The 2024 Framework Behind SJT Scenarios

The publicjobs SJT is not a random collection of workplace dilemmas. Every scenario is built around a specific set of behaviours that the Public Appointments Service wants to see at your grade. Once you understand which competencies are being probed, the “which answer feels right” problem starts to make a lot more sense.

Here is what the 2024 Capability Framework actually tests for in the SJT, and how knowing that changes your preparation.

What is the 2024 Capability Framework and why does it matter for the SJT?

The 2024 Capability Framework replaced the earlier Competency Framework and reorganised the behaviours the civil service expects from staff across all grades. For candidates, the practical consequence is this: the scenarios in the publicjobs SJT are designed to surface whether you naturally act in line with those capability clusters.

PAS does not publish the exact mapping between SJT questions and framework dimensions. But the framework itself is public, and reading it alongside the official test advice page tells you a great deal. The stated values the SJT is assessing are integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality. Those sit inside a broader structure that covers four main areas:

Building Future Readiness - adapting to change, taking initiative, improving how things are done
Evidence Informed Delivery - making balanced judgements, following procedures, using information well before acting
Leading and Empowering - taking ownership, supporting colleagues, escalating appropriately
Communicating and Collaborating - working with others, being clear, keeping stakeholders informed

At Executive Officer level, the SJT scenarios lean heavily on Evidence Informed Delivery and Communicating and Collaborating. That is not an accident. The EO role involves managing workflow, coordinating with colleagues and the public, and making decisions within set procedures. The scenarios reflect exactly that.

How do the competencies actually show up in a scenario?

Think about a scenario where a colleague has made an error that will affect a member of the public if not caught before a deadline. You have spotted it. Your manager is out.

A candidate who has not thought about the framework tends to drift toward the middle: acknowledge the issue, maybe mention it to someone, avoid stepping on anyone’s toes. That kind of “fence sitting” response scores poorly.

The framework tells you why. Evidence Informed Delivery expects you to act on information you have, within your authority, and not pass responsibility upward unnecessarily when the situation is clear and the stakes are immediate. Leading and Empowering expects you to take ownership rather than wait. Communicating and Collaborating expects you to flag it to the right person if you do need to escalate, not to do nothing.

So the correct response is not the one that feels safest. It is the one that reflects how a capable EO would actually behave according to PAS’s own published expectations.

The first time I sat the SJT I was ranking on instinct and picking what felt like the least risky option. It is a very natural thing to do, but it is usually wrong. The framework recalibrates your instincts.

Does the 2024 framework change what the SJT is testing compared to before?

The short answer is: the behaviours being assessed have been clarified and extended, not replaced wholesale.

The older Competency Framework had similar clusters under different names. The 2024 version adds more explicit emphasis on things like Building Future Readiness, which covers adaptability and continuous improvement. You may see scenarios that involve a process being changed, a new system being introduced, or uncertainty about how to proceed with something unfamiliar. The framework tells you that the expected behaviour is to engage with the change constructively, seek information, and keep moving forward rather than waiting for explicit instruction on every step.

What has not changed is the core pattern: the SJT is looking for someone who acts with integrity, takes measured initiative, communicates clearly, and does not avoid accountability when something needs to be done.

Why generic SJT prep fails to reflect this

Most of the SJT practice material widely available online is built for the UK Civil Service. That means it is calibrated against UK behavioural frameworks, often uses most-effective / least-effective binary formats, and presents scenarios involving pound-denominated figures, UK government departments, and cultural reference points that do not match the Irish context.

The publicjobs SJT at EO level uses a rating scale format where you score each possible response rather than picking one winner and one loser. That difference alone changes how you think about partial credit, and it changes your strategy when two options seem equally good. Generic prep packs do not explain the rating logic against the Irish framework because they are not built around it.

The deeper problem is that without understanding the 2024 Capability Framework, you are essentially guessing at what “good” looks like. You might have solid instincts and score fine. Or you might, like a lot of candidates on boards.ie, find yourself in the lower third on the SJT despite strong verbal and numerical scores.

For a fuller overview of how the SJT works as a whole - format, scoring, and what the test session looks like - the publicjobs situational judgement test guide covers the mechanics in detail. The same capability framework also shapes the job simulation test at higher grades, and the 2024 Capability Framework explained post covers how it applies across multiple competition stages.

A note on what the SJT does not cover

The SJT is one component of the online assessment. The same sitting typically includes a verbal reasoning test, a numerical reasoning test (which is pass/fail and does not contribute to your Order of Merit ranking), and a 500-word written exercise completed in 30 minutes.

The written exercise is not assessed on the same framework indicators as the SJT. It tends to draw on your own experience managing a situation. The competencies the SJT prepares you to think about are closely related to what will come up in the competency interview if you progress, so time spent understanding the framework pays forward.

FAQ

Does the 2024 Capability Framework replace the competencies I need for the competency interview?

No, it extends and clarifies them. The same capability clusters that shape the SJT scenarios will appear in the interview stage. Preparing for the SJT framework gives you a head start on structuring your interview answers, because you are already thinking in the language PAS uses.

How do I know which competency a scenario is testing?

PAS does not label scenarios by competency in the test. But if you read each scenario and ask “which framework dimension does this situation sit inside,” the answer is usually one of: making a judgement call with imperfect information (Evidence Informed Delivery), handling a colleague or stakeholder interaction (Communicating and Collaborating), or dealing with a change or unfamiliar situation (Building Future Readiness). Practising that identification step is one of the most useful things you can do.

Is the SJT the same as the Job Simulation test?

Yes. Candidates use both terms to describe the same assessment. “Job Simulation” is the name some candidates use informally; the official publicjobs.ie terminology is the Situational Judgement Test. It is the component that, according to candidate reports, accounts for the majority of eliminations in EO-level competitions.

Where can I find the 2024 Capability Framework for EO level?

It is published on publicjobs.ie. Check the Capability Framework section and select Executive Officer grade. Reading the behavioural indicators under each dimension, even once, will change how you approach the SJT scenarios.

If you want to practise with scenarios that are built around the Irish context and the 2024 Capability Framework rather than a UK SHL template, the free taster at PublicServicePathway lets you try the format tonight with no card required. The full practice bank, including framework-mapped scenarios and rating-scale scoring, is available from €39 a month.

The 2024 Capability Framework Behind Every SJT Scenario