Irish Civil Service graduate grades practice test: verbal, numerical and situational judgement
In the publicjobs Administrative Officer 2024, Higher Executive Officer 2026 and Third Secretary 2020 competitions, Stage 1 was a set of online assessments, and in AO 2024 and HEO 2026 your score set your place in the Order of Merit. For Graduate Opportunities Administrative Officer 2024, publicjobs described three tests: Verbal Reasoning (True, False or Cannot say), Numerical Reasoning (charts and tables, five options) and a Situational Judgement Test (text, video and chat scenarios, choose the best of three). This practice test gives you 10 timed sets and a full mock on the AO 2024 clock in the full test player, with text versions of all three scenario types (no video) and the reason behind every answer. Start with the 4 free questions.
- 120verbal statements
- 60numerical questions
- 40situational scenarios
- 4free
Not affiliated with publicjobs, the Public Appointments Service or the Department of Foreign Affairs; not the official test. Every scenario, passage, table and question is original. This practice follows the format publicjobs described for AO 2024, with text-only situational scenarios; check the candidate information and familiarisation material for your own competition, which is the authority. A practice score is a guide, not a prediction of your result.
- 120 True, False or Cannot say statements on graduate-level passages
- 60 table questions, five options each
- 40 situational scenarios: text versions of the written, video-call and chat types
- A full mock on the AO 2024 clock
- Every answer explained, every calculation worked
The practice tests
Double-checked questions Real exam pattern Free sample · 4 questions
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Full tests 13 tests
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- 120 True, False or Cannot say statements on graduate-level passages
- 60 table questions, five options each
- 40 situational scenarios: text versions of the written, video-call and chat types
- A full mock on the AO 2024 clock
- Every answer explained, every calculation worked
₹2,899·no subscription
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Verbal Reasoning set 1
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Verbal Reasoning set 2
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Verbal Reasoning set 3
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Verbal Reasoning set 4
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Numerical Reasoning set 1
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Numerical Reasoning set 2
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Numerical Reasoning set 3
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Situational Judgement set 1
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Situational Judgement set 2
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Situational Judgement set 3
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Full mock: Verbal Reasoning
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Full mock: Numerical Reasoning
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
Graduate Grades Practice Test · Full mock: Situational Judgement
Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis
What is inside
| Part | Questions | Clock |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal Reasoning sets 1 to 4 | 20 statements each: True, False or Cannot say | 15-minute practice clock each |
| Numerical Reasoning sets 1 to 3 | 12 table questions each, five options | 18-minute practice clock each |
| Situational Judgement sets 1 to 3 | 8 scenarios each, text versions of the written, video-call and chat types, best of three | 20-minute practice clock each |
| Full mock: Verbal Reasoning | 40 statements | 30 minutes (AO 2024) |
| Full mock: Numerical Reasoning | 24 questions, five options | 35 minutes (AO 2024) |
| Full mock: Situational Judgement | 16 scenarios in text: 5 written, 5 call transcripts, 6 chats | 40 minutes (AO 2024) |
The mock counts and times are from the publicjobs Graduate Opportunities Administrative Officer (General) 2024 Stage 1 Pre-Test Information Booklet. The short-set clocks are our own practice settings: 15 minutes for verbal, 18 for numerical and 20 for situational judgement. AO 2024 used text, video and chat scenarios; this practice gives text versions of all three types (the video calls as written transcripts) and contains no video. HEO and Third Secretary competitions set out their own tests in their candidate information and familiarisation material, which is the authority.
Through to interview? Graduate Grades Complete adds capability interview practice (40 questions, STAR frames, 12 model answers), Third Secretary written-exercise practice and AO/HEO application-form examples to these tests, in one purchase. See Graduate Grades Complete →
How the Order of Merit works
publicjobs says your score at the testing and assessment stages sets your Order of Merit: your ranking against every other applicant, which affects how soon you may be called to later stages. In AO 2024 you had to reach the qualifying standard in all three tests, and your combined Verbal Reasoning and Situational Judgement scores set your place; Numerical Reasoning had to be passed but was not added to the ranking. There was no negative marking, so answer every question. publicjobs noted that most candidates do not complete all the verbal and numerical questions in the time, and advised working as quickly and as accurately as possible. Candidates could not sit the AO 2024 Stage 1 assessments more than once.
Situational answers here are judged against the Administrative Officer capability framework, and each explanation says why the best option beats the other two. Verbal statements are judged on the passage alone; every numerical answer is computed from its table, and the explanation shows the working.
Before you buy
What do I get?
Ten timed sets (4 verbal, 3 numerical, 3 situational) and a full mock of all three tests at the AO 2024 lengths and times, in the full test player. When you submit, you see your score by test and topic, time per question and the reason behind every answer. Retake them as often as you like.
Are these real publicjobs test questions?
No. Every scenario, passage, table and question here is original, written by us to the format publicjobs describes. We do not reproduce publicjobs test items.
How were the answers checked?
Every answer is explained: verbal answers from the passage, numerical answers worked through from the table, and situational answers against the published Administrative Officer capability framework. These are our own practice answer keys, not official publicjobs scoring keys.
Is this the current format?
The full mock uses the Stage 1 test types, counts and times publicjobs described for Graduate Opportunities Administrative Officer (General) 2024; the short sets use our own practice clocks; the situational scenarios are text versions of the AO 2024 types (no video). HEO 2026 and Third Secretary 2020 also began with online assessments; their later stages differ (the Third Secretary 2020 booklet lists a video interview, a precis exercise and an interview). Last checked 1 November 2026. Each competition sets out its own stages in its candidate information booklet on publicjobs.ie, and familiarisation material goes to invited candidates, so read those before your test.
Is it official?
No. This is independent practice by ProSyllabus. Not affiliated with publicjobs, the Public Appointments Service or the Department of Foreign Affairs; not the official test. publicjobs offers its own free self-assessment tests on its test advice page.
How do I pay and get access?
One payment by card (or PayPal where offered), handled by our payment provider. In Ireland the price is charged in euro; in other countries in your own currency where we support it, otherwise in Indian rupees with the local figure shown as an estimate. Access opens on this device straight after payment. Sign in afterwards to keep it on your account. Purchase policy.
Also for publicjobs candidates
- Executive Officer Executive Officer Practice Test (Independent)Also applying for Executive Officer? The EO Stage 1 format: Verbal Reasoning · Numerical Reasoning · Situational Judgement
- publicjobs Our Recruitment ProcessThe official overview of the assessment stages publicjobs uses
Independent practice material by ProSyllabus. Not affiliated with publicjobs, the Public Appointments Service or the Department of Foreign Affairs; not the official test. These are original items, not publicjobs test items. The format is stated as the publicjobs documents gave it, read 1 November 2026; the candidate information for your competition is the authority.