Checked 14 October 2026. From GOV.UK Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours (updated 29 January 2025), Success Profiles: Candidate overview, Using the Civil Service Jobs website as a candidate (last updated 27 January 2026), A brief guide to competencies (12 April 2016) and Civil Service Careers pages, read on 14 October 2026. The behaviour examples are quoted word for word and reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The interview questions are written by us from those examples.
It is natural to assume that the Leadership behaviour needs a team to lead. The GOV.UK examples for AA and AO and for EO do not mention managing staff at all. At those bands the behaviour is about accountability for your own role, how you treat people and what you do when you see poor conduct. This guide prints the GOV.UK examples for Leadership at all six grade bands, word for word, shows what changes from one band to the next, gives six interview questions that we wrote from those examples, and sets out how to structure a written example. It contains no sample statements and no model answers: an example only counts if it is yours.
What Leadership means: the official definition
GOV.UK defines the behaviour in these words: “Show pride and passion for public service. Create and engage others in delivering a shared vision. Value difference, diversity and inclusion, ensuring fairness and opportunity for all.” Civil Service Careers prints the same definition on its Behaviours page. Everything else on this page builds on that definition and on the grade-band examples that follow it.
Our count of the bullet points under each band in Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours (updated 29 January 2025): 31 examples in all for this behaviour. The number of bullets is not a measure of how hard a band is.
Leadership at each grade band: the GOV.UK examples in full
On GOV.UK each list completes a sentence that ends “are when you:”, which is why the examples begin with a verb in lower case. They are reproduced exactly, including GOV.UK’s own punctuation. Find the band that matches the grade in your advert; the headings are GOV.UK’s.
Administrative Assistant (AA) and Administrative Officer (AO) grade or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Leadership at AA and AO (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | show enthusiasm for your work and take personal accountability for your role |
| 2 | demonstrate responsibility for your own objectives |
| 3 | act in a fair, inclusive and respectful way when dealing with others |
| 4 | be considerate and understanding of other people’s points of view |
| 5 | understand and support the objectives of the wider team |
| 6 | demonstrate consideration of the wider consequences of own actions |
Executive Officer (EO) grade or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Leadership at EO (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | show pride and passion for your work and positive, inclusive engagement with your team |
| 2 | understand your areas of responsibility and display awareness of the wider impact of your actions |
| 3 | proactively role model and promote an inclusive workplace, promptly dealing with inappropriate language and behaviours when they arise - including any instances of discrimination or misconduct |
| 4 | give praise and credit to colleagues and stakeholders where appropriate |
Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grades or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Leadership at HEO and SEO (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | ensure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames |
| 2 | take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all |
| 3 | consider the impacts of own and team’s activities on stakeholders and end users |
| 4 | role-model commitment and satisfaction with role |
| 5 | recognise and praise the achievements of others to drive positivity within the team |
| 6 | effectively manage conflict, misconduct and non-inclusive behaviour, raising with senior managers where appropriate |
Grade 7 and Grade 6 or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Leadership at Grade 7 and Grade 6 (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience |
| 2 | welcome and respond to views and challenges from others, despite any conflicting pressures to ignore or give in to them |
| 3 | stand by, promote or defend your own and your team’s actions and decisions where needed |
| 4 | seek out shared interests beyond your own area of responsibility, understanding the extent of the impact actions have on the organisation |
| 5 | inspire and motivate teams to be fully engaged in their work and dedicated to their role |
Deputy Director or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Leadership at Deputy Director (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | remain visible and approachable to all colleagues and stakeholders |
| 2 | actively promote the reputation of the organisation with pride, both internally and externally |
| 3 | display passion and enthusiasm for the work, helping to inspire colleagues and stakeholders to fully engage with the aims and long term vision |
| 4 | embed a culture of inclusion and equal opportunity for all, where the diversity of individuals’ backgrounds and experiences are valued and respected |
| 5 | work to influence the strategy, direction and culture to increase effectiveness |
Director and Director General
| No. | GOV.UK example of Leadership at Director and Director General (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | actively develop and protect the reputation of the Civil Service, creating a sense of pride and passion for public service |
| 2 | present a clear and focused strategy with direction for the future |
| 3 | act in ways that are highly visible, inspirational and credible at the most senior levels across and outside of the Civil Service |
| 4 | create an inclusive environment where diversity is valued and there is equality of opportunity for all |
| 5 | engage positively in debate and resolve ambiguities, gaining the best possible outcomes for the department |
One dated detail for Grade 7 and Grade 6. The Success Profiles page on GOV.UK records this change on 29 January 2025: “In the behaviour examples for G6 and G7 grades, restored the number of bullet points in the leadership, managing a quality service, and communicating and influencing examples.” Leadership is one of the three. If you are working from a copy saved before that date, compare its Grade 7 and Grade 6 list with the one above.
What changes from band to band
The lists move from owning your own role, to acting on what you see around you, to giving a team its direction, to protecting the reputation of the organisation. The middle column quotes the wording that first appears, or matters most, at that band. The right-hand column is our reading of it and is not official guidance.
| Grade band | Wording from the GOV.UK examples (verbatim) | Our reading |
|---|---|---|
| AA and AO | “personal accountability for your role” · “fair, inclusive and respectful” · “wider consequences of own actions” | Leadership of yourself: owning your objectives and behaving well towards others. No line asks you to direct anyone. |
| EO | “positive, inclusive engagement with your team” · “promptly dealing with inappropriate language and behaviours when they arise” · “give praise and credit” | The first duty to act on other people’s behaviour appears here, together with giving credit. |
| HEO and SEO | “clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames” · “effectively manage conflict, misconduct and non-inclusive behaviour” · “raising with senior managers where appropriate” | Setting direction for colleagues and stakeholders, and managing conflict and misconduct, with a route upward when needed. |
| Grade 7 and Grade 6 | “despite any conflicting pressures to ignore or give in to them” · “stand by, promote or defend your own and your team’s actions and decisions” · “inspire and motivate teams” | Resilience under pressure: you welcome challenge without giving way to it, and you stand behind your team. |
| Deputy Director | “visible and approachable” · “reputation of the organisation” · “strategy, direction and culture” | Visibility, reputation and culture across an organisation, not one team. |
| Director and Director General | “reputation of the Civil Service” · “clear and focused strategy” · “at the most senior levels across and outside of the Civil Service” | The reputation at stake is that of the Civil Service as a whole, and the audience includes people outside it. |
One line that runs through every band: inclusion
The definition ends with “ensuring fairness and opportunity for all”, and every band has an example that carries it.
| Grade band | GOV.UK example (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| AA and AO | act in a fair, inclusive and respectful way when dealing with others |
| EO | proactively role model and promote an inclusive workplace, promptly dealing with inappropriate language and behaviours when they arise - including any instances of discrimination or misconduct |
| HEO and SEO | take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all |
| Grade 7 and Grade 6 | promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience |
| Deputy Director | embed a culture of inclusion and equal opportunity for all, where the diversity of individuals’ backgrounds and experiences are valued and respected |
| Director and Director General | create an inclusive environment where diversity is valued and there is equality of opportunity for all |
Our reading: the verb rises with the grade, from acting inclusively yourself, to role modelling and dealing with poor behaviour, to championing, promoting, embedding and creating. A Leadership example that is only about hitting a target, with nothing on how people were treated or included, misses a line present at all six bands.
Six Leadership interview questions, built from the GOV.UK examples
We looked for official example interview questions for this behaviour on GOV.UK and on Civil Service Careers and found none. What the official pages do say is short. GOV.UK says you “may be asked to give examples of when you have demonstrated a particular behaviour”, or “how you would behave in a given situation”. A Defra recruiter writing on the department’s GOV.UK blog says behaviour questions “may start with ‘Tell me about a time when…’”.
The six questions below are example questions we wrote from the descriptors, one for each grade band. Each is built from a single GOV.UK example, shown beside it so that you can see where the wording comes from. We do not claim that any department asks them. Use them to rehearse, and expect your panel to word its own.
| Grade band | Example question (written by us) | The GOV.UK example it is built from (verbatim) |
|---|---|---|
| AA and AO | Tell me about a time when you took personal accountability for something in your role. | show enthusiasm for your work and take personal accountability for your role |
| EO | Describe a time when you dealt promptly with inappropriate language or behaviour at work. | proactively role model and promote an inclusive workplace, promptly dealing with inappropriate language and behaviours when they arise - including any instances of discrimination or misconduct |
| HEO and SEO | Give an example of how you made sure colleagues and stakeholders had a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames. | ensure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames |
| Grade 7 and Grade 6 | Tell me about a time when you stood by or defended an action or decision taken by you or your team. | stand by, promote or defend your own and your team’s actions and decisions where needed |
| Deputy Director | Describe how you have helped to inspire colleagues and stakeholders to engage fully with the aims and long term vision of your organisation. | display passion and enthusiasm for the work, helping to inspire colleagues and stakeholders to fully engage with the aims and long term vision |
| Director and Director General | Give an example of when you engaged positively in debate and resolved an ambiguity to gain the best possible outcome for your department. | engage positively in debate and resolve ambiguities, gaining the best possible outcomes for the department |
Two points on using them. First, a panel can turn any of these into a hypothetical (“How would you…”), which GOV.UK expressly allows for. Second, each question is narrower than the behaviour. A good answer to one of them shows that line of the list clearly and touches others on the way; it does not try to recite the whole list.
How to structure a Leadership example
The rules are the same for all nine behaviours. The short version is in the table; the full version, with the STAR method in the words of the official guide, the four official statements on word limits and how examples are scored at sift, is in our guide to Seeing the big picture, which holds the full explanation.
| Point | What the official page says |
|---|---|
| Who picks the behaviours | Recruiting managers “will choose a selection of behaviours which are best suited to the specific job role”, and “You will not be asked to demonstrate all Civil Service Behaviours for one role.” (GOV.UK) |
| Length of a written example | “The online application form will automatically delete any words which exceed the 250 allowed for each example.” (GOV.UK, Using the Civil Service Jobs website). Follow the limit shown in your own advert and form. |
| Structure | “In your own examples, consider using the STAR method which allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome.” (GOV.UK) |
| Covering every line | “There is no expectation that you need to demonstrate every part of each example to be successful.” (GOV.UK) |
| Where an example can come from | Work, “or somewhere else such as”: work experience, volunteering, in connection with a hobby (GOV.UK) |
| Score needed at sift | “Generally to progress to the next stage a candidate should score at least 4 for each example.” Rating scales “can vary across recruiting organisations but the standard is the same.” (GOV.UK) |
GOV.UK’s advice on structure is one sentence: “In your own examples, consider using the STAR method which allows you to set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome.” The table below is our suggestion for what each part should carry when the behaviour is Leadership. It is drawn from the definition and the examples above, and it is ours, not an official template.
| Part of STAR | What to put there for Leadership (our suggestion) |
|---|---|
| Situation | The team, task or moment in which direction, engagement or conduct was at stake. |
| Task | What you were accountable for. At the junior bands this can be your own objectives and your own conduct, not a team. |
| Action | What you said and did: how you took ownership, engaged or included people, set direction, gave credit or dealt with behaviour that was not acceptable. |
| Result | What changed for the people involved and for the work, and how you know. |
Then check the draft against your band. Take the list for your grade from the tables above, or use the tool, and go line by line. Mark a line as shown only when you can point to the sentence that shows it. Lines with no sentence behind them are either gaps to fill or parts you have chosen not to cover, which GOV.UK allows.
Check a draft example against your grade band
Choose the grade band of the job. The list shows every example GOV.UK gives for Leadership at that band, word for word. Tick a line only if a sentence in your draft shows it happening. The tool counts the ticks; it does not score your example.
GOV.UK: “There is no expectation that you need to demonstrate every part of each example to be successful.” The examples are from Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours (updated 29 January 2025) and contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Nothing is saved or sent.
If the tool does not load, the six tables under “the GOV.UK examples in full” carry exactly the same lines.
Where Leadership is assessed
GOV.UK lists six ways a behaviour can be assessed: an application form requiring written examples, the Civil Service judgement test, a personality test, an interview, an assessment centre and job related simulations. Your advert says which apply.
On the online test, GOV.UK says the Civil Service Judgement Test “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.” It does not list which behaviours a given test covers, so we cannot tell you whether Leadership will be in yours. For the test itself see CSJT pass mark and scoring, what a CSJT score means and CSJT tips from the behaviours. Our practice scenarios guide has scenarios that are our own teaching exercises, not official test items.
What we could not find
Not on any official page we read
- Any statement that a Leadership example must involve managing staff. The page does not say so, and the AA and AO and EO lists do not mention line management.
- An official list of example interview questions for Leadership, or for any behaviour.
- An official sample or model behaviour example at any grade.
- Whether the Civil Service Judgement Test for a given job includes Leadership.
Read on 14 October 2026: the pages listed under Sources. Departmental candidate packs attached to individual adverts were not read; your own advert may say more.
The other eight behaviours, each with its own examples by band and its own six questions: Seeing the big picture, Changing and improving, Making effective decisions, Communicating and influencing, Working together, Developing self and others, Managing a quality service, Delivering at pace.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
What does Leadership mean in the Civil Service?
GOV.UK defines it as: Show pride and passion for public service. Create and engage others in delivering a shared vision. Value difference, diversity and inclusion, ensuring fairness and opportunity for all. The examples expected differ by grade band, and GOV.UK publishes a separate list for each of six bands.
Can I show Leadership in a Civil Service application if I have never managed anyone?
The GOV.UK examples for AA and AO and for EO do not mention managing staff. At AA and AO they include to show enthusiasm for your work and take personal accountability for your role, and to act in a fair, inclusive and respectful way when dealing with others. GOV.UK also says examples can come from volunteering or a hobby as well as work.
What is Leadership at EO level?
GOV.UK lists four examples at Executive Officer (EO) grade or equivalent. The first is to show pride and passion for your work and positive, inclusive engagement with your team. The second is to understand your areas of responsibility and display awareness of the wider impact of your actions.
What is Leadership at HEO and SEO level?
GOV.UK lists six examples at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grades or equivalent. The first is to ensure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames. The second is to take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all.
How long should a Leadership behaviour example be?
GOV.UK’s guide to the Civil Service Jobs website says the online application form automatically deletes any words beyond the 250 allowed for each example. A Civil Service Careers page says short written examples are usually 250 words each. Follow the limit in your own advert.
Is Leadership tested in the Civil Service Judgement Test?
GOV.UK says the test measures judgement and decision-making regarding specific Civil Service Behaviours selected as important for the job. It does not publish which behaviours a given test covers.
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
- 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
- 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, Civil Service behaviours (updated 29 January 2025)
- official — Civil Service Careers: Behaviours
- official — GOV.UK: Success Profiles (collection page, last updated 29 January 2025)
- official — GOV.UK: Success Profiles, candidate overview
- official — GOV.UK: Using the Civil Service Jobs website as a candidate (last updated 27 January 2026)
- official — GOV.UK: A brief guide to competencies (Civil Service Resourcing, published 12 April 2016; the STAR and CAR methods)
- official — Civil Service Careers: GOS, Tips and guidance for applying (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology pages; tips for external scientists, engineers and researchers)
- official — Defra Digital, Data and Technology blog on GOV.UK: How to improve Civil Service job applications and ace your interviews (a Defra recruiter, 14 April 2023)
- official — GOV.UK: Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test (last updated 24 May 2024)
- official — GOV.UK: Preparing for the Civil Service Styles Assessment (published 27 January 2026)
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.
Ready for more? 12 further scenarios, rated the way the real test asks
Original workplace scenarios at the level of the roles that use this test. Rate each action Counterproductive, Ineffective, Fairly Effective or Effective, then see the reason behind every rating. Start with the free one below.
- 12scenarios
- 48actions to rate
- 4behaviours
- 48ratings explained
Every rating comes with its reason, written against the scale definitions on GOV.UK and the Civil Service Code.
FreeTests: Managing a Quality Service
A mailbox nobody owns
Read the situation, then rate each of the 4 actions from Counterproductive to Effective. You then see the right rating and the reason for each. About 3 minutes · free · no sign-in.
A mailbox nobody owns
You are an administrative officer in a pensions enquiry team. Four of you answer a shared mailbox, and nobody has been given the job of sorting it. This morning it holds 140 unanswered emails. The oldest is 12 working days old, and the team's published standard is a reply within 10 working days. Your team leader, Asha, is on a training course until tomorrow but is reading her messages.
Opens when you unlock all
- The third transfer · Managing a Quality Service
- Two forms, one set of details · Managing a Quality Service
- Sixty applications by Friday · Delivering at Pace
- Two jobs, one afternoon · Delivering at Pace
- The system is down · Delivering at Pace
- Handed over at the last minute · Working Together
- One case in five arrives incomplete · Working Together
- The new starter who works from home · Working Together
- Explaining a refusal · Communicating and Influencing
- The guidance nobody absorbed · Communicating and Influencing
- An out-of-date figure in the room · Communicating and Influencing
- 11 more scenarios with 44 actions to rate on the test's own four-point scale
- 4 behaviours, three scenarios each, the way the real test is built
- The reason behind every rating, so you learn the scale and not the answers
- Your rating pattern: whether you mark too generously or too harshly, and what to fix
- Untimed, like the real test. Work through it in one sitting or several
Independent practice material. Not written or endorsed by the Civil Service. The real test shows only scenarios for your job level, may use video, and opens with a self-assessment section worth 15% of the score that has no right answers to practise. Results are a percentile against other applicants, and no answer key is published.
