Re. DWP Online Test For AO
Comments
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Sorry to hear you didn't pass OP, I have to agree that the test wasn't the usual competency style questions. Mine included some serious percentage and ratio calculations and I was forced to hunt down my calculator!
Does this mean that they have actually made it remotely hard or that, like when I went through the application process, that it is mainly thickos applying?
I couldn't believe what the pass mark was. I was even more amazed when 2/3 of the room was called out because they'd failed! And then whilst waiting to be called in for interview I had to sit and listen to some dumb bint banging on about how hard it was and that she didn't have time to finish it (I went through the literacy 3 times and the numeracy twice in the time you had) but how she found out from a friend on the inside that she was 8th in line to be offered a job for another post we'd both interviewed and tested for.
On that day I found out why I always felt I was speaking to the village idiot when I had dealings with the DWP.0 -
OP have you tried practising these tests? I had to do one recently and while I do have quite good numerical skills I hadn't been using ratios, percentages, graphs recently so was a little rusty and took longer to answer the questions than I should have. With a bit of practice I remembered the short cuts and got a lot more efficient at doing the questions and got a good mark in the end. If it's the same sort of test I've been looking at, it's not the questions that are difficult but the time constraints they place on you.0
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whatever system they are using it isnt working! I know they are short staffed, like most places, but they have failed miserably with mum in law. we are dealing with her affairs via PoA as she has dementia. when we rang in January to say she was now permanently in a care home, no one said we needed to fill a form in, easy peasy we thought. later we realised her state pension and pension credit had been stopped and most papers we have been now sent, have been lost or the wrong forms sent, after we have completed them. Now August, they have just paid her state pension - are bickering about the pension credit still and still need to send us another form, which another person had already confirmed was scanned in on the system. they have admitted they made an error by cancelling the whole lot in January but it doesnt help with us and the stress they have caused. Attendance allowance are just the same, they sent the papers off to be filed then couldnt get them back, that has taken months too and still not sorted. when I worked for DWP in the jobcentre, I loved it, but it was starting to be chaotic then, do you really want to work for them? even if you were excellent, I am told at both agencies there were 12 week delays - ummm, maybe alot caused by the wrong forms being sent, files being lost .......grrr0
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and should have said, before someone jumps - she is self funding awaiting CHC0
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Hi. Thanks for your reply. It wasn't actually the old Eng and Maths test for AA/AO - both subjects of which, I should add, I did pass, hence my being taken on a few times by them in the past - but this new one where you have to read a passage and have to answer questions on it. They give you 75 mins to complete the test.
As I say, they told me my score was less than half that of the other candidates - in order words, I failed! This new test is worrying me a lot, because I have been trying to get back into the Civil Service for ages now, but if my chances are going to be made even harder by these annoying, complex tests, then it certainly doesn't bode very well for my chances, does it?
My main worry is if they introduce this test for the Admin Assistant grade too (not that there are many AA's left now in the Civil Service).OP have you tried practising these tests? I had to do one recently and while I do have quite good numerical skills I hadn't been using ratios, percentages, graphs recently so was a little rusty and took longer to answer the questions than I should have. With a bit of practice I remembered the short cuts and got a lot more efficient at doing the questions and got a good mark in the end. If it's the same sort of test I've been looking at, it's not the questions that are difficult but the time constraints they place on you.0 -
Hi. Thanks for your reply. It wasn't actually the old Eng and Maths test for AA/AO - both subjects of which, I should add, I did pass, hence my being taken on a few times by them in the past - but this new one where you have to read a passage and have to answer questions on it. They give you 75 mins to complete the test.
As I say, they told me my score was less than half that of the other candidates - in order words, I failed! This new test is worrying me a lot, because I have been trying to get back into the Civil Service for ages now, but if my chances are going to be made even harder by these annoying, complex tests, then it certainly doesn't bode very well for my chances, does it?
My main worry is if they introduce this test for the Admin Assistant grade too (not that there are many AA's left now in the Civil Service).
If it's the one where you get a passage then they give you statements and you have to say whether they're "definitely true", "definitely false" or "cannot tell", then this is the one I took recently too. I think it takes a bit of practice to get right as I found it difficult at first and was overusing the cannot tell answer. There are quite a few of these tests available online. If I'm talking about the wrong type of test then please ignore me!0 -
I've got an interview for an AO role next week, i found a very useful thread on this but its from 2009 so not sure how relevant itll be now as the questions people got asked then might not be the same now. So i may aswell ask here, what type of qus do people get? I'm quite nervous as i have never had a job interview in my life (just graduated).
These are the competencies.
Delivering a professional service
delivering a customer focused service
analysing, improving and changing
buidling capability0 -
It's not the one where you have to say what's most like you, what's least like you etc. (rating each of the four options 1-4). No, it's this new one where you are given a situational passage, as if you were actually working in a DWP dept, and you then answer 36 questions under a 75 min time limit.If it's the one where you get a passage then they give you statements and you have to say whether they're "definitely true", "definitely false" or "cannot tell", then this is the one I took recently too. I think it takes a bit of practice to get right as I found it difficult at first and was overusing the cannot tell answer. There are quite a few of these tests available online. If I'm talking about the wrong type of test then please ignore me!0
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It's not the one where you have to say what's most like you, what's least like you etc. (rating each of the four options 1-4). No, it's this new one where you are given a situational passage, as if you were actually working in a DWP dept, and you then answer 36 questions under a 75 min time limit.
I also took this test last week and was completely and utterly astounded at how difficult it was. I was set back quite early on worrying just how much of it I'd manage to complete correctly. I plodded on regardless. I wasn't really surprised to get the rejection email, however it was stated that "Although you met the minimum pass mark in your test your score was not high enough to be invited to interview." I felt even worse then - was I closer to the minimum pass mark, or only a question or two away from interview stage? Where did I score between these two points? Aaargh!
Like others I did the basic literacy and numeracy tests several years ago, which were a total breeze. Must say I was expecting similar so when I opened the test box, feeling quite sure of myself, I was completely horrified :eek:0
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