How to prepare for the federal Test of Judgement (376 and 377)

You have an invitation to the Test of Judgement 376 or 377, and a deadline. This guide covers what the test rewards, how to rate each response, how to manage your time, and a plan for the week or two you have. Both use the same question format, so the same preparation works.

What does the Test of Judgement reward?

It rewards sound workplace judgement: knowing which actions help solve a problem and which make it worse. The Public Service Commission says no specialized training, knowledge or experience is needed. The test draws on general knowledge and life experience. The situations involve communication, interpersonal skills, initiative, decision making, analytical thinking and action management.

The official instructions ask you to think as if you were actually on the job. You are not asked what a perfect person would do in theory. You are asked how well a given action would work, with real colleagues and clients.

How should you read a situation?

Read the situation for the problem, not every detail. Before you look at the response, answer three quick questions.

Who owns the problem?

Is it yours to fix, a colleague's, or your manager's? Many responses are sensible actions taken by the wrong person or at the wrong level.

What is at stake?

The work, a client, a deadline, a working relationship, a rule. Note what would get worse if nothing changed.

What stage is it at?

A first slip calls for a lighter step than a problem that keeps coming back.

Then read the response and ask: if I did exactly this, would the problem be solved, partly solved, left as it is, or made worse? That question maps directly onto the six-point scale.

How do you rate each response on its own merits?

Rate the response in front of you against the scale, not against other responses. Each question shows one situation and one response, and the same situation can come back later with a different response. It is tempting to compare: this one is better than the last, so it must be a 6. Each rating stands alone.

Use the scale's own words: a 1 will make the situation worse; a 2 may not make it worse, but will not help; a 3 may not help; a 4 may help; a 5 will help; a 6 will solve the problem or make a very important contribution to solving it.

Decide the side first, then the degree. Does the response help or not? That puts you in 4 to 6, or in 1 to 3. Then ask how much: fully, clearly, or only maybe. This two-step check is faster than weighing six options at once, and it keeps you from drifting to the middle on every question.

Here is an original example. A colleague has missed two deadlines for her part of a shared report, and your section depends on hers. The response: you email your manager to report that she is late again. It may help, since the manager can act, but it skips talking to the colleague first. In our analysis, a response like this tends to land in the middle of the scale: a reasonable step, taken in the wrong order.

What do effective responses have in common?

• Deal with the person first. When a colleague's conduct is the problem, speak to that person directly and politely before you go to a manager.
• Go to the manager when the fix is theirs. Workload, resources and how work is shared are a manager's call. Raise them, framed around getting the work done.
• Explain rather than override. When a group sees things differently, help them understand instead of overruling or bypassing them.
• Involve the people affected. When you share something scarce or decide something that concerns others, agree on fair criteria with them, and do not take a benefit for yourself.
• Fix the cause. A workaround that leaves the problem in place helps less than a change that removes it.
• Take a proportionate first step, then escalate. Start light the first time; keep heavier measures for a problem that persists.
• Own your task. When something is within your role, do it now with the means you have, and keep others informed.

The other end of the scale matters as much. In our analysis, the least effective responses actively make things worse: copying the bad behaviour, blaming the client, a silent passive-aggressive move, or quietly absorbing a problem that harms you and the work. Doing nothing is usually unhelpful, but it rarely does that kind of damage. Keep this in mind when you hesitate between a 1 and a 2.

How much time do you have per question?

You have about 100 seconds per question on the 376 and 90 seconds on the 377. The 376 has 52 questions in 90 minutes; the 377 has 40 questions in 60 minutes. That is enough time to read carefully, but not enough to agonize.

• If you are stuck between two ratings, pick one, mark the question for review and move on. You can return to any question at any time and change your answer.
• You can show or hide the timer. If the clock makes you anxious, hide it and check it every ten questions or so.
• Questions come in random order, not by difficulty. A hard question early on says nothing about the rest.
• Do not leave a block of questions for the last minutes: the test is submitted automatically when time runs out.

Should you use both languages and the notepad?

Yes, when they help. You can switch between English and French at any time. If a sentence feels ambiguous, the other language can make it clearer, but switching on every question costs time.

An electronic notepad is also available, and what you write there is not scored. Use it lightly: the numbers of the questions you want to revisit, or one word on who owns the problem. Long notes eat into your 90 or 100 seconds.

Should you guess when you are unsure?

Yes: answer every question. Some answers earn partial marks, and there is no penalty for guessing. A blank cannot earn anything; an answer can. If time is short, give every remaining question a quick rating.

How should you prepare in one or two weeks?

Short, regular sessions beat one long one. Here is a two-week plan; with one week, halve each stage.

Day 1 · Learn the format

Read how the test works, then try the Commission's free four-question sample test to see the screen and settings. It shows no score.

Days 2 to 5 · Practise slowly

Do a few situations a day with no timer. For each one, write down who owns the problem and why you chose your rating. Then compare with the explanation and note where you were too harsh or too lenient.

Days 6 to 8 · Find your pattern

Look back at your misses. Many people have a habit, such as rating every polite response high or marking down anything that involves the manager. Name yours and watch for it.

Days 9 to 12 · Practise at the real pace

Do sets at about 100 seconds per question for the 376, or 90 for the 377. Practise moving on when you are stuck, as you will on the day.

Last days · Rest and check your setup

Review lightly; do not cram. For the 376, plan to use a desktop or laptop computer with Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, and no VPN. For the 377, plan your trip to the test site.

Practice material for the older 374 and 375 tests is still useful: when the 376 and 377 replaced them in July 2025, the question type and scale stayed the same.

What should you not waste time on?

Do not try to memorize answers or learn specialized content. The Commission does not publish its key, so there is nothing official to memorize. The test content is also protected: the terms of use forbid copying or sharing it.

• Studying policies, laws or how departments are organized. The test measures judgement, not knowledge of government.
• Chasing a predicted J level. No practice tool can predict it: the Commission's key and the past results behind it are not public.
• Looking for tricks, such as never using the ends of the scale. Use 1 when a response clearly makes things worse, and 6 when it clearly solves the problem.