Irish Civil Service Graduate Grades (AO, HEO, Third Secretary)
Irish Civil Service Graduate Grades (AO, HEO, Third Secretary)

Irish Civil Service Graduate Grades (AO, HEO, Third Secretary) — Syllabus & notes

Start hereMock testAO 2024-format Stage 1 practice for AO, HEO and Third Secretary

Practice test

Graduate grades practice: verbal, numerical and situational judgement

  • 120 True, False or Cannot say statements on graduate-level passages
  • 60 table questions, five options each
  • 40 situational scenarios: text versions of the written, video-call and chat types
  • A full mock on the AO 2024 clock
  • Every answer explained, every calculation worked
₹2,899one-time
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Independent practice, not affiliated with publicjobs or the Public Appointments Service.

Mock testTests + interview, written exercise and application form

Complete kit

Online-test, interview, written-exercise and application-form practice in one kit

  • The full online-test practice kit
  • 40 capability interview questions with STAR frames or model answers
  • 12 full model answers
  • Third Secretary written-exercise practice
  • AO and HEO application-form examples
  • One interview question free

One interview question free, with feedback

₹4,999one-time
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Independent practice, not affiliated with publicjobs or the Public Appointments Service.

Mock testAlso applying for Executive Officer: the EO test format

Practice test

Executive Officer practice: verbal, numerical and situational judgement

  • 40 True, False or Cannot Say statements on 8 passages
  • 24 numerical questions on 8 tables, five options each
  • 19 situational actions rated Excellent to Bad
  • A practice clock on each test
  • Every answer explained, every calculation worked
₹1,299one-time
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Independent practice, not affiliated with publicjobs or the Public Appointments Service.

Exam overview

publicjobs (the Public Appointments Service) is the central recruiter for the Irish Civil and Public Service. It runs competitions for Administrative Officer (AO), Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and, for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Third Secretary (the graduate entry diplomatic grade). In the AO 2024, HEO 2026 and Third Secretary 2020 competitions, Stage 1 was a set of online assessments. For Graduate Opportunities Administrative Officer (General) 2024, publicjobs described three remotely proctored assessments: Verbal Reasoning (40 statements in 30 minutes, each judged True, False or Cannot say on a passage), Numerical Reasoning (24 questions on charts and tables in 35 minutes, five options each) and a Situational Judgement Test (40 minutes; text, video and chat scenarios, each with three options, choosing the best response). There was no negative marking, candidates had to reach the qualifying standard in all three, and the combined Verbal Reasoning and Situational Judgement scores set the Order of Merit. Each competition sets out its own tests in its candidate information and familiarisation material. Later stages differ by grade: the Third Secretary competition has used an online video interview, a precis (written) exercise and an interview, and the HEO 2024 final stage combined a written report, a 5-minute oral briefing and an interview. The Higher Executive Officer in the Civil Service 2026 competition scheduled its online assessments for October 2026, shortlisting for December 2026 and interviews for January 2027.

Subjects
Verbal reasoning · Numerical reasoning · Situational judgement
Exam languages
English
Official exam website
Preparing with colleagues?Send this page to your Irish Civil Service Graduate Grades group — the papers and guides are free to read.
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