The 9 Civil Service Behaviours, With Examples (2026)
The nine Civil Service Behaviours are Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Developing Self and Others, Managing a Quality Service, and Delivering at Pace. Each has an official one-line definition, and a job advert assesses a chosen subset (usually three or four), weighted to the grade.
To evidence a Behaviour, you write a short statement — typically up to 250 words — giving a real example of what you personally did, structured using STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result). The example must match the Behaviour's official wording: for instance, Working Together is "form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally," so your example needs genuine collaboration, not solo work relabelled. Assessors score on your own action and a measurable result, written in the first person ("I", not "we"). Below we give every Behaviour's definition, what assessors look for, and how to evidence it well. Always write to the exact Behaviours and word limit named in your advert.
The nine Behaviours and their official definitions
Here are all nine with their official definitions. Match your evidence to this wording:
- Seeing the Big Picture — understand how your role fits with and supports organisational objectives.
- Changing and Improving — seek out opportunities to create effective change and suggest innovative ideas for improvement.
- Making Effective Decisions — use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice.
- Leadership — show pride and passion for public service. Create and engage others in delivering a shared vision.
- Communicating and Influencing — communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm.
- Working Together — form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally.
- Developing Self and Others — focus on continuous learning and development for self, others and the organisation.
- Managing a Quality Service — deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise and efficiency.
- Delivering at Pace — take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
What assessors look for in each Behaviour
Each Behaviour has a distinct "signal" an assessor wants to see, so don't reuse one generic example everywhere. Seeing the Big Picture wants awareness of wider context, strategy or political/organisational drivers. Making Effective Decisions wants you weighing evidence and options, not just acting. Communicating and Influencing wants you changing someone's mind or behaviour, not just sending information.
Delivering at Pace wants prioritisation under time pressure with a quality result; Managing a Quality Service wants planning, standards and customer focus. The fastest way to lose marks is to submit a good story that evidences the wrong Behaviour — a Leadership example filed under Working Together still scores low on Working Together. Pick the example that most directly demonstrates the named Behaviour's definition.
How to evidence a Behaviour in 250 words
With a 250-word cap, structure is everything. Spend roughly 15% on Situation (brief context), 15% on Task (your specific responsibility), 40-50% on Action (what you did, how, and why), and around 20% on Result (the measurable outcome). Write in the first person — "I led", "I decided", "I negotiated" — because assessors score your contribution, not your team's.
One fully-evidenced example almost always beats two thin ones at this length. Include specifics: numbers, timescales, before-and-after, or named feedback. Avoid jargon and unexplained acronyms. Finish on the result — a statement that trails off in the action, with no outcome, is hard to score. Then count your words and trim to the advert's exact limit; going over can be penalised.
Common mistakes that lower your score
The recurring sift-killers are: writing "we" throughout so your personal action is invisible; choosing an example that doesn't match the Behaviour's definition; spending most of the word count on context and almost none on the result; making claims with no evidence ("I improved the process" — by how much?); and exceeding the word limit.
Senior-grade applicants also under-pitch: a Grade 7 Leadership example built around organising a rota reads as too junior — show influence, vision or developing others. Junior applicants sometimes over-claim strategic impact they didn't have. The fix is to choose examples at the right altitude for the grade and evidence them honestly. Our checker flags missing STAR components, "we"-heavy phrasing, behaviour mismatch and word-count breaches before you submit.
| Behaviour | Core focus | What strong evidence shows |
|---|---|---|
| Seeing the Big Picture | Wider context and objectives | Linking your work to organisational or public goals |
| Changing and Improving | Effective change and ideas | An improvement you proposed and the result it delivered |
| Making Effective Decisions | Evidence-based decisions | Weighing options/evidence before deciding |
| Leadership | Vision and engaging others | Motivating people toward a shared goal |
| Communicating and Influencing | Clarity and persuasion | Changing a stakeholder's view or behaviour |
| Working Together | Partnerships and relationships | Genuine collaboration across teams/externally |
| Developing Self and Others | Continuous learning | Coaching others or your own learning applied |
| Managing a Quality Service | Standards and delivery | Planning and meeting a quality/service standard |
| Delivering at Pace | Timely, quality results | Prioritising under pressure to a measured outcome |
The 2025 Civil Service Fast Stream recommended 754 people for appointment from 72,691 first-preference applications — about 1% — which is why each named Behaviour has to be evidenced precisely, not generically.
Frequently asked questions
What are the nine Civil Service Behaviours?
Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Developing Self and Others, Managing a Quality Service, and Delivering at Pace. Each has an official definition published on GOV.UK, and a single role assesses a chosen subset rather than all nine.
How long should a Civil Service Behaviour statement be?
The limit is set by the job advert. The most common convention is up to 250 words per Behaviour, but always use the exact figure in the advert. Going over the limit can be penalised, so write to the example's strongest points and trim hard rather than padding to fill space.
Should I write Behaviour statements in "I" or "we"?
Use "I". Assessors score your personal contribution, so "I analysed", "I decided" and "I persuaded" show what you did. "We" hides your role and is one of the most common reasons strong examples score poorly. Keep the team context brief and make your own actions the centre of the statement.
Can I use the same example for two Behaviours?
It's usually better not to. One rich situation can sometimes evidence two Behaviours if you genuinely draw out different actions for each, but repeating the same story makes your application feel thin. Aim for distinct examples that each map cleanly to the named Behaviour's definition.
How do I match my example to the right Behaviour?
Read the Behaviour's official one-line definition and pick the example that most directly demonstrates it. A good story under the wrong Behaviour still scores low. If your example is really about persuading someone, it's Communicating and Influencing — not Working Together. Our checker flags when an example looks mismatched to the named Behaviour.
Do the Behaviours change by grade?
The nine Behaviours stay the same, but the expected level rises with grade. Junior grades show delivery and ownership; senior grades (HEO and above, Grade 7/6) show strategy, influence and developing others. Pitch your example at the right altitude — too junior an example weakens a senior application.
Will Cvedo write my Behaviour statement for me?
No. Cvedo checks the statement you've written, shows which Behaviours and STAR components are evidenced and which are missing, and suggests fixes — and a real person reviews every paid report. We won't fabricate examples or claim outcomes you didn't achieve, because invented evidence is easy for a panel to expose at interview.