Data Interpretation (Tables, Charts & Graphs)
Not publishedof exam
CAT & Banked Score RulesTables, Units & Stated FTE BaselinesCharts, Angles & QueuesBudgets, Variance & Indices
Percentages & Proportions
Not publishedof exam
Ratios & Proportions
Not publishedof exam
Unitary Ratio SharingBridge Ratio MergingDirect & Inverse ProportionLinear vs Area Scaling
Averages & Work Rates
Not publishedof exam
Mean, Median & OutliersWeighted & Grouped MeansSpeed, Distance & TimeCombined Work & SLA Staffing
Arithmetic, Forecasts & Conversions
Not publishedof exam
Declared Forecasts & Missing ValuesFX Bid-Ask & Cross-RatesSimultaneous Budget EquationsCeiling vs Floor Rounding
Quick Facts
- Test Name
- Civil Service Numerical Test
- Administrator
- UK Civil Service Jobs
- Time Limit
- Untimed; typically 15-45 mins
- Engine
- Computer-adaptive with trial items
- Navigation
- No skipping or going back
- Scoring
- Percentile versus representative comparison group
- Banked Pass
- Up to 6 months
- Allowed Aids
- Calculator and rough paper
For an April–March Financial Year
April Q1, July Q2, October Q3, January Q4
Q1: Apr-JunQ2: Jul-SepQ3: Oct-DecQ4: Jan-Mar
Headcount vs Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
Headcount
- Counts individual staff members
- Part-time staff count as 1
- Used for per-person headcounts
FTE
- Hours ÷ stated full-time baseline
- Two half-time staff equal one FTE
- Measures standardized staffing capacity
People on payroll vs full-time hours
Chart & Table Extraction Picker
- Visual chart reading looks ambiguous→Read accompanying accessible data table
- Comparing pie slices across two years→Multiply each % by year total
- Reading upper segment of stacked bar→Subtract bottom reading from top
- Combining subgroup averages of unequal size→Weight by each actual denominator
- Stated year contains 52 paid weeks→Multiply weekly value by 52
CAT & Banked Score Rules
- Untimed Rule
- Time taken never affects score
- CAT Routing
- Next difficulty may change with answers
- Grade Group 1-3
- AA-AO, EO, and HEO-SEO bands
- Grade Group 4
- Grade 7, Grade 6, SCS 1
- Banked Expiry
- Six months; earlier benchmark/technical reset
- Chart Accessibility
- Every chart includes data table
Four Banked Score Grade Groupings
Bank passes within the four official grade groups
Band 1: AA / AOBand 2: EOBand 3: HEO / SEOGroup 4: G7/G6/SCS1
Operating Budget vs Capital Budget
Operating Budget
- Given day-to-day operating costs
- Example: stated pay and rent
- Check separate limit and transfer conditions
Capital Budget
- Given investment in assets
- Example: stated building or equipment spend
- Underspend does not automatically offset overspend
Apply the problem’s transfer permissions
Tables, Units & Workforce Metrics
- £000s Header
- Multiply table figures by 1,000
- April–March Financial Year
- Check stated period before assigning quarters
- Given 52 Paid Weeks
- Annual cost = weekly cost ×52
- FTE vs Headcount
- Hours divided by stated full-time baseline
- Net FTE Hours
- Apply each deduction’s specified base
- Conditional Share
- Phrase after 'of' sets denominator
Expenditure Variance vs Revenue Variance
Expenditure (Cost)
- Actual > Budget is Adverse
- Actual < Budget is Favourable
- Overspend hurts departmental budget
Revenue (Income)
- Actual > Target is Favourable
- Actual < Target is Adverse
- Shortfall hurts cost recovery
Cost-control convention; check stated definitions
Charts, Pie Angles & Queues
- Stacked Bar Slice
- Top boundary minus bottom boundary
- Truncated Axis
- Read axis numbers, not height
- Pie 1% Angle
- 1% equals 3.6 degrees
- Pie Benchmarks
- 90° is 25%, 72° is 20%
- Backlog Identity
- Prior backlog plus receipts minus clearances
- Backlog Peak
- Compare all cumulative closing balances
Budgets, Variance & Index Numbers
- Cost Variance
- Actual above budget is Adverse
- Revenue Variance
- Actual above target is Favourable
- Separate Budget Limits
- Netting needs permission in problem conditions
- Base Period Index
- For a base set to 100
- Non-Base Index %
- Index change over starting index
- Real Expenditure (Base-100 Deflator)
- Nominal divided by index × 100
UK 20% VAT Rule of Six
Divide gross by six for VAT, times five for net
Gross = 6 parts (120%)Net = 5 parts (100%)VAT = Gross ÷ 6
Percentage Change vs Percentage Points
Relative % Change
- Divides gap by old rate
- 40% to 50% is +25%
- Measures proportional growth
Percentage Points
- Subtracts old rate from new
- 40% to 50% is +10 pp
- Measures absolute rate shift
Proportional ratio vs simple subtraction
Percentage & Index Formula Picker
- Finding % change between two values→Divide change by original value
- Comparing two percentage rates directly→Check percentage points vs relative %
- Recovering pre-change or pre-VAT value→Divide final by decimal multiplier
- Comparing two non-base index years→Divide index gap by starting index
- Real expenditure; deflator base is 100→Divide nominal by deflator × 100
Percentage Change & Points
- Percent Change
- Change divided by original × 100
- Percentage Points
- New rate minus old rate
- Successive Changes
- Multiply decimal multipliers together
- +20% then -20%
- 1.20 × 0.80 gives -4% net
- Eighths Benchmarks
- 0.125 is 12.5%, 0.375 is 37.5%
- Sixths & Twelfths
- Sixth≈16.67%; twelfth≈8.33%
Reverse Percentages, VAT & Growth
- Reverse Increase
- Final ÷ (1 + decimal rate)
- Reverse Decrease
- Final ÷ (1 − decimal rate)
- Reverse +25%
- Requires a 20% decrease
- 20% VAT Net
- Gross divided by 1.20
- VAT Rule of Six
- 20% VAT equals Gross ÷ 6
- Compound Growth
- Principal × multiplier to power t
Direct Proportion vs Inverse Proportion
Direct Proportion
- Both quantities rise together
- Quotient y over x stays constant
- Used for unit cost scaling
Inverse Proportion
- More workers mean fewer days
- Product W × T stays constant
- Used for fixed backlog clearance
Constant quotient/product under stated assumptions
Ratio, Scaling & Rate Picker
- Given difference between two ratio shares→Divide gap by part difference
- Merging two separate shared-term ratios→Scale bridge term B to LCM
- Fixed workload; identical constant worker productivity→Keep worker-days product constant
- Converting map cm² to ground km²→Multiply by linear scale squared
- Independent constant rates; simultaneously divisible task→Sum hourly rates before inverting
Ratios, Proportion & Map Scaling
- Part-to-Whole Share
- Part over sum of all parts
- Unitary Difference
- Gap divided by part difference
- Bridge Ratio A-B-C
- Scale shared term to LCM
- Inverse Work Rule
- Fixed work; constant productivity assumed
- Constant Productivity
- Output divided by total worker-hours
- Map Area Scale
- Area scales by linear factor squared
Mean, Median & Weighted Averages
- Arithmetic Mean
- Sum of values over count
- Target Mean Score
- Target total minus known sum
- Outlier Resistance
- Median less sensitive than mean
- Weighted Mean
- Weight-value products over total weight
- Grouped Mean Estimate
- Interval midpoints × frequencies over total
- Range
- Maximum value minus minimum value
Speed, Time & Combined Rates
- Minutes to Hours
- Divide minutes by 60
- 2 hrs 24 mins
- Equals 2.4 decimal hours
- Average Speed
- Total distance over total time
- Independent Constant Work Rates
- Simultaneous task: add individual rates
- Independent Two-Worker Time
- Product of times over sum
- SLA Staff Sizing
- Demand hours over net FTE hours
FX Dealer Bid-Ask Rule
Bank buys Base at Bid, sells Base at Ask
GBP base; sell: ×BidGBP base; buy: ÷AskApply quoted spread and fees
Ceiling Rounding vs Floor Rounding
Ceiling (Round Up)
- Used for boxes and coaches
- Ensures no item left behind
- 14.375 crates becomes 15 crates
Floor (Round Down)
- Used for fixed cash budgets
- Never breaches spending cap
- 87.27 laptops becomes 87 laptops
Cover all demand vs obey cap
Forecast, FX & Rounding Picker
- Constant addition explicitly specified each period→Start + number_of_periods × addition
- Missing entry within an additive total→Subtract known entries from total
- GBP is base; selling to dealer→Multiply GBP by dealer Bid
- GBP is base; buying from dealer→Divide foreign sum by Ask
- Buying items under strict cash cap→Floor-round down to whole items
Forecasts, FX & Rounding Rules
- Fixed Monthly Addition
- Start + (months × stated addition)
- Missing Additive Table Entry
- Total minus sum of known entries
- FX Base to Quote
- Multiply Base by Bid rate
- FX Quote to Base
- Divide Quote by Ask rate
- Ceiling Rounding
- Round up for capacity and boxes
- Floor Rounding
- Round down for fixed budgets
Common Traps
Percentage Change Denominator
Change ÷ original value ≠ Change ÷ final value
20% VAT Included in Gross
VAT = gross ÷6 ≠ VAT = gross ×20%
112 to 134.4: Points vs Percentage
22.4 index-point rise ≠ 20% relative rise
Clock Minutes as Decimals
2 h 24 m (2.4 hours) ≠ 2.24 decimal hours
Equal-Distance 60/40 mph Journey
Total distance/time =48 mph ≠ Unweighted speeds average =50 mph
Shares Across Different Totals
35% of £60m = £21m ≠ 25% of £96m = £24m
Last Minute
- 1.Untimed CAT: accuracy beats speed
- 2.Cannot skip or revisit questions
- 3.Check table headers for £000s
- 4.Every chart has an accessible table
- 5.1% of pie chart equals 3.6°
- 6.Percent change divides by original value
- 7.Reverse change: divide by 1±r
- 8.20% VAT equals Gross ÷ 6
- 9.Ratio share is part over total
- 10.Map area scales by factor squared
- 11.Divide clock minutes by 60 first
- 12.Banking: six months or earlier reset
- 13.Use stated work-rate assumptions
- 14.Rounding must respect the requested quantity
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