Articles related to CGA LDC to Accountant LDCE (Civil Accounts) on page 1 

<div style="background:#eef3fb;color:#303846;border:1px solid #c9d7ee;border-radius:12px;padding:14px 18px;margin:0 0 18px"><p style="margin:0;font-size:14px;line-height:1.6"><strong style="color:#171d29">Checked 16 October 2026.</strong> 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.</p></div>

<p style="margin:0 0 16px;line-height:1.7">If you are looking for the <strong>Civil Service Fast Stream situational judgement test</strong>, the test you mean is called <strong>Work-based scenarios</strong>. 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 <strong>Civil Service Judgement Test</strong> (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 <a href="/hub/civil-service-fast-stream-practice-test" style="color:#255a45;font-weight:600">free Fast Stream practice test</a>.</p>

<div style="background:#f3f8f4;color:#24342b;border:1px solid #cfe3d6;border-radius:12px;padding:18px 20px;margin:18px 0"><h3 style="margin:0 0 10px;font-size:17px;font-weight:700;color:#171d29">A note from us</h3><p style="margin:0;line-height:1.7">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.</p></div>

<div style="display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;margin:18px 0"><div style="flex:1 1 140px;background:#fbfaf6;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:10px;padding:12px 14px"><div style="font-size:24px;font-weight:800;color:#171d29;line-height:1.2">12</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#5b6472;line-height:1.4;margin-top:4px">scenarios in the Fast Stream Work-based scenarios test</div></div><div style="flex:1 1 140px;background:#fbfaf6;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:10px;padding:12px 14px"><div style="font-size:24px;font-weight:800;color:#171d29;line-height:1.2">4</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#5b6472;line-height:1.4;margin-top:4px">points on the rating scale, in both tests</div></div><div style="flex:1 1 140px;background:#fbfaf6;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:10px;padding:12px 14px"><div style="font-size:24px;font-weight:800;color:#171d29;line-height:1.2">1 label</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#5b6472;line-height:1.4;margin-top:4px">differs between the scales: “Partially effective” and “Fairly Effective”</div></div><div style="flex:1 1 140px;background:#fbfaf6;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:10px;padding:12px 14px"><div style="font-size:24px;font-weight:800;color:#171d29;line-height:1.2">15%</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#5b6472;line-height:1.4;margin-top:4px">of a CSJT score comes from a self-assessment part the Fast Stream page does not describe</div></div></div><p style="margin:12px 0 0;font-size:13px;color:#5b6472;margin:-8px 0 18px">Civil Service Careers, online-tests page for 2027 entry; GOV.UK, Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test (both read 16 October 2026).</p>

Is there a situational judgement test in the Civil Service Fast Stream?

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.

<p style="margin:0 0 16px;line-height:1.7">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 <a href="/hub/fast-stream-work-style-questionnaire" style="color:#255a45;font-weight:600">Fast Stream work style questionnaire guide</a>.</p>

Work-based scenarios and the Civil Service Judgement Test side by side

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 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, Rachel, 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. Rachel is in meetings until 4pm but is reading her messages.

<div style="margin:18px 0;padding:14px 18px;background:#f3f8f4;border:1px solid #cfe3d6;border-radius:12px;line-height:1.6;color:#24342b">Rate a full scenario yourself in our free practice, then see the answers and the reasons. <a href="/hub/fast-stream-situational-judgement-test#fs-practice-top" style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">Try the free scenario &rarr;</a></div>

<figure style="margin:22px 0;padding:18px 22px;background:#fbfaf6;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-left:4px solid #1f7a45;border-radius:12px"><blockquote style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:19px;line-height:1.55;color:#171d29;font-style:italic">Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.</blockquote><figcaption style="margin:10px 0 0;font-size:13.5px;color:#5b6472">Samuel Johnson, <cite>Rasselas (1759), chapter 13</cite></figcaption></figure>

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. Rachel 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.

<p style="margin:0 0 16px;line-height:1.7">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 <a href="/hub/fast-stream-case-study-assessment-practice" style="color:#255a45;font-weight:600">Case Study assessment guide</a>.</p>

Does Civil Service Judgement Test practice help for the Fast Stream?

<div style="background:#ffffff;color:#303846;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:12px;padding:18px 20px;margin:18px 0"><h3 style="margin:0 0 10px;font-size:17px;font-weight:700;color:#171d29">Our view, with its limits</h3><ul style="margin:0;padding-left:20px"><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><strong>The core task is the same.</strong> Read a work situation, then rate each action on a four-point effectiveness scale, each action on its own merits.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><strong>The official CSJT practice test is not scored.</strong> 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.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><strong>The CSJT is tied to named behaviours; the Fast Stream page names none.</strong> Do not assume the Fast Stream scenarios are built around the same list.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><strong>The self-assessment part of the CSJT has no described Fast Stream equivalent.</strong> Time spent on it does not transfer.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><strong>Passing one says nothing about the other.</strong> They are separate tests with separate results.</li></ul><p style="margin:12px 0 0;font-size:13px;color:#5b6472">For CSJT-style practice, see our <a href="/hub/civil-service-judgement-test-practice-scenarios" style="color:#255a45;font-weight:600">Civil Service Judgement Test practice scenarios</a>. For both Fast Stream tests, see the <a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-online-tests-guide" style="color:#255a45;font-weight:600">online tests guide</a>, which has further worked answers.</p></div>

<div style="background:#ecf7ef;color:#1f3a2a;border:1px solid #b9dec6;border-radius:12px;padding:18px 20px;margin:22px 0"><p style="margin:0 0 8px;font-size:12px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#1f7a45">Practise it, don't just read it</p><p style="margin:0 0 12px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:#171d29">Rate the four actions in a full Fast Stream scenario, free, then see the answers and the reasons for each one.</p><p style="margin:0"><a href="#fs-practice-top" style="display:inline-block;padding:10px 18px;border-radius:999px;background:#1f7a45;color:#171d29;font-weight:700;text-decoration:none">Try the free scenario &rarr;</a></p></div>

<div style="background:#ffffff;color:#303846;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:12px;padding:18px 20px;margin:18px 0"><h3 style="margin:0 0 10px;font-size:17px;font-weight:700;color:#171d29">Not published on any official page we read on 16 October 2026</h3><ul style="margin:0;padding-left:20px"><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">Any current Fast Stream page that calls either online test a situational judgement test (older archived pages used the term for a questionnaire).</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">The number of actions in each real Work-based scenario.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">Whether the Work-based scenarios test is built on named Civil Service behaviours.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">How Work-based scenarios ratings are scored, and whether a rating one step from the key earns anything.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">A pass mark for either Fast Stream online test.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">Any statement that a CSJT result can be used in a Fast Stream application, or the reverse.</li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6">A total number of scenarios for the CSJT; GOV.UK gives three per behaviour and does not give a total.</li></ul><p style="margin:12px 0 0;font-size:13px;color:#5b6472">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.</p></div>

<p style="margin:0 0 16px;line-height:1.7">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.</p>

<figure style="margin:22px 0;padding:18px 22px;background:#fbfaf6;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-left:4px solid #1f7a45;border-radius:12px"><blockquote style="margin:0;font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;font-size:19px;line-height:1.55;color:#171d29;font-style:italic">Our doubts are traitors,<br>And make us lose the good we oft might win<br>By fearing to attempt.</blockquote><figcaption style="margin:10px 0 0;font-size:13.5px;color:#5b6472">William Shakespeare, <cite>Measure for Measure, Act 1, Scene 4</cite></figcaption></figure>

<div style="background:#ffffff;color:#303846;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:12px;padding:18px 20px;margin:18px 0"><h3 style="margin:0 0 10px;font-size:17px;font-weight:700;color:#171d29">More in this series</h3><ul style="margin:0;padding-left:20px"><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-online-tests-guide" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream online tests</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-assessment-centre-fsac" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream assessment centre (FSAC)</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-success-rate-by-scheme" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream success rates by scheme</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-schemes-eligibility" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream schemes and eligibility</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-salary-by-year" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream salary by year</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/uk-fast-stream-vs-alternatives" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream vs other routes</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-case-study-assessment-practice" style="color:#255a45">Case Study assessment: format and practice</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-work-based-scenarios-tips-feedback-report" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream feedback report explained</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/civil-service-fast-stream-application-timeline-2027" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream 2027 application dates and timeline</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-online-tests-pass-mark-results" style="color:#255a45">Online tests: pass mark and results</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-numerical-test" style="color:#255a45">Is there a numerical test?</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/civil-service-fast-stream-practice-test" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream practice test (free)</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-work-based-scenarios-answers-tips" style="color:#255a45">Work-based scenarios answers and tips</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-work-style-questionnaire" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream work style questionnaire</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/civil-service-fast-stream-example-questions" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream example questions</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-acceptance-rate" style="color:#255a45">Fast Stream acceptance rate</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/civil-service-graduate-schemes-after-fast-stream-rejection" style="color:#255a45">Graduate routes after a Fast Stream no</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/fast-stream-feedback-report-reapply" style="color:#255a45">Feedback report: a plan to reapply</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><a href="/hub/exam-alert-and-updates-for-uk-fast-stream" style="color:#255a45">UK Fast Stream notice board — alerts and updates</a></li></ul></div>

<div style="background:#ffffff;color:#303846;border:1px solid #e4e1d8;border-radius:12px;padding:18px 20px;margin:18px 0"><h3 style="margin:0 0 10px;font-size:17px;font-weight:700;color:#171d29">Sources</h3><ul style="margin:0;padding-left:20px"><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/fs-how-to-apply/fs-online-tests/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">Civil Service Careers — Online tests</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/fs-how-to-apply/example-question-work-based-scenario/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">Civil Service Careers — Example question: work-based scenario</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/preparing-for-the-civil-service-judgement-test" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">GOV.UK — Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-service-online-tests" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">GOV.UK — Civil Service online tests (practice tests for other Civil Service tests)</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles/success-profiles-civil-service-behaviours" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">GOV.UK — Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/fs-how-to-apply/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">Civil Service Careers — Understanding the application process</a></li><li style="margin:6px 0;line-height:1.6"><span style="color:#1f7a45;font-weight:700">official</span> — <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil-service-code" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color:#255a45">GOV.UK — The Civil Service Code</a></li></ul><p style="margin:12px 0 0;font-size:13px;color:#5b6472"><strong style="color:#1f7a45">official</strong> = a document published by the conducting body. <strong style="color:#8a5300">reported</strong> = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.</p></div>

<a href="/exam/uk-fast-stream">This article has been published in UK Civil Service Fast Stream Assessment. Explore everything related to it here.</a>

The Fast Stream’s situational judgement test is the Work-based scenarios test. How it differs from the Civil Service Judgement Test, the two rating scales word for word, and one worked scenario.

Civil Service Fast Stream Situational Judgement Test: What It Is in 2027

The dates and rules that matter for the First-Year Law Students' Examination: the 27 October 2026 sitting, the 18 October scheduling cut-off, the all multiple-choice format and the 560 scaled pass score