EPSO Verbal Reasoning case studies
EPSO Verbal Reasoning · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The EPSO verbal reasoning test is the reading-comprehension component used in European Personnel Selection Office competitions for EU institutions. It is aimed at graduates applying for administrator, assistant, linguist or specialist profiles, and it assesses how precisely you extract meaning from dense written material rather than how much background knowledge you hold. Passages typically resemble the prose a European civil servant actually reads: policy summaries, legal-style argument, institutional reporting, commentary and comparative analysis. Items ask for the main idea, a stated detail, a safe inference, the meaning of a term in context, the author's tone, the structure of an argument, or the effect of evidence on a claim. The EPSO Verbal Reasoning case studies are 5 cases and about 3,167 words.
1Bike-Sharing Audit: What the Report Actually Concludes
Read the following excerpt from a municipal audit report and answer the questions that follow. When Valmara launched its docked bike-sharing network in 2019, the stated aim was to cut short car trips: 40% of journeys under three kilometres.
682 words, about 3 min2Fisheries Transmission Notice: Reading Precise Deadlines
The following is an extract from an internal notice circulated by the (fictional) European Coastal Monitoring Office. Read it and answer the questions.
644 words, about 3 min3Hybrid-Work Pilot: Confounded Productivity
Read the following summary of a pilot programme and answer the questions. A (fictional) national tax administration piloted hybrid work in two of its six regional offices between January and June.
611 words, about 3 min4Plain-Language Summaries: Assumptions and Rhetoric
The following is an extract from an opinion column in a (fictional) civil-service journal. 'EU legislation is increasingly judged by how quickly citizens can understand it, not by how carefully it is drafted.
647 words, about 3 min5Deposit-Return Scheme: Two Briefings, One Conclusion
Two briefings on the same deposit-return scheme reach a parliamentary committee on the same day. Read both and answer the questions.
583 words, about 3 min