Questions about the publicjobs assessment, answered

After you apply, the biggest hurdle is the online assessment: a situational judgement test plus numerical and verbal reasoning, all timed. You sit it once per competition and you don't get a score breakdown or a second attempt. That's why rehearsing the real format beforehand matters so much.

The situational judgement test gives you a workplace scenario and several possible responses, and asks you to rank them from most to least effective. The publicjobs familiarisation sample won't let you rank, which is the one mechanic the real test marks you on. Practising the ranked version is the difference between recognising the format and being surprised by it.

It's the set of capabilities the civil service now recruits and promotes against, and it underpins both the SJT and the interview. It replaced the older competency model, so prep built on the old framework no longer maps cleanly. Every SJT scenario here is tagged to the capability it tests.

CO, EO and HEO to start, calibrated so you practise at the right level for your grade. EO has the deepest bank because the EO 2026 competition is live now.

JobTestPrep is the most-mentioned paid option and its aptitude practice is solid. The catch for Irish candidates is that the packs are UK-built and adapted: different timing, pound-sign questions, and no 2024 Capability Framework. If you are sitting a publicjobs assessment, you want practice built to that format.

You should absolutely use the official familiarisation tests. They just stop short: the SJT sample won't let you rank answers, and you can't repeat realistically or track where you're improving. This picks up where the free sample leaves off.

No. The numerical and verbal banks are built to the publicjobs timing and question style, the SJT uses the real ranked-answer mechanic, and every scenario is mapped to the 2024 Capability Framework.

The taster is free with no card. After that it's €39 a month, cancel anytime, or €149 for the year. There's also a one-off €49 mock interview add-on.

Yes. Most people subscribe for the weeks before their assessment and cancel once the competition is over, so you only pay for the run-up to your test. No lock-in on the monthly plan.

No. Do the free set first - one full SJT plus numerical and verbal, scored, with worked solutions. Decide whether the format matches what you are facing, then subscribe only if it is useful.

Yes. The free taster shows you exactly what the test and the application form look like. For the application capability responses, the worked examples give you the shape of a strong answer within the character limits, and you bring your own college, volunteering and part-time examples.

STAR works on any real example, not just paid work. A group project, a part-time job problem, a volunteering role - the structure is the same. The mock interview feedback shows you whether your example is landing the capability.

The questions are now mapped to capabilities rather than the old competencies, and the marking follows that. Prep built on the old model leaves gaps. The mock interview add-on is built on the 2024 framework and tells you where your answers score.

It won't replace a board, and it doesn't pretend to. What it does is map your answer to the capability and the STAR structure and show you the gaps, as many times as you want to practise. Drill the reps here first, then spend on a human coach only if you still need to.