PDF guide · included with Interview Sprint
How to Pass the Civil Service Sift
The written application is where most candidates are cut — before they ever reach an interview. This guide hands you the scoring rubric panels actually mark against, written from the panel's side of the table. Write to the mark scheme, not your instincts.
Why it's different
Most guides tell you what panels say they look for. This one shows you what they actually score.
What's inside
- The real 1–7 scoring scale, and why most applications stall at a 3
- A grade-by-grade breakdown of what panels expect, from AO to G6
- STAR in depth, with a full 250-word behaviour statement annotated line by line
- Before-and-after rewrites showing exactly what turns a 3 into a 6
- The Evidence Map: how to break any criterion into the points it's scored on
- Statement of suitability and CV, done the Civil Service way
- What AI-written applications get wrong — and how to use AI without scoring like a robot
- The seven mistakes that sink most applications, plus a final pre-submission checklist
Who it's for
First-time applicants and serving civil servants going for promotion — anyone who keeps passing the "would be great in the role" test but failing the sift.
Applications fail at the sift, not the interview. Knowing exactly how you're marked is the one advantage most candidates never get. This guide gives it to you.
Common questions
The first assessment stage, where a panel scores your written application against the job criteria. Most candidates are eliminated here.
Behaviours are marked on a 1–7 scale; 4 is usually the pass mark, sometimes raised to 5 for high-volume roles. The guide breaks down what each score means.
No — it covers AO through G6, with a grade-by-grade breakdown of what panels expect at each level.