Ministry of Justice Assessment Practice
The MoJ recruits through two routes that use different online tests. Here is how to tell which one you are facing and how to prepare for it.
Two Routes, Two Sets of Tests
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is one of the UK's largest government departments, responsible for courts, prisons and the probation service. It does not use one test for every job. Which online test you sit depends on which part of the department you are applying to:
- Roles advertised on Civil Service Jobs can ask for the Civil Service online tests, such as the Verbal, Numerical and Judgement Tests. The recruiter chooses which, and the advert and your invitation say so.
- Prison and probation roles are recruited by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), an executive agency of the MoJ, which uses its own tests: a scenario-based test and a values-based assessment.
No HMPPS prison or probation recruitment page mentions the Civil Service Verbal, Numerical or Judgement Tests, so a prison officer applicant preparing for those is preparing for the wrong test.
The Civil Service Online Tests
A Cabinet Office algorithmic transparency record published on 16 December 2025 says that applicants on Civil Service Jobs may be asked by the recruiter to sit the Civil Service Verbal or Numerical Tests, and that the adaptive engine behind them, supplied by Talogy (the company formerly known as Cubiks), is used about 230,000 times a year. This is a Civil Service-wide arrangement rather than an MoJ contract, and the questions are the Civil Service's own rather than Talogy's catalogue tests, so practising a generic Cubiks test is not the same thing.
- Verbal: deciding whether a statement is true, false or cannot say from a short passage
- Numerical: interpreting tables and charts and working with figures
- Judgement: rating the effectiveness of actions in workplace scenarios, after a short self-assessment, alongside other Civil Service tests some roles ask for
- The verbal and numerical tests are adaptive, so questions get harder after correct answers and easier after wrong ones
Our Civil Service online tests hub covers all eight tests and how each is scored.
The HMPPS Prison and Probation Tests
HMPPS's own how-to-apply pages set out the stages. For prison officers and youth justice workers, stage 1 is a scenario-based test (SBT) of behavioural and numerical scenarios that takes around 25 to 40 minutes and checks the basic numeracy and behaviours the job needs. HMPPS links a free official practice version. Stage 2 is a values-based assessment (VBA) that takes up to 20 minutes on average and has no time limit. Operational support grade applicants sit a VBA of the same length, and trainee probation officer (PQiP) applicants a VBA of around 30 minutes.
Our HMPPS hub has practice for both halves of the scenario-based test, and our guide to the 2026 changes walks through the whole prison officer process.
The Arctic Shores Stage That Has Gone
Until 29 April 2026, the prison officer stage 2 was a task-based assessment: a series of tasks rather than questions, with no right or wrong way to approach them. HMPPS's own page linked candidates to Arctic Shores' guidance to prepare for it in both 2024 and 2025, and Arctic Shores names the Ministry of Justice among its customers. HMPPS says that anyone who applied after 29 April 2026 sits the values-based assessment instead, while earlier applicants may have been invited to the task-based assessment, depending on the prison. If your invitation is for a task-based assessment, our Arctic Shores practice is the right place to start. If you are applying now, you will not meet it.
Top Tips
Check which route your job is on
The job advert tells you. A post on Civil Service Jobs that asks for online tests names them; a prison or probation post on the HMPPS recruitment site describes the SBT and VBA. Prepare for the tests the advert names, not the ones a general MoJ search turns up.
Expect the Civil Service tests to adapt
Because the verbal and numerical tests are adaptive, harder questions are a sign the test is estimating your ability accurately, not a sign you are failing.
Use the official HMPPS practice test
HMPPS does not see your practice results, and the practice test runs on the same player as the real one, so it is the most faithful rehearsal of the screen you will use.
Find a quiet environment
Both routes' tests are sat online without supervision. Interruptions cost you time or concentration you cannot get back, so set aside an uninterrupted block before you start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Ministry of Justice use Arctic Shores?
It did. Arctic Shores ran the prison officer stage 2 task-based assessment, which HMPPS replaced with a values-based assessment for applications made after 29 April 2026. No current MoJ or HMPPS recruitment page we have found uses Arctic Shores.
Do prison officers sit the Civil Service Verbal and Numerical Tests?
No. Prison officer applicants sit HMPPS's own scenario-based test and then the values-based assessment. The Civil Service tests apply to roles advertised on Civil Service Jobs where the recruiter asks for them.
Is there a pass mark?
For the Civil Service tests, your result is a percentile against other applicants, and the recruiter sets the pass mark for the job. For the HMPPS tests, you are told whether you passed; HMPPS does not publish the pass mark.