DFAT Graduate Program Online Assessment: What to Expect, Plus Practice

The DFAT Graduate Program online assessment is the first assessed stage after the eligibility check: DFAT describes it as a "behavioural and/or psychometric assessment", and its general recruitment page says its online psychometric testing covers cognitive ability and situational judgement tests. For the 2027 intake, applications closed in April 2026 and selection ran from April to July 2026; passing the online assessment is what takes you on to the one-way video interview.

On 1 November 2026 the 2027 program had closed and DFAT was inviting candidates to register interest in the 2028 Graduate Program, saying you will be notified once applications open. No 2028 dates were published. This guide sets out where the online assessment sits, what DFAT has (and has not) published about it, what the behavioural and psychometric parts usually look like, three worked examples, and a free practice test you can start now.

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DFAT Graduate selection process page and Selection process page, read 1 Nov 2026.

The official pages are DFAT's Graduate program page, its Graduate selection process page and its general Selection process page. The invitation to register interest in the 2028 program is on the Graduate program page; DFAT's job portal is DFAT Careers current opportunities.

DFAT's Graduate selection process page lists six steps for the 2027 intake. The online assessment is the first one that tests you rather than checks your papers:

For the 2027 intake, DFAT scheduled letters of offer for October to December 2026, pending a Negative Vetting Level 2 security clearance, with the program due to start in Canberra in February 2027. Our DFAT video interview guide covers the recorded video stage that follows the online assessment, and our DFAT Graduate Program 2028 guide covers the timeline, salary and eligibility in full.

DFAT's wording leaves room for one or both parts in a given round: behavioural and psychometric, and the two overlap: DFAT's general recruitment page says its online psychometric testing covers cognitive ability tests (how well you reason) and situational judgement tests (how you would act at work). Here is what each usually involves; the formats are common to graduate recruitment, not a description of DFAT's own test, which it has not published.

Cognitive ability tests are usually timed and situational judgement tests are often untimed or loosely timed, but DFAT does not publish the timing, the number of questions or the provider for its graduate assessment. When your invitation arrives, check it for the parts to sit, any time limits and the completion deadline, and contact the recruitment team if anything is unclear.

Start a short free sample below. It plays in our timed practice player in the formats above and explains every answer, so you can see where you stand before the 2028 round opens.

DFAT says it wants graduates who can "work collaboratively with others, manage relationships, have humility, drive and accountability", and people who are "adaptable, have resilience, and through analytical thinking, able to problem-solve". Its AI guidelines add that it is seeking candidates with "drive, analytical thinking, curiosity and adaptability". Behind all of this sit the APS Values that every APS employee must uphold, set out in section 10 of the Public Service Act 1999 and listed by the Australian Public Service Commission:

DFAT adds its own agency values on its APS and DFAT values page: Achievement, Leadership and Accountability, Valuing People and Collaboration. In a situational judgement question the strongest answer is usually the one that solves the problem, keeps the right people informed and stays within the rules, while the weakest ignores the problem, hides it or acts beyond your authority.

Reasoning tests of this kind generally measure how you work with the information in front of the question rather than what you already know: reading exactly what is on the screen, doing clean arithmetic and spotting rules. DFAT has not published the content of its own test. The two examples below are our own practice illustrations of numerical and verbal formats.

Abstract reasoning questions use shapes or patterns rather than passages or figures: you see a sequence or set and choose the item that follows the same rule (rotation, count, shading, position). Work through one feature at a time and eliminate options; a common slip is spotting one rule and missing a second. Our APS graduate program aptitude test guide compares the tests used across the APS graduate streams.

You apply to one of the two streams. DFAT lists one online assessment stage for the program and has not published whether its content differs by stream, so choose on your degree and the work you want. DFAT's own guidance: finance, accounting, business, commerce, HR, management, psychology, marketing, communications, data, ICT, engineering and architecture point to Corporate; international relations, law, arts, defence and national security, development, economics, social sciences, education, health sciences, public policy, history, journalism, communication, linguistics, humanitarian support, cyber security and STEM point to Policy. The lists overlap (communications appears in both, and STEM in Policy overlaps with ICT, data and engineering in Corporate), so if your field sits in both, choose on the work you want.

DFAT's general recruitment page asks applicants to be available for assessment from the date applications close, and to tell the contact officer if they will be out of contact during the selection process. For timing: DFAT's 2027 intake opened in March 2026. The separate Australian Government Graduate Program, run through APSJobs Career Pathways, shows its streams opening on 1 March 2027; DFAT runs its own program and had not announced its 2028 dates on 1 November 2026.

DFAT says RecruitAbility applies to graduate recruitment. Under the scheme, if you choose to apply under RecruitAbility, declare you have a disability and meet the minimum requirements for the position, you are invited to a further assessment stage (APSC RecruitAbility). If you need an adjustment for the online assessment, such as extra time or a screen-reader-friendly format, ask the recruitment contact as soon as you are invited, not on the day.

DFAT's AI guidelines are direct: AI tools "are not to be utilized during the interview or any assessment tasks", and knowingly giving false statements in the recruitment process may disqualify you and call into question your suitability for a security clearance. Practise with AI help if you like; sit the real assessment on your own.