Situational Judgement
What this section tests
Situational judgement presents a workplace or public-safety scenario and asks you to rank responses or to choose the most and least effective action. There is no arithmetic; the marks come from judgement about priorities, procedure and people.
What to value
In a uniformed public service the usual hierarchy of concerns runs: safety of the public and colleagues, then legality and procedural correctness, then resolution and communication, then personal convenience. Responses that respect the chain of command, document the facts, communicate promptly and act proportionately score highest.
Traps
- The “heroic” option: acting alone, bypassing authority, or improvising beyond your powers.
- The passive option: noting the problem and doing nothing, or “waiting to see”.
- Over-escalation: referring a trivial matter to the highest authority.
- Under-escalation: concealing a serious matter to protect a colleague.
- Options that protect a friend, or the organisation's reputation, at the expense of the truth.
- Confusing politeness with effectiveness.
Worked example
You observe a colleague accepting money to speed up a routine application. The most effective first step is neither a public confrontation nor silence. It is to record what you actually observed and report it through the designated supervisory or anti-corruption channel. The least effective responses are accepting a share, promising to keep quiet, or confronting the colleague alone with no record.
Rule of thumb
Ask four questions of every option: is it lawful, is it safe, is it my role, and does it inform the right person?
Ethics and Community Awareness
What this section tests
Ethics covers integrity, impartiality, accountability, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and the code of conduct. Community awareness covers human rights, diversity, inclusion, community policing, and the relationship between an officer and the public served.
Core ideas
Public office is a trust. Power must be exercised lawfully, proportionately and without favour. Impartiality means treating like cases alike regardless of who is asking; a personal relationship with an applicant is a conflict of interest that must be declared, not quietly managed. Confidentiality means information learned at work is not a personal asset.
Community awareness rests on the idea that cooperation is earned through consistent, respectful conduct. Cultural sensitivity is not the same as tolerating misconduct: respect for custom sits inside the law, not above it.
Traps
- “Everyone does it” reasoning, which normalises misconduct.
- Loyalty to a colleague used to justify a cover-up.
- Confusing lawful with ethical: something may be technically permitted yet improper.
- Accepting gifts that could reasonably be read as buying influence.
- Treating a complaint from a marginalised group as less credible.
- Selective enforcement favouring relatives or friends.
Worked example
A local business offers you a festive hamper. A modest token of goodwill may be permissible under a low-value rule, but anything that could reasonably be seen as purchasing future favour must be declined or formally declared. The test is not your own honesty; it is the public's reasonable perception of the transaction.
Rule of thumb
Ask whether you would be comfortable if the decision and its reasoning were published in full.