Fast Stream Tests study plan
Fast Stream Tests · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Initial application stage
Draft a competency evidence log mapping six core behaviours (leadership, delivering at pace, making effective decisions, communicating, working with others, building capability) to two concrete examples each.
Write the first full draft of the personal statement and every application-form competency answer.
Circulate the draft to two reviewers and log their feedback point by point.
Rewrite the weakest three answers using the reviewers' comments.
Your checkpoint
Application pack v2 containing the personal statement plus six competency answers, each mapped to two evidence examples and signed off by two reviewers.
Initial application stage & Online tests
Finalise and submit the application, then record the submission date and any stated test window.
Sit one full-length timed numerical reasoning test to establish a baseline score.
Sit one full-length timed verbal reasoning test to establish a baseline score.
Build an error log classifying every wrong answer by cause (misread, arithmetic slip, time pressure, unknown method).
Drill mental arithmetic for 20 minutes on three separate days.
Your checkpoint
Baseline scorecard recording both test scores, time taken and accuracy, plus an error log of at least 20 classified mistakes.
Online tests
Practise numerical reasoning in three 45-minute blocks at a 60-second-per-question pace.
Work through 40 situational judgement items and write a one-line justification for each choice.
Memorise and apply five mental-maths shortcuts (percentage change, ratio scaling, currency conversion, averages, fraction-to-decimal equivalents).
Re-sit both baseline tests under strict exam conditions and compare against week 2.
Your checkpoint
Updated scorecard showing at least a 15% numerical improvement with all sections finished inside the time limit.
Online tests & Assessment Centre
Complete two full-length online test simulations back-to-back in a single sitting to build stamina.
Draft ten STAR stories covering conflict, failure, leadership, persuasion and ambiguity.
Rehearse every story aloud and record it, trimming each to 90 seconds or less.
Review the recordings and rewrite any story that lacks a measurable result.
Your checkpoint
Ten recorded STAR stories, each under 90 seconds, plus a final online test scorecard with all sections at or above target.
Assessment Centre
Run two group exercises with peers, taking the chair role once and the challenger role once.
Deliver three five-minute presentations on unfamiliar policy topics with only 10 minutes of preparation.
Complete two written exercises (a briefing note and a short analysis) in 45 minutes each.
Collect structured peer feedback after every exercise and log the top three recurring weaknesses.
Your checkpoint
Three recorded presentations and two timed written exercises, with a peer feedback sheet listing three strengths and three improvements.
Assessment Centre
Run a full mock assessment centre day covering a group exercise, presentation, competency interview and written task.
Debrief with a mentor or assessor and score each exercise against the published behaviour framework.
Rewrite the three weakest STAR stories and re-record them.
Answer six competency interview questions under timed conditions without notes.
Your checkpoint
Mock assessment centre score sheet with an assessor debrief, plus the revised story bank (v3) and recordings.
Final Selection Board
Draft a career-motivation narrative linking current experience to the role's public impact.
Prepare and rehearse answers to ten Final Selection Board style questions on motivation, ethics and judgement.
Write six one-page briefs on current policy or economic issues likely to be raised.
Run two 30-minute mock board interviews with two different interviewers.
Your checkpoint
A written answer bank of ten board questions, six issue briefs and notes from two mock board interviews.
Final Selection Board & Assessment Centre
Run two full mock selection boards with interviewers you have not rehearsed with before.
Re-run one group exercise to confirm the fixes from week 5 have held.
Rehearse the opening two minutes of the board interview until it is fluent without notes.
Compile a one-page pre-board checklist covering documents, travel, dress and the three key messages to land.
Your checkpoint
Final readiness pack: two scored mock board reports, a group exercise observation note and a one-page pre-board checklist.
Milestones
Week 2: Application submitted and both online test baselines recorded with a classified error log.
Week 4: Numerical and verbal practice scores at or above target with all sections completed inside the time limit, and ten recorded STAR stories under 90 seconds.
Week 6: Full mock assessment centre completed and scored by an assessor, with the three weakest stories rewritten and re-recorded.
Week 8: Two scored mock selection boards passed with interviewer sign-off, a revised story bank and a completed pre-board checklist.