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.

For HEO 2026, you rate each of five actions independently on a six-point appropriateness scale. Our practice shows the scenario above a table, with all five actions listed and the six rating choices across the top. You can give several actions the same rating. Each timed HEO SJT paper contains 10 scenarios, or 50 action ratings, in 50 minutes. EO and AP practice now use the same six-point rating table. Always check the official format and timing in your own competition booklet.

It's the set of capabilities the civil service now recruits and promotes against for most new competitions, and it underpins both the SJT and the interview. Some competitions and internal boards still interview on the older Competency Model, and your call-up letter or candidate booklet says which applies. PSP supports both: every SJT scenario here is tagged to the capability it tests, and the interview tools work in either model.

The practice banks cover CO, EO, HEO and AP. Situational judgement is available for EO, HEO and AP, with independent six-point action ratings. HEO includes 300 SJT scenarios, 358 distinct numerical prompts, verbal and timed reasoning practice, and 30 timed SJT papers. In Tests, choose your Practice grade, then Situational judgement. SJT also has coached and untimed modes. Fresh numerical availability follows your shared question history.

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.

Use the official familiarisation material first to check your competition format. PSP adds repeatable independent practice, timed papers, explanations and progress tracking. HEO 2026 SJT practice uses the six-point rating format described in the familiarisation booklet. Our practice scores support learning; they do not predict your official result.

No. The numerical and verbal practice is written for Irish public service candidates, and every SJT scenario is mapped to the 2024 Capability Framework. EO, HEO and AP practice use independent six-point ratings, with grade-specific scenarios and explanations. PSP is an independent preparation service; check your competition booklet for the official assessment format.

The general helper can create editable drafts from your saved or pasted experience, alongside evidence matches and gaps. Check every fact and your competition's AI rules before using them. It does not automatically determine whether AI-written answers are permitted.

The taster is free with no card. Prep is €19 a month and includes the evidence tools plus three role-specific full mocks each month, using either a live voice practice panel or written and dictated practice. Premium is €39 a month and adds the full independent practice question bank and timed papers. Both cancel anytime. There's also a €89 Premium pass that covers 90 days and then stops on its own.

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. Start with the three instant tasters - numerical, verbal and a scored SJT scenario, no account needed. Sign up and you also get free sample questions in the app, with worked solutions on every one. Try the format against 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 STAR guides show you how to structure it, and the work experience bible helps you find the example.

The 2024 framework looks at the whole person: experience and behaviours; skills, strengths and knowledge; and values, motivation and interests. The mock reads the areas named in your booklet and uses the right question logic for each, rather than forcing every answer into STAR.

Yes. Select the Older Competency Model and add the booklet. The plan maps the competencies actually named for your competition, and evidence questions can be probed for your own actions, reasoning, result and learning. Check the extracted plan against the call-up material before you start.

Our model can compare the transcript with the assessed areas in the job material and point to evidence, gaps and useful retry drills. In live mode, audio goes directly from your browser to OpenAI; PublicServicePathway stores no audio and Anthropic receives the text transcript for the report. It cannot recreate your real board, verify whether an example is true, or predict a pass. The report is labelled a practice-readiness index, and it never scores appearance, accent, disability, personality or eye contact.