Guides · Updated 21 October 2026

Competency questions: the STAR method

Answer “Describe a time when…” questions on UK applications and in interviews with the STAR structure.

Competency (or behavioural) questions ask you to describe a time you showed a particular skill: “Describe a time you dealt with a difficult customer”, “Give an example of working under pressure”. They are common on UK application forms and in interviews, including the Civil Service and the NHS.

STAR in four steps

• Situation — brief context: where you were and what was happening.
• Task — what you were responsible for.
• Action — what you did, step by step. This should be the longest part.
• Result — what changed because of your actions, with a measurable outcome if you have a genuine one, and what you learned.

Tips

• Say “I”, not “we”: the assessor needs to know what you personally did.
• Prepare five or six strong examples you can adapt to different questions.
• Use recent examples where you can, and keep to the word limit on written forms.
• For Civil Service applications, check the behaviour descriptions for the grade you are applying for — they describe what good looks like at that level.

Example outline

Situation: our team’s month-end reports were regularly late. Task: I was asked to speed up the process. Action: I mapped the steps, removed duplicate checks and built a shared checklist with deadlines. Result: reports went out on time for the following quarters and the checklist became the team standard.