HEO Test Practice: Numerical, Verbal and Timed Papers Available Now

Yes, HEO test practice is available now. You can start using the numerical and verbal banks, worked explanations and timed papers today.

What HEO material is available?

The papers use questions from these banks. Choose coached or untimed practice to learn the methods, then use timed papers to build speed and check your progress.

How to access HEO practice

1. Open HEO practice. This link selects HEO for you.
2. Sign in or create an account if prompted.
3. Choose numerical or verbal reasoning and your practice style.

You can try a free sample without an account. The complete banks and timed papers require paid test access. Existing members with test access can use the HEO material now.

SJT preparation for HEO candidates

Preparing for HEO and want to improve your situational judgement? Start by explaining why one response is stronger than another. Memorising a rule such as “always ask your manager” will not help when the scenario gives you the authority and information to act yourself.

An SJT is not confirmed by the public HEO 2026 material reviewed for this guide. Use your invitation and familiarisation instructions to confirm whether it applies, and whether you must rank, rate or select responses. The exercises below are original PSP learning examples, not official questions or an official marking scheme.

Think through the management decision

For a scenario that puts you in charge of a team, work through five questions:

1. What needs protecting? Identify the service deadline, accuracy, fair treatment or immediate risk described.
2. What is within your authority? Make decisions you are authorised to make. Escalate risks or decisions beyond your remit with the relevant facts and a proposed next step.
3. How will the team deliver? Consider priorities, staff capacity and appropriate delegation. Taking every task on yourself can leave the underlying problem unresolved.
4. Who needs an update? Give the right people an accurate, timely explanation. Avoid promises the scenario does not support.
5. How will you follow through? Set a clear owner and review point, and check that the action resolved the problem.

These are prompts for analysing practice scenarios, not a scoring formula. Read the official HEO Capability Framework through publicjobs alongside the requirements for your own competition.

Worked example: a team deadline and a quality problem

Original PSP scenario: You lead a small team. A service report is due tomorrow. Two figures conflict with the source records, and one colleague is already handling urgent public enquiries. You can reallocate work within the team. Another trained colleague has capacity to check the figures today, and your manager is available if the deadline becomes unachievable.

Which response best addresses the situation?

• A: Submit the report unchanged because meeting the deadline matters most.
• B: Assign the available trained colleague to verify the figures, agree a review time today, keep urgent enquiries covered and alert your manager promptly if a material risk to delivery remains.
• C: Send the entire problem to your manager without checking your team’s capacity or proposing a plan.
• D: Take over every report and enquiry yourself, without changing priorities or telling the team.

Suggested strongest response: B. It addresses accuracy and delivery together, uses the capacity explicitly available, protects the public-facing service and creates a check before the deadline. Escalation remains available if the risk cannot be resolved.

A knowingly passes on unreliable information. C transfers a manageable decision upwards without a proposal. D sounds committed but creates a bottleneck and leaves colleagues unclear about their responsibilities. A different scenario, such as an immediate serious risk or a decision outside your authority, could require immediate escalation.

This is a single-choice learning exercise. It does not predict the format of the HEO assessment.

Practise the reasoning, then the format

Try the free ranked SJT question on this page, then compare your order with PSP’s suggested order and explanations. For each difference, write down the detail you missed: authority, urgency, evidence, fairness, delegation or follow-through. Our practice score is not a publicjobs score or a pass prediction.

Read the SJT practice guide with more worked scenarios for the difference between ranking and rating. Once your official instructions arrive, focus on the confirmed format and timing. Do not assume that an EO example, a PSP sample or another competition’s scoring rules describe your HEO test.

Official competition information

Status checked 12 September 2026: Publicjobs confirms applications for vacancy 8195 are closed. The closing date was 10 September. This guide retains the application evidence for candidates already in the process. Read the assessment watch for the next stage; no specific test format is established by this guide.

The availability of PSP practice and the official competition format are separate matters. Our material is ready now; your invitation determines the formats you will actually sit.

The current official campaign page confirms an initial online assessment stage. The booklet reviewed in August gave October 2026 as indicative timing; the public page checked on 12 September does not publish a new sitting date or identify numerical, verbal or SJT formats. Your invitation takes precedence over the earlier timetable.

That distinction matters. Numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, situational judgement and job simulation may be familiar publicjobs assessment categories, but none should currently be described as the confirmed HEO 2026 format.

The definitive instructions will be the familiarisation material sent to invited candidates.

Confirmed, expected and unknown

Dates are indicative and may change. Keep the application and publicjobs contact details current, and read each invitation in full.

How to use your practice alongside the official instructions

Start with a coached HEO set, read the explanations and note where you lose accuracy. Repeat those skills without time pressure, then try a timed paper. Use the official familiarisation material to focus on the formats you will actually sit.

The right sequence is:

1. Preserve your submitted application and acknowledgement. Applications closed on 10 September.
2. Use the available HEO numerical and verbal banks to build accuracy and confidence.
3. Read the official familiarisation booklet when you receive it.
4. Match practice to the confirmed instructions, interface and constraints.
5. Complete the required system checks early.

Keep the submitted application intact. A separate evidence bank can help you recall the decisions and results behind it if you are called forward.

What can be prepared before the format is released

Some work remains useful across assessment types:

• reading instructions exactly and separating facts from assumptions;
• working accurately under a visible time limit;
• checking percentages, ratios and basic numerical relationships;
• making decisions from stated evidence rather than invented context;
• setting up a quiet device, reliable connection and uninterrupted practice window.

Keep this proportionate while you wait for your official instructions.

What to inspect in the familiarisation material

When the official pack arrives, identify:

• the assessment name and provider;
• number and type of questions or exercises;
• total time and whether sections are timed separately;
• navigation rules, including whether answers can be revisited;
• scoring or ranking information that is actually disclosed;
• device, browser, identification and technical requirements;
• practice examples supplied by publicjobs;
• the completion window and exact deadline.

Those facts should determine the practice plan. Past campaigns can provide context, but they do not override the current instructions.

Free general practice while you wait

If you want to check a basic skill, use the numerical examples, verbal examples or workplace judgement examples. Each explains the answer and links to the relevant free taster.

These free examples let you try the approach before choosing paid access. Our HEO banks are independent practice resources; your official instructions confirm which formats apply to your competition.

Open HEO practice now

The HEO 2026 campaign pathway now links directly to HEO practice. Numerical and verbal banks and timed papers are available today, alongside your saved application evidence and interview tools.

This guide and the free taster are free to use. The full HEO question banks and timed papers require paid test access. Follow your invitation for the actual formats, timing and scoring of the official assessment.

Do not neglect the submitted evidence

The initial assessment can set an order of merit, but the process may later include shortlisting based on the application. Preserve the examples, dates and results you submitted in your Experience Bible. If called to interview, that record is more useful than trying to reconstruct the application months later.

FAQ

Is HEO test material available now?

Yes. There are 750 HEO numerical questions, 750 verbal questions and 100 timed papers. Open HEO practice.

Do I need to wait for my invitation to use it?

No. You can use the existing HEO banks now. Your official invitation confirms which formats apply to your competition and helps you focus your preparation.

What tests are in the HEO 2026 online assessment?

The public material checked on 12 September confirms online assessments but does not name the test types or format. The familiarisation material sent to invited candidates will be the authority.

Will HEO 2026 include numerical or verbal reasoning?

Those formats are not confirmed in the current HEO 2026 booklet. They should not be presented as definite until publicjobs issues the assessment instructions.

When are the HEO 2026 online assessments?

The indicative timeline says October 2026. Dates may change, so candidates should monitor official messages.

Should I practise before the format is announced?

You can start with the available HEO numerical and verbal practice now. Use your official familiarisation material to confirm the assessment formats and focus your preparation.

Update log

17 September 2026: added an SJT preparation section for HEO candidates, an original management scenario with a worked explanation, and the interactive free SJT question with scoring and explanations directly in this article. The homepage links to the practice question. Checked the public campaign page and Capability Framework page; no HEO SJT format is established by this update.

15 September 2026: verified the active HEO banks and paper counts, added direct practice links and clarified that material is available now. Rechecked the official campaign page, which still confirms applications are closed and does not name the assessment formats.

12 September 2026: checked the official campaign status, marked the application stage closed and retained the application record for later preparation. Application structure was recorded on 22 August 2026. This update did not access an authenticated publicjobs application.