framework2024 AP · 8 capabilities

CompetitionCheck your candidate account

Test datesYour invitation controls

InterviewCandidate-specific invitation

AP SJT Practice1 / 10

A cross-departmental programme you lead is slipping and a partner unit wants to announce a delay before your minister has been briefed. Consider each action independently.

Rate each action independently from 1 to 6. Ratings may repeat.

Scroll sideways to see all six ratings. The action stays visible as you choose. On a keyboard, use the arrow keys to change a rating.

Rate each action independently from 1 to 6. Select one rating in every row; repeated ratings are allowed.
Action	1Highly Inappropriate	2Inappropriate	3Slightly Inappropriate	4Slightly Appropriate	5Appropriate	6Highly Appropriate
1Brief your minister's office before any external statement	Choose 1: Highly Inappropriate	Choose 2: Inappropriate	Choose 3: Slightly Inappropriate	Choose 4: Slightly Appropriate	Choose 5: Appropriate	Choose 6: Highly Appropriate
2Agree a joint holding line with the partner unit	Choose 1: Highly Inappropriate	Choose 2: Inappropriate	Choose 3: Slightly Inappropriate	Choose 4: Slightly Appropriate	Choose 5: Appropriate	Choose 6: Highly Appropriate
3Re-plan the critical path with your team	Choose 1: Highly Inappropriate	Choose 2: Inappropriate	Choose 3: Slightly Inappropriate	Choose 4: Slightly Appropriate	Choose 5: Appropriate	Choose 6: Highly Appropriate
4Ask the partner unit to hold its announcement	Choose 1: Highly Inappropriate	Choose 2: Inappropriate	Choose 3: Slightly Inappropriate	Choose 4: Slightly Appropriate	Choose 5: Appropriate	Choose 6: Highly Appropriate
5Escalate to your Principal Officer for a decision	Choose 1: Highly Inappropriate	Choose 2: Inappropriate	Choose 3: Slightly Inappropriate	Choose 4: Slightly Appropriate	Choose 5: Appropriate	Choose 6: Highly Appropriate

What stage 1 involves

Match practice to your invitation

Use the current competition booklet, familiarisation material and messages in your publicjobs candidate account to confirm the assessment you face. PSP offers original numerical, verbal and six-point judgement practice at AP level. A provider's practice menu does not confirm your test battery, timer, platform or proctoring rules.

Earlier candidates described three separate tests in the November 2024 sitting. That is historical candidate experience, not an official statement of the 2026 format. Our practice counts and timers remain indicative.

Read a worked numerical example or try the free judgement sample before choosing paid practice.

The AP capability framework

Eight capabilities, four groupings

The 2024 Civil Service Capability Framework at Assistant Principal level. Every AP scenario we write is tagged to one of these.

Building Future Readiness

Digital Focus, Innovation & Upskilling for the Future

Building Future Readiness

Strategy, Change & Reform

Evidence Informed Delivery

Delivering Excellence

Evidence Informed Delivery

Analysis, Judgement & Decision Making

Leading and Empowering

Leading, Motivating & Developing

Leading and Empowering

Leading with Specialist Insight

Communicating and Collaborating

Communicating & Influencing

Communicating and Collaborating

Engaging & Collaborating

AP is not EO with a bigger clock

What makes the AP assessment different

Senior-judgement rating SJT

The scenarios sit at Assistant Principal level: cross-departmental exposure, ministerial sensitivity and staff you lead rather than sit alongside. You rate each of five actions independently on a six-point appropriateness scale. The same rating can be used for several actions.

Management-report data interpretation

The numerical is data-interpretation heavy: tables and charts at the complexity of a management report, where reading the source correctly matters as much as the arithmetic.

Business and policy verbal

The verbal passages are written in a business and policy register, the kind of material an AP works with daily. You still judge each statement True, False or Cannot Say against the clock.

Built to the AP framework

Everything is mapped to the 2024 AP capabilities, weighted toward Analysis and Judgement, Leading and Motivating, and Communicating and Influencing, so your practice reflects the AP spine.

The 2026 cycle

Use your current official invitation

1
Check the competition record
Your role reference identifies the competition. Keep its booklet and your submitted application together.
2
Assessment dates are candidate-specific
Read your invitation for the deadline, format, timing, equipment and familiarisation material.
3
Prepare for the stage you are invited to
Use the official invitation to establish whether an interview, exercise or another selection stage applies to you.

Checked 4 October 2026. Earlier July and September estimates are retired. No public official source checked establishes the present stage for every AP candidate. Your candidate account is authoritative. Official test advice and the AP capability profile support preparation, not a candidate-specific date.

Try it before you pay

One AP scenario, one policy passage, one data question - free with an account

No card to start. Create a free account and run the AP samples end to end, scored and explained, so you can see the format for yourself.

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One plan, every grade

One plan covers EO and AP

There is no separate AP subscription. Every plan gives you every grade, so if you are working up from EO to AP, one plan carries you the whole way.

See pricing

Guides to help you succeed

Assistant Principal questions, answered honestly

Is this the official Assistant Principal test?

No. PublicServicePathway is an independent practice resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to publicjobs.ie or the Public Appointments Service. We build practice in the AP format so you walk in knowing the shape of it.

How many questions are on the AP stage 1 test?

publicjobs has not published official counts or time limits. Candidates from the November 2024 sitting report about 15 numerical questions in 15 minutes, about 15 verbal statements, and a somewhat longer SJT - our mocks mirror that shape, with every timer labelled indicative.

Is this for the standard AP or AP Higher?

This covers the standard Assistant Principal competition. It does not target the separate Circular 14/2026 interdepartmental AP Higher competition, whose materials differ.

Do I need a separate plan for AP?

No. Every PublicServicePathway plan covers every grade. One plan gives you CO, EO, HEO and AP practice together, so nothing extra to buy whatever grade you are preparing for.

Try a free AP scenario See pricing