Checked 16 October 2026. Fast Stream wording is from the Civil Service Careers online-tests and example-question pages for 2027 entry, read on 16 October 2026. Civil Service Judgement Test wording is from GOV.UK guidance (last updated 24 May 2024) and Civil Service online tests (last updated 27 January 2026), both read on 16 October 2026. The worked scenario is from our own practice set and is not an official question.
If you are looking for the Civil Service Fast Stream situational judgement test, the test you mean is called Work-based scenarios. The Fast Stream pages for 2027 entry do not use the words “situational judgement” at all. The online-tests page lists two online tests, Work-based scenarios and the Case Study assessment (a video on the application-process page also names a Using data assessment), and the first of them is a situational judgement test in everything but name: you are shown work situations and you rate how effective different actions would be. It is not the same test as the Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT) that ordinary Civil Service job adverts use, although the two look alike. This guide sets the two side by side from the official pages, including the one label that differs on their rating scales, shows where the words situational judgement appeared on older Fast Stream pages, and then works through a scenario. To try a scored run of the real formats in text, use our free Fast Stream practice test.
A note from us
Applying to the Fast Stream is a big step, and there is a lot to take in. We have tried to set out what is published as plainly as we can. Take it one section at a time, and come back whenever it helps.
Civil Service Careers, online-tests page for 2027 entry; GOV.UK, Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test (both read 16 October 2026).
Is there a situational judgement test in the Civil Service Fast Stream?
| Source | Official wording | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Stream online-tests page (2027 entry) | “There are 2 online tests to complete:” Work-based scenarios; Case study assessment | The names of the tests. Neither is called a situational judgement test. |
| Fast Stream online-tests page, Work-based scenarios | “This test measures interpersonal skills. You will watch short videos of work situations and rate how effective different actions would be.” | The task is the one a situational judgement test sets. |
| GOV.UK, Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test | “The Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT) is an online situational judgement test.” | GOV.UK uses the term for the CSJT. |
| GOV.UK, Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours | “Alternatively, you may be asked how you would behave in a given situation. For example by using Situational Judgement Tests or through situational interview questions.” | Situational judgement tests are a general Civil Service method for assessing behaviours. |
So the plain answer is yes in substance and no in name. Calling Work-based scenarios “the Fast Stream SJT” is our shorthand; it is not the official title. We checked the Fast Stream online-tests, application-process, initial-application, additional-information, Gen AI and home pages on 16 October 2026 for the phrase and did not find it. The Case Study assessment also asks you to judge responses to situations, inside one evolving scenario. The official pages do not use the term for it either.
Situational judgement on older Fast Stream pages
Older official Fast Stream pages did use the words situational judgement, for a questionnaire. Copies of the Fast Stream how-to-apply page kept by the Internet Archive, made on 1 November 2020, 17 April 2021 and 1 June 2023, list the online tests as "Work Style Questionnaires and multimedia Situational Judgement Questionnaires" (in the 2023 copy, "a multimedia Situational Judgement Questionnaire and a Numerical Test" alongside the Work Style Questionnaires). On those pages, Work Based Scenarios were a separate phase, made up of an online case study and learning assessments.
| Page and copy date | Online tests listed |
|---|---|
| faststream.gov.uk How to apply, 1 November 2020 | Work Style Questionnaires and multimedia Situational Judgement Questionnaires |
| faststream.gov.uk How to apply, 1 June 2023 | Work Style Questionnaires, a multimedia Situational Judgement Questionnaire and a Numerical Test |
| Civil Service Careers Online tests, 11 September 2024 | Using Data, Work-based Scenarios and Case Study Assessment |
| Civil Service Careers Online tests, read 16 October 2026 (2027 entry) | Work-based scenarios and Case study assessment |
The dates are when the archive copied each page (the last row is the live page as we read it), not necessarily the campaign year. The official pages do not say whether today’s Work-based scenarios test replaced those questionnaires, so we do not claim it. What is clear is that advice written for a "Situational Judgement Questionnaire" describes an older format. For the full history, including the work style questionnaire, see our Fast Stream work style questionnaire guide.
Work-based scenarios and the Civil Service Judgement Test side by side
| Feature | Fast Stream Work-based scenarios | Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT) |
|---|---|---|
| Who sits it | Fast Stream applicants, as one of the 2 online tests | Job applicants invited to complete it; the job advert says whether tests apply |
| What it is said to measure | Interpersonal skills | Judgement and decision-making regarding specific Civil Service Behaviours selected for the job |
| Parts | Scenarios only, as the page describes it | Two parts: a self-assessment of your typical behaviour and preferences at work, then scenarios |
| Weight of the self-assessment | No self-assessment part is described | 15% of your overall CSJT score |
| Number of scenarios | 12 | Three scenarios for each behaviour; only scenarios relevant to the job level |
| Actions per scenario | “several possible actions” (the official example has four) | Four actions |
| Third point of the scale | Partially effective | Fairly Effective |
| How scenarios are shown | Short videos | Video for three of the behaviours and text for the others; a job may use only video, only text, or a mix |
| Timing | Untimed; both online tests within 7 days of being made available | Not timed; most people take between two and four minutes on one scenario, and GOV.UK recommends allowing at least an hour |
| Score | Not described | A percentile against a representative group of applicants |
| Pass mark | Not published | A minimum required standard for the job level; the recruiter may set a higher pass mark for the job after the deadline |
| Feedback | For every candidate: individual performance, strengths and tips | Your score and automatically generated feedback; no feedback on answers to specific questions |
| Official practice | One worked example with ratings and explanations | A practice test, which GOV.UK says is not scored |
| Trying again | Not stated | If you do not pass at the minimum standard, you can retake the test during any future applications |
Every cell is from the official pages named in the sources below, read on 16 October 2026. “Not described” and “Not stated” mean exactly that: the Fast Stream pages are silent, and we have not filled the gap from the CSJT guidance. The biggest structural difference is the first part of the CSJT. GOV.UK says that part asks you to rate how ambitious, motivated and flexible you are in the workplace, and that you may be asked about your answers at interview. Nothing like it is described for the Fast Stream.
The two rating scales, word for word
| Point | Fast Stream (online-tests page) | CSJT (GOV.UK guidance) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (lowest) | Counterproductive: an unacceptable action that would make the problem worse | Counterproductive: An unacceptable action that would make the situation worse. |
| 2 | Ineffective: a poor action that would not help | Ineffective: A poor action that would not help the situation. |
| 3 | Partially effective: a useful action that would be of some help | Fairly Effective: A useful action that would be of some help to the situation. |
| 4 (highest) | Effective: a good action that would help resolve the situation | Effective: A good action that would help to resolve the situation. |
The definitions are the same in substance at every point: unacceptable, poor, useful, good. Three of the four labels are identical. Only the third differs, “Partially effective” in the Fast Stream and “Fairly Effective” in the CSJT, and the definition under it is the same idea in both: a useful action that would be of some help (the CSJT adds "to the situation"). The descriptions also differ in small wording, such as "problem" against "situation". Our reading is that a candidate who has learned one scale has in substance learned the other. If you practise on CSJT material and then sit the Fast Stream test, expect the third label and some small wording to change.
The CSJT guidance adds a rule the Fast Stream page leaves unsaid: look at each action independently, and do not assume that only one action is effective or ineffective, because you can rate more than one action the same. The Fast Stream’s own worked example behaves that way. Two of its four actions are both rated Ineffective.
One worked scenario, rated on the Fast Stream scale
The scenario below is a worked example we wrote for this guide; it is not one of the 12 scenarios in the ProSyllabus Fast Stream practice set. It is independent practice material in text. It is not an official question, the real test shows its scenarios as short videos, and the key is our reading of the published scale. We use it here because it has an action at each of the four points, which the one official example does not: that example has no Partially effective action.
You are a policy officer in a government department. Your line manager, Priya, has asked for a briefing note by 5pm on Thursday, ready for a director's meeting on Friday morning. On Wednesday afternoon Tom, a senior analyst in another team, asks you to check the figures in a draft answer to a parliamentary question that is due at noon on Thursday. He says you are the only person who knows the dataset. You cannot do both pieces of work to a proper standard in the time. Priya is in meetings until 4pm but is reading her messages.
Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.
| Action | Key in our practice set | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A. Tell Tom straight away that you have a clash and will confirm within the hour whether you can help, then carry on with the briefing until you can catch Priya between meetings. | Partially effective | Our reading: Tom is kept honestly informed, which is of some help, but you wait for the decision to come to you. It stops short of Effective because nothing has yet been proposed or agreed about either deadline. |
| B. Message Priya now with both deadlines and a proposal: check Tom's figures first and deliver the briefing by 9am on Friday. Tell Tom when he will have an answer. | Effective | Our reading: the person who owns your priorities gets the facts and a workable option while there is still time to choose, and Tom knows where he stands. That moves the clash towards being resolved, not just reported. |
| C. Tell Tom you will check his figures before noon, then carry on with the briefing and hope to find the time for his request later. | Counterproductive | Our reading: Tom now believes the check is in hand and will not look for another way to meet a parliamentary deadline, while you have no plan to deliver it. A promise you cannot keep makes the situation worse. |
| D. Reply to Tom that your manager's work has to come first and suggest that he finds someone else to check the figures. | Ineffective | Our reading: the reply is prompt and honest, so it does no fresh harm, but you have just been told nobody else knows the dataset and you have decided the priority yourself without asking Priya. The problem is left where it was. |
Read the four actions as a ladder. C is Counterproductive because it adds a new problem: Tom stops looking for another way to meet a parliamentary deadline. D is Ineffective because it does no fresh harm and leaves everything where it was. A is Partially effective because Tom is told the truth, which helps, while nothing is yet proposed. B is Effective because the person who owns the decision gets the facts and a workable option in time. In CSJT terms, A would be the “Fairly Effective” action; the judgement is the same and only the label moves.
Notice also what the scenario gives you and what the best action does with it. Priya is in meetings and is reading her messages. That detail is why messaging her now is possible, and why waiting to catch her between meetings is only of some help.
Where the Case Study assessment fits
The second Fast Stream online test asks for judgement too, in a different shape: 7 pieces of background information, then 24 situations in one evolving scenario. For 2027 entry the page says that in some of them you identify the most and least effective responses, and in others you rate several actions on the same four-point scale. So the rating scale above is used in both tests. The format, a worked situation and what the page does not say are in our Case Study assessment guide.
Does Civil Service Judgement Test practice help for the Fast Stream?
Our view, with its limits
- The core task is the same. Read a work situation, then rate each action on a four-point effectiveness scale, each action on its own merits.
- The official CSJT practice test is not scored. GOV.UK says it is designed to show the look and feel of the real test while keeping the questions easy to respond to. It gives you the habit, not a mark.
- The CSJT is tied to named behaviours; the Fast Stream page names none. Do not assume the Fast Stream scenarios are built around the same list.
- The self-assessment part of the CSJT has no described Fast Stream equivalent. Time spent on it does not transfer.
- Passing one says nothing about the other. They are separate tests with separate results.
For CSJT-style practice, see our Civil Service Judgement Test practice scenarios. For both Fast Stream tests, see the online tests guide, which has further worked answers.
Practise it, don't just read it
Rate the four actions in a full Fast Stream scenario, free, then see the answers and the reasons for each one.
What we could not find
Not published on any official page we read on 16 October 2026
- Any current Fast Stream page that calls either online test a situational judgement test (older archived pages used the term for a questionnaire).
- The number of actions in each real Work-based scenario.
- Whether the Work-based scenarios test is built on named Civil Service behaviours.
- How Work-based scenarios ratings are scored, and whether a rating one step from the key earns anything.
- A pass mark for either Fast Stream online test.
- Any statement that a CSJT result can be used in a Fast Stream application, or the reverse.
- A total number of scenarios for the CSJT; GOV.UK gives three per behaviour and does not give a total.
Quoted text is from Civil Service Careers and GOV.UK, which publish under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and from archived copies of the former faststream.gov.uk site. This guide is independent and is not written or endorsed by the Civil Service.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Civil Service Fast Stream situational judgement test?
For 2027 entry it is the Work-based scenarios test, one of two Fast Stream online tests. You watch short videos of work situations and rate how effective several possible actions would be on a four-point scale, in 12 scenarios. The official pages call it Work-based scenarios, not a situational judgement test.
Did the Fast Stream used to have a Situational Judgement Questionnaire?
Yes. Fast Stream pages copied by the Internet Archive in November 2020, April 2021 and June 2023 list multimedia Situational Judgement Questionnaires among the online tests (plural in the 2020 and 2021 copies, singular in the 2023 copy). The 2027 online-tests page lists Work-based scenarios and the Case Study assessment instead.
How do I practise for the Civil Service Fast Stream situational judgement test?
Start with the official worked example, the official item with published answers, then practise rating actions on the four-point scale with reasons. Our free practice test scores one work-based scenario and one case-study situation, and our work-based scenarios answers guide works through the official example and one practice scenario; those answers are ours, not official.
Does the Fast Stream have a situational judgement test?
In substance, yes: the Work-based scenarios test. You watch short videos of work situations and rate how effective different actions would be, in 12 scenarios. The official Fast Stream pages do not use the name situational judgement test.
Is the Fast Stream test the same as the Civil Service Judgement Test?
No. The Fast Stream online tests are Work-based scenarios and the Case Study assessment. The Civil Service Judgement Test is a separate test used for Civil Service job adverts, with a self-assessment part worth 15% of the score and three scenarios for each behaviour.
What is the rating scale in the Fast Stream situational judgement test?
Counterproductive, Ineffective, Partially effective and Effective. The official page defines them as an unacceptable action that would make the problem worse, a poor action that would not help, a useful action that would be of some help, and a good action that would help resolve the situation.
What is the difference between Partially effective and Fairly Effective?
They are the third point of two different scales. The Fast Stream page uses Partially effective; the Civil Service Judgement Test guidance on GOV.UK uses Fairly Effective. The Fast Stream page defines it as a useful action that would be of some help; the CSJT guidance as a useful action that would be of some help to the situation.
Can two actions get the same rating?
Yes. The Civil Service Judgement Test guidance says you can rate more than one action the same. In the Fast Stream’s official worked example, two of the four actions are both rated Ineffective.
Is the Fast Stream situational judgement test timed?
No. The official page says the online tests are untimed, and you have 7 days to complete them from the moment they are made available.
Is there an official practice test for the Fast Stream situational judgement test?
The Fast Stream pages publish one worked example for the Work-based scenarios test and no full practice test. GOV.UK offers a practice test for the Civil Service Judgement Test, which is a different test and is not scored.
How many scenarios are in the Fast Stream situational judgement test?
The official page says there are 12 scenarios in the Work-based scenarios test. The Case Study assessment has 7 pieces of background information followed by 24 situations.
Good luck from all of us
Whatever stage you are at, getting this far takes real effort, and that is worth being proud of. Prepare at a pace that works for you, check the official Civil Service Careers pages for anything that decides your application, and look after yourself along the way. We are wishing you every success.
Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.
More in this series
- Fast Stream online tests
- Fast Stream assessment centre (FSAC)
- Fast Stream success rates by scheme
- Fast Stream schemes and eligibility
- Fast Stream salary by year
- Fast Stream vs other routes
- Case Study assessment: format and practice
- Fast Stream feedback report explained
- Fast Stream 2027 application dates and timeline
- Online tests: pass mark and results
- Is there a numerical test?
- Fast Stream practice test (free)
- Work-based scenarios answers and tips
- Fast Stream work style questionnaire
- Fast Stream example questions
- Fast Stream acceptance rate
- UK Fast Stream notice board — alerts and updates
Sources
- official — Civil Service Careers — Online tests
- official — Civil Service Careers — Example question: work-based scenario
- official — GOV.UK — Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test
- official — GOV.UK — Civil Service online tests (practice tests for other Civil Service tests)
- official — GOV.UK — Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours
- official — Civil Service Careers — Understanding the application process
- official — GOV.UK — The Civil Service Code
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.
