Checked 16 October 2026. News page, kept up to date. The announcement (17 July 2026) is reported by Civil Service World and PoliticsHome; we did not find it on a public official page. Official GOV.UK and Civil Service Careers pages were read on 16 October 2026 and still describe Success Profiles. We will update this page when the replacement model is published.
In July 2026 the head of the Civil Service told staff that Success Profiles, the framework introduced from 2018 to set what applicants for each role must show, are to be scrapped. If you are writing a Civil Service application this autumn, that raises a practical question: do you still write behaviour examples, still prepare for strength questions, still sit the Civil Service Judgement Test? This page answers it from what is actually on the record. It separates three things that most coverage runs together: what was announced (reported by two news outlets), what the official recruitment pages still say (read by us on 16 October 2026), and what nobody has published yet. Where a line is our reading rather than a quotation, it says so.
The short answer, 16 October 2026
Success Profiles are being scrapped, but the replacement has not been published. Until it is, follow the job advert: it says which elements you will be assessed on and how.
The official GOV.UK and Civil Service Careers pages we read on 16 October 2026 still say “The Civil Service recruits using Success Profiles”. The announcement promised “a new model that emphasises skills and expertise” and “further changes over the coming months”. Beyond that one-line description, no date, elements or assessment methods have been published.
Sources: GOV.UK Success Profiles (last updated 29 January 2025); Civil Service World and PoliticsHome, 17 July 2026. Read 16 October 2026.
What was announced, and by whom
On 17 July 2026, Civil Service World and PoliticsHome both reported the change. PoliticsHome quotes an email to staff from Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo: “We are going to start by scrapping success profiles, instead introducing a new model that emphasises skills and expertise – and will make further changes over the coming months.” Civil Service World reports the same words on a new Future Civil Service website, which it says was shared in that all-staff email and which says recruitment needs to be “simpler”.
Both outlets add context that matters for applicants. PoliticsHome quotes a Cabinet Office source saying that Romeo “thinks that the current recruitment rules, including success profiles, are often too limiting and don’t attract the best talent from the private sector and around the country”, and that “We are developing a new model that emphasises skills and expertise to help recruit the best talent to the right roles.” Civil Service World reports that the same website announced a “rapid review” of the Fast Stream “to cover everything from recruitment to training and deployment across the country”.
| Claim | Who said it | Where we read it | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Success Profiles will be scrapped | Cabinet Secretary (17 July 2026) | PoliticsHome (quoting her all-staff email); Civil Service World (the same words on the Future Civil Service website shared in that email) | Reported |
| The replacement will emphasise “skills and expertise” | Cabinet Secretary; a Cabinet Office source | PoliticsHome and Civil Service World | Reported |
| Recruitment should be “simpler” | Future Civil Service website | Civil Service World | Reported |
| A rapid review of the Fast Stream | Future Civil Service website | Civil Service World | Reported |
| A new entry point for mid-career joiners is being considered | Future Civil Service website | Civil Service World | Reported |
| When the new model starts, and what it contains | Nobody yet | — | Not published |
We could not find the Future Civil Service website on a public address, and GOV.UK carries no announcement page for the change. That is why every row about the announcement is marked as reported. If an official page appears, this table will move to it.
What the official pages still say today
An announcement to staff is not the same as a change to the rules applicants are assessed against. On 16 October 2026 we read the official candidate pages. None of them had been changed to mention the replacement.
| Official page | Last updated (as shown) | What it said when we read it on 16 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK: Success Profiles (publication) | 29 January 2025 | “The Civil Service recruits using Success Profiles.” No notice of replacement |
| Civil Service Careers: How to apply | Not shown | Calls the factors you are assessed on “Success Profiles” and says “The Civil Service recruits using Success Profiles” |
| Civil Service Careers: A guide to Civil Service Success Profiles | Not shown | Still live, opening with “The Civil Service recruits using Success Profiles” |
| Civil Service Careers: Assessments and interviews | Not shown | “Strengths are one of the Success Profiles elements”; interviews may ask about times you showed “a certain skill or behaviour” |
| GOV.UK: Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test | 24 May 2024 | The test still measures “your ability to demonstrate judgement and decision-making regarding specific Civil Service Behaviours, which have been selected as important for success in your chosen job” |
| Civil Service Jobs: the first 25 results of a search with no keyword (24 different adverts) | Live adverts | 22 of the 24 mention Success Profiles; none uses the phrase “skills and expertise” |
| GOV.UK: Preparing for the Civil Service Verbal and Numerical tests | 14 May 2025 | Unchanged guidance; the tests are not timed and are adaptive |
The adverts tell the same story. On 16 October 2026 we searched Civil Service Jobs with no keyword (1,377 results) and opened the first 25 results, which were 24 different adverts. 22 of the 24 mention Success Profiles, and none uses the phrase “skills and expertise”. That is a small sample from one search, not a survey of every vacancy, but it is a clear signal: adverts open today are still written under the current framework. The candidate overview puts the rule that matters in one line: “Details of which elements will be assessed and how we will assess you are included in the job advert.” That is the rule today; whether the new model keeps it is not yet published.
Success Profiles in one table: the current framework
These are the five elements the framework uses now. Which of them survive, change or go under the new model is not published. The table gives them with the official definitions from the GOV.UK publication page and how the official guidance says each may be assessed. GOV.UK adds that “Not all of the elements are relevant to every role”.
| Element | Official definition (GOV.UK) | How the official guidance says it may be assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Behaviours | The actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job | Examples on an application form, with the STAR method suggested, and questions at interview (candidate overview); the Civil Service Judgement Test also measures behaviours (CSJT guidance) |
| Strengths | The things we do regularly, do well and that motivate us | At interview; Civil Service Careers says strength questions assess “your strengths and preferred style of working” |
| Ability | The aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard | Online tests or an assessment centre (candidate overview) |
| Experience | The knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it | Application form, CV and supporting statement (candidate overview) |
| Technical | The demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications | Proof of a qualification or membership, technical presentations and exercises; the head of each profession defines the specific skills, knowledge and qualifications you may be asked to show (Technical guide). A CV or supporting statement may also help assess technical qualifications (candidate overview) |
Where other pages get this wrong
On GOV.UK, the Technical element means “the demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications”.
Commonly published instead: Two GOV.UK pages, the candidate overview and the Technical guide itself, define Technical in their five-element lists with the same words they use for Behaviours: “the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job”.
Both lines (read 16 October 2026) look like a copying slip: the GOV.UK publication page and Civil Service World give the professional-skills definition, which is also what the rest of the Technical guide describes. Use that one.
The nine Civil Service Behaviours are: Seeing the big picture, Changing and improving, Making effective decisions, Leadership, Communicating and influencing, Working together, Developing self and others, Managing a quality service, Delivering at pace. GOV.UK gives examples for six grade groups, from Administrative Assistant and Administrative Officer up to Director and Director General. The candidate overview says “you will not be asked to demonstrate all the behaviours for one role”.
If you are applying now: a checklist from your advert
The same checklist as a table, for readers whose page does not run the tool.
| If your advert names | Prepare like this | Where to practise on ProSyllabus |
|---|---|---|
| Behaviours (for example “Delivering at pace”, “Working together”) | Write one STAR example per behaviour named, at the grade of the job. Use the official examples for that grade as your checklist. | Our behaviour example guides, one per behaviour |
| Civil Service Judgement Test | Learn the four official ratings word for word, take the free official practice test, then practise rating actions with explained answers. | CSJT tips from the official wording |
| Verbal or Numerical test | Read the GOV.UK guidance (not timed, adaptive, calculator allowed for Numerical) and practise true / false / cannot say and table questions. | Verbal and Numerical practice set |
| Strengths (asked about at interview) | Strength questions are about what you do well and enjoy, answered without long preparation. Reflect on your own strengths and preferred ways of working, as Civil Service Careers suggests. | No ProSyllabus page yet |
| Experience, a CV or a personal statement | Match each essential criterion in the advert to one concrete piece of evidence from your CV. Keep to any word limit the advert gives. | No ProSyllabus page yet |
| Technical (a qualification or professional skill) | Have proof of the qualification ready. The Technical guide says assessment may include technical presentations or exercises, and that the head of each profession defines the specific skills, knowledge and qualifications you may be asked to show. | No ProSyllabus page yet |
Behaviour examples: still worth writing?
Yes, if your advert asks for them. Nothing published so far says when or how applications will change, the behaviours are still the published standard, and 22 of the 24 live adverts we sampled named Success Profiles. A well-built example is also not wasted if the model changes: the STAR shape (situation, task, action, result) is evidence of what you did and how well, and that is likely to stay useful under a new model that “emphasises skills and expertise”. That last point is our reading only: the announcement does not say how skills will be assessed. Our behaviour guides set out the official examples for each grade, one behaviour per page.
The online tests
The Civil Service online tests have their own GOV.UK guidance pages, and the announcement as reported says nothing about them. The Civil Service Judgement Test is the one most tied to the framework: GOV.UK says it measures “your ability to demonstrate judgement and decision-making regarding specific Civil Service Behaviours, which have been selected as important for success in your chosen job”. If the behaviours are replaced, the content of that test may change too. Nobody has said so, and we print no guess. The Verbal and Numerical tests measure ability, one of the five elements, and nothing reported touches them.
The Fast Stream
Civil Service World reports a “rapid review” of the Fast Stream “to cover everything from recruitment to training and deployment across the country”. Applications for 2027 entry opened at midday on 8 October 2026 and close at midday on 5 November 2026, and the three Fast Stream pages we read on 16 October 2026 did not mention Success Profiles or the review. The two Fast Stream online tests, “Work-based scenarios” and the “Case study assessment”, are untimed, and are explained in our Fast Stream online tests guide. The review's findings and timing are not published.
If you are applying for 2027 entry, the official online-tests page says you may wait a few days for the tests to become available, then have 7 days to complete them. Our Fast Stream online tests guide carries a free work-based scenario you can rate now, and the ProSyllabus Fast Stream practice set has 12 work-based scenarios (48 actions to rate, each with our reasoning) and a 24-situation case study. Scenario 1 is free before you pay. It is our own practice material, not an official test, and its case study uses the most/least answer type only, while the official page says the Case study assessment asks for most and least effective responses in some situations and four-point ratings in others.
Why the change: the argument against Success Profiles
The criticism is not new. In July 2024 the Institute for Government, in a 20-point plan for the Civil Service, called for Success Profiles to be scrapped. Civil Service World reported the Institute’s view that the framework, though “well intentioned”, is confusing for external candidates but lets those “in the know” tailor their answers to tick the right boxes, and that it should be replaced with a “more adaptable framework” that does not jeopardise recruitment on merit.
Merit is the one part that cannot change by announcement. The Civil Service Commission says the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires appointments to the Civil Service to be made on merit following fair and open competition. Whatever the new model is, it has to work inside that rule.
Timeline
| When | What happened | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Success Profiles introduced to replace the Civil Service competency framework, rolled out department by department; all departments were expected to adopt them by early 2019 | Reported (Civil Service World, 2018 and 17 July 2026) |
| 30 July 2024 | The Institute for Government called for Success Profiles to be scrapped and replaced with a “more adaptable framework” of guidance that “does not jeopardise the principle of recruitment on merit” | Reported (Civil Service World) |
| 9 October 2024 | GOV.UK replaced the PDF guidance with HTML attachments and clarified which grade each behaviour example relates to | Official (GOV.UK change history) |
| 29 January 2025 | Last update to the GOV.UK Success Profiles page (bullet points restored in some G6 and G7 behaviour examples) | Official (GOV.UK change history) |
| 17 July 2026 | Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo tells staff the Civil Service will “start by scrapping success profiles”, with a new model that “emphasises skills and expertise”; a rapid review of the Fast Stream is announced alongside | Reported (Civil Service World, PoliticsHome; the Fast Stream review is in Civil Service World only) |
| 8 October to 5 November 2026 | Fast Stream applications for 2027 entry open (midday to midday) | Official (Civil Service Careers) |
| 16 October 2026 | The official GOV.UK and Civil Service Careers pages still describe recruitment using Success Profiles; no replacement model is published | Our reading of the official pages |
What we could not find
Not published anywhere we looked
- What the new model contains: its elements, their names, or how each is assessed.
- A start date, or whether it begins with some departments or grades first.
- Whether the Civil Service Judgement Test, the strengths interview or the behaviour statement will change, stay or go.
- An official GOV.UK or Civil Service Careers page announcing the change. The announcement is known from the two news reports listed below.
- The findings and timing of the rapid review of the Fast Stream (only its broad scope, “everything from recruitment to training and deployment across the country”, is reported).
Searched and read on 16 October 2026: GOV.UK (search and the Success Profiles publication), Civil Service Careers, 24 live Civil Service Jobs adverts, the Civil Service Commission, Civil Service World and PoliticsHome. Commercial sites describing a finished “new framework” were not repeated, because we found no official page behind them.
How we will keep this page current
This is a news page. When the replacement is published on GOV.UK or Civil Service Careers, we will add what it contains, how it changes applications and tests, and the date it applies from, and we will mark every older line that it supersedes. Until then, the honest position is the short answer at the top: the announcement is real, the details are not out, and the advert decides.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Are Civil Service Success Profiles being scrapped?
Yes. On 17 July 2026 PoliticsHome quoted an all-staff email from Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo, and Civil Service World reported the same words on the Future Civil Service website shared in that email. They said the Civil Service will start by scrapping Success Profiles and introduce a new model that emphasises skills and expertise.
What replaces Success Profiles?
A new model that "emphasises skills and expertise", according to the announcement. Its contents and start date had not been published when we checked official pages on 16 October 2026.
Do I still need to write behaviour examples?
If your job advert asks for them, yes. The official candidate pages we read on 16 October 2026 still describe recruitment using Success Profiles, 22 of the 24 live adverts we sampled that day mention them, and the advert says which elements you will be assessed on and how.
Is the Civil Service Judgement Test being scrapped?
Nothing published says so. The GOV.UK guidance for the test (last updated 24 May 2024) still says the test measures your ability to demonstrate judgement and decision-making regarding specific Civil Service Behaviours selected as important for the job. If the behaviours are replaced the test may change, but no official page has said that.
When will the new Civil Service recruitment model start?
No date has been published. The announcement said there would be further changes "over the coming months".
Does the change affect the Fast Stream?
A rapid review of the Fast Stream was announced at the same time, according to Civil Service World. Fast Stream applications for 2027 entry opened on 8 October 2026 and close at midday on 5 November 2026; the Fast Stream pages we read did not mention Success Profiles or the review.
What are the five elements of Success Profiles?
Behaviours, strengths, ability, experience and technical. Not every element is used for every role; the job advert says which are.
When were Success Profiles introduced?
In 2018, replacing the Civil Service competency framework, with all departments expected to adopt them by early 2019.
More in this series
- CSJT pass mark and scoring
- What a CSJT score means
- CSJT tips from the behaviours
- Seeing the Big Picture: examples by grade
- Changing and Improving: examples by grade
- Making Effective Decisions: examples by grade
- Leadership: examples by grade
- Communicating and Influencing: examples by grade
- Working Together: examples by grade
- Developing Self and Others: examples by grade
- Managing a Quality Service: examples by grade
- Delivering at Pace: examples by grade
- CSJT questions and answers, worked
- Free CSJT practice: what exists
- Civil Service Judgement Test: 8 original practice scenarios
- Fast Stream online tests: a different test with a different scale
- Fast Stream vs direct entry and the other routes
Sources
- official — GOV.UK: Success Profiles (publication page, last updated 29 January 2025)
- official — GOV.UK: Success Profiles, candidate overview
- official — GOV.UK: Success Profiles, Civil Service behaviours (updated 29 January 2025)
- official — Civil Service Jobs: job search with no keyword, the first 25 results (24 different adverts), read 16 October 2026
- official — Civil Service Careers: How to apply (read 16 October 2026)
- official — Civil Service Careers: A guide to Civil Service Success Profiles (read 16 October 2026)
- official — Civil Service Careers: Assessments and interviews
- official — GOV.UK: Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test (last updated 24 May 2024)
- official — GOV.UK: Preparing for the Civil Service Verbal and Numerical tests (last updated 14 May 2025)
- official — Civil Service Commission: Recruitment Principles
- official — Civil Service Careers: Fast Stream (read 16 October 2026)
- reported — Civil Service World: “Civil service recruitment: Success profiles to be scrapped” (17 July 2026)
- reported — PoliticsHome: “Government to overhaul civil service recruitment” (17 July 2026)
- reported — Civil Service World on the Institute for Government 20-point plan (30 July 2024)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
