EPSO AD5 case studies
EPSO AD5 · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The EPSO AD5 competition is the European Personnel Selection Office's entry-level route into the administrator (AD 5) function group of the EU institutions - the grade at which most graduates join the Commission, Parliament, Council and other bodies as policy, legal, scientific, financial or communication staff. It is open to candidates who meet the published eligibility conditions for the competition concerned, and it is competitive: a large applicant pool is filtered through computer-based reasoning tests, a situational judgement test and a field-related written exercise before a small shortlist reaches the assessment centre. The EPSO AD5 case studies are 5 cases and about 1,842 words.
1Access Rule Under Pressure
An internal memo from a directorate states: 'Staff who completed the online data-protection module by 31 March may access the shared case file. Completion after that date will be considered individually.' Unit A has 48 staff.
376 words, about 2 min2Mid-Year Budget Transfer
The communications unit has a EUR 2.4 million annual budget split across three workstreams: A 45%, B 35%, C 20%. By 30 June, A has spent 62% of its allocation, B 48%, C 71%.
364 words, about 2 min3Milestone Code Anomaly
A project tracker assigns codes to sequential milestones using three positions: letter, digit, letter. The intended rule is: the first and third letters each move forward two places in the alphabet, wrapping from Z to A; the digit moves forward three places modulo 10.
284 words, about 1 min4Briefing Versus Data Incident
You lead a six-person team in an EU agency. At 16:00 on Tuesday, the head of unit asks for a two-page briefing by 10:00 Wednesday for a Commissioner's visit.
417 words, about 2 min5Compromise Note on Health Data Exchange
You are drafting a Council working-party note on a proposed EU regulation on cross-border exchange of health data. Four positions are on the table: Member State A wants mandatory annual audits; Member State B says audits duplicate national checks and wants voluntary peer review; a patient NGO wants public registers of all data requests; industry asks for an 18-month transition.
401 words, about 2 min