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How to write a Civil Service personal statement

Civil Service applications are scored against what the advert says it will assess. Write to that, criterion by criterion, and use one real example for each.

4 minute read

October 2026: Success Profiles are being replaced. Until a job advert says otherwise, this still applies.

1. Read what the advert assesses

Civil Service jobs use Success Profiles. The advert tells you which parts are assessed at each stage: experience, behaviours, technical skills, strengths or ability. At application stage it is usually a personal statement, behaviour examples, or both.

Check the word limit for each. Personal statements are often 750 or 1,250 words, and behaviour examples are often 250 words each, but always follow the advert.

2. Personal statement: one example per essential criterion

Find the essential criteria in the job description. Take them in order, and for each one give a real example that shows you meet it. Using each criterion as a short heading makes it easy for the sift panel to find.

3. Behaviour examples: show the behaviour at the job's grade

There are nine Civil Service behaviours, such as Delivering at Pace, Working Together and Making Effective Decisions. Each has a description of what it looks like at each grade. Read the description for the grade you are applying for and choose an example that matches it.

If many people apply, the first sift is sometimes on the lead behaviour only. The advert will say which one leads, so make that example your strongest.

4. Use STAR, and spend most words on what you did

Situation and Task: a sentence or two of context
Action: what you did, step by step. Say "I", not "we"
Result: what changed, with a number if you have one

A worked example

Behaviour: Delivering at Pace.

WeakI always deliver work on time and work well under pressure.

StrongerA month before our team's quarterly report was due, two colleagues left. I listed every task, agreed with my manager which could wait, and split the rest into weekly targets I checked every Friday. I took on the data checks myself and set up a shared tracker so everyone could see progress. We submitted on time, and the tracker is still used for every report.

Before you submit

Every essential criterion has an example
Each behaviour example fits the grade's description
You wrote about what you did, not the team
You stayed within each word limit

Read the official Success Profiles guidance on GOV.UK. In Submiti: write your personal statement and behaviour examples in the statement editor from your own stories, then check them against the advert.

Put it into practice

Use Submiti to keep your examples and apply with them, or bring your question to The Experience Room, our career community.

Try Submiti free Join The Experience Room