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.
Working together looks like the easiest behaviour to evidence, since everyone has been in a team. The GOV.UK examples ask for more than that. Two subjects appear in the list at every one of the six grade bands, and neither is “teamwork”: wellbeing, and the unacceptability of bullying, harassment and discrimination. This guide prints the GOV.UK examples for Working together 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 Working together means: the official definition
GOV.UK defines the behaviour in these words: “Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support.” 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): 38 examples in all for this behaviour. The number of bullets is not a measure of how hard a band is.
Working Together 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 Working together at AA and AO (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | proactively contribute to the work of the whole team and remain open to taking on new and different roles |
| 2 | get to know your colleagues and build supportive relationships |
| 3 | listen to alternative perspectives and needs, responding sensitively and checking understanding where necessary |
| 4 | ask for help when needed and support others when the opportunity arises |
| 5 | are aware of the need to consider your own wellbeing and that of your colleagues |
| 6 | understand that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
Executive Officer (EO) grade or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Working together at EO (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | develop a range of contacts outside own team and identify opportunities to share knowledge, information and learning |
| 2 | show genuine interest when listening to others |
| 3 | contribute to an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are listened to and all individual needs are taken into account |
| 4 | ensure it is clear that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| 5 | offer support and help to colleagues when in need, including consideration of your own and their wellbeing |
| 6 | change ways of working to aid cooperation within and between teams in order to achieve results |
Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grades or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Working together at HEO and SEO (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | encourage joined up team work within your own team and across other groups |
| 2 | establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders |
| 3 | collaborate with these to share information, resources and support |
| 4 | invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another |
| 5 | put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs |
| 6 | make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| 7 | actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives |
Grade 7 and Grade 6 or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Working together at Grade 7 and Grade 6 (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | actively build and maintain a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on shared objectives |
| 2 | challenge assumptions while being willing to compromise if beneficial to progress |
| 3 | build strong interpersonal relationships and show genuine care for colleagues |
| 4 | ensure consideration and support for the wellbeing of yourself and individuals throughout the team |
| 5 | understand the varying needs of the team to ensure they are supported and their experiences are utilised |
| 6 | create an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are taken into account and bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| 7 | remain available and approachable to all colleagues and be receptive to new ideas |
Deputy Director or equivalent
| No. | GOV.UK example of Working together at Deputy Director (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | proactively create, maintain and promote a strong network of contacts across the organisation and externally |
| 2 | embed an inclusive culture of creating positive and supportive teams who consider the diverse needs and feelings of other colleagues |
| 3 | ensure consideration and support for the wellbeing of all individuals across the organisation |
| 4 | set out clear expectations that bullying, harassment, and discrimination are unacceptable |
| 5 | encourage and establish mechanisms to share knowledge and resources across boundaries to support the business |
| 6 | encourage teams to engage with a variety of delivery partners and stakeholders, listen to and act on their feedback |
Director and Director General
| No. | GOV.UK example of Working together at Director and Director General (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| 1 | drive an inclusive and collaborative working culture which values diversity and encourages, openness, approachability and sensitivity |
| 2 | ensure the wellbeing of all individuals is valued across the organisation |
| 3 | confront issues and challenge assumptions at the highest levels, no matter how uncomfortable, in an assertive yet constructive way |
| 4 | create a culture where bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| 5 | build a strong diverse network of professional relationships across the highest levels of government and with Non-Executive Directors |
| 6 | act for the wider good of the Civil Service by improving governance at board level to meet Civil Service objectives |
What changes from band to band
The lists move from being a good member of a team, to building links between teams, to building networks, to shaping a collaborative culture. 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 | “contribute to the work of the whole team” · “open to taking on new and different roles” · “ask for help when needed” | Your own team is the frame. Asking for help is listed as part of the behaviour, not as a weakness. |
| EO | “contacts outside own team” · “all opinions and challenges are listened to” · “within and between teams” | The first step outside your own team, and a willingness to change how you work so that teams cooperate. |
| HEO and SEO | “across other groups” · “range of stakeholders” · “common focus and genuine positive team spirit” · “put in place support for the wellbeing” | You are responsible for the team’s spirit and its support, and your relationships are with stakeholders as well as colleagues. |
| Grade 7 and Grade 6 | “network of colleagues and contacts” · “challenge assumptions while being willing to compromise” · “available and approachable” | A network maintained for shared objectives, and the judgement to challenge and to compromise in the same conversation. |
| Deputy Director | “across the organisation and externally” · “across boundaries” · “delivery partners and stakeholders” | Mechanisms, not only relationships: you set up the means by which knowledge and resources are shared. |
| Director and Director General | “at the highest levels, no matter how uncomfortable” · “Non-Executive Directors” · “governance at board level” | Working together at board level, including confronting issues there. |
One line that runs through every band: bullying, harassment and discrimination
The same phrase appears in the list at all six bands (the Deputy Director list adds one comma). Only the wording around it changes.
| Grade band | GOV.UK example (verbatim) |
|---|---|
| AA and AO | understand that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| EO | ensure it is clear that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| HEO and SEO | make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| Grade 7 and Grade 6 | create an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are taken into account and bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
| Deputy Director | set out clear expectations that bullying, harassment, and discrimination are unacceptable |
| Director and Director General | create a culture where bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable |
Our reading: at AA and AO you understand it; at EO you ensure it is clear; at HEO and SEO you make it clear to all team members; from Grade 7 you create the environment, set the expectations and create the culture. A second subject, wellbeing, is also present at every band, from being “aware of the need to consider your own wellbeing and that of your colleagues” at AA and AO to ensuring it “is valued across the organisation” at Director. An example about a team result can also show how the people in it were looked after.
Six Working together 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 asked for help when you needed it, or supported a colleague when the opportunity arose. | ask for help when needed and support others when the opportunity arises |
| EO | Describe a time when you changed a way of working to help cooperation within or between teams. | change ways of working to aid cooperation within and between teams in order to achieve results |
| HEO and SEO | Give an example of how you invested time to develop a common focus and a positive team spirit. | invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another |
| Grade 7 and Grade 6 | Tell me about a time when you challenged an assumption while remaining willing to compromise in order to make progress. | challenge assumptions while being willing to compromise if beneficial to progress |
| Deputy Director | Describe a mechanism you established to share knowledge and resources across boundaries. | encourage and establish mechanisms to share knowledge and resources across boundaries to support the business |
| Director and Director General | Give an example of when you confronted an issue or challenged an assumption at the highest level in an assertive yet constructive way. | confront issues and challenge assumptions at the highest levels, no matter how uncomfortable, in an assertive yet constructive way |
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 Working together 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 Working together. 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 Working together (our suggestion) |
|---|---|
| Situation | The people or teams who needed to work together, and what stood between them. |
| Task | Your place in the group: a member, the link between two teams, or the person responsible for it. |
| Action | How you built the relationship, shared information, listened to a different view, supported someone or changed the way you worked. Keep it to what you did. |
| Result | What the group achieved that it would not have achieved otherwise, and the state of the working relationship afterwards. |
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 Working together 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 Working together 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 Working together 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 guidance in the 2025 behaviours page on keeping a Working together example about your own actions when the result belonged to a team. The 2016 guide it links to says: “Use ‘I’ not ‘we’. This is about your role in the task and how you affected the outcome.”
- An official list of example interview questions for Working together, 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 Working together.
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, Leadership, Communicating and influencing, Developing self and others, Managing a quality service, Delivering at pace.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
What does Working together mean in the Civil Service?
GOV.UK defines it as: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support. The examples expected differ by grade band, and GOV.UK publishes a separate list for each of six bands.
What is Working together at AO level?
GOV.UK lists six examples at AA and AO grade or equivalent. They include to proactively contribute to the work of the whole team and remain open to taking on new and different roles, and to ask for help when needed and support others when the opportunity arises.
What is Working together at EO level?
GOV.UK lists six examples at Executive Officer (EO) grade or equivalent. The first is to develop a range of contacts outside own team and identify opportunities to share knowledge, information and learning. The second is to show genuine interest when listening to others.
What is Working together at HEO and SEO level?
GOV.UK lists seven examples at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grades or equivalent. The first is to encourage joined up team work within your own team and across other groups. The second is to establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders.
How long should a Working together 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 Working together 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
- Leadership: examples by grade
- Communicating and Influencing: 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.
