How assessors judge Changing and Improving
Assessors score your Changing and Improving statement against indicators, not impressions. This guide explains the positive and negative indicators they use, what separates an average score from a good one, and how to make the indicators visible in 250 words.
What assessors are actually scoring
At the sift, each statement is read against the behaviour's indicators at the level requested in the advert. Assessors are trained to look for evidence, not adjectives. They cannot give you credit for what you probably did; they can only score what is written.
For Changing and Improving, the core question in the assessor's mind is simple: did this person make something better, or help make it better, and do they genuinely welcome change and feedback? Everything else is detail.
Positive indicators
These are the signals that push a score up. The more of them your statement shows naturally, the stronger it reads.
- You noticed an opportunity yourself rather than waiting to be told.
- You suggested a specific, workable improvement.
- You sought feedback and changed your approach because of it.
- You supported others through a change, or adapted willingly when plans changed.
- You can show a clear, measured result from the change.
None of these requires a special job. They are behaviours, not achievements: the assessor is asking how you habitually respond when something could be better.
Negative indicators
These are the signals that drag a score down, even in a well-written statement.
- Describing a change that happened around you, with no clear personal role.
- Criticising old ways of working or resistant colleagues without showing constructive action.
- Claiming openness to feedback but showing none: no moment where you adjusted anything.
- A result that is vague ('it went well') or missing entirely.
- Choosing an example where change was forced on you and you simply complied.
Common mistake
The most common failure is the 'we' statement: 'we introduced a new rota and it saved time'. Assessors cannot see you in it. Rewrite every action with 'I' and be specific about what you personally did.
What separates a 4 from a 5
On the standard 1–7 scale, a 4 is an acceptable demonstration and a 5 is a good one. The difference is usually specificity and ownership, not a better story.
| Element | Typical 4 | Typical 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Initiative | Took part in an improvement | Sought out the improvement opportunity |
| Feedback | Accepted feedback | Actively asked for it and visibly changed approach |
| Action detail | Lists steps taken | Explains choices and what they adjusted on the way |
| Result | States an outcome | Quantifies the outcome and notes wider benefit |
Notice that nothing in the table requires a bigger job or a grander example. An AO candidate who shows all four '5' behaviours in a supermarket example can outscore an SEO candidate with a vague transformation story.
The same logic continues up the scale. A 6 adds collaboration and staying power; a 7 adds reach beyond your own team. Both are rare at junior grades, and neither is required to pass.
Make the indicators visible in 250 words
You have limited space, so spend it where the points are. Keep the Situation to two sentences and the Task to one. Put around 60% of your words into the Action, in first person, in the order things happened.
Include at least one sentence showing you asked for or acted on feedback, and finish with a Result that contains a number. Then check the draft against the positive indicator list above.
Tip
Read your statement and highlight every sentence where you personally did something. If less than half the statement highlights, rewrite until it does.
Frequently asked questions
They look for evidence that you spotted an opportunity to improve something, took personal action, responded well to feedback, and achieved a measurable result. They score what is written, so vague claims of being 'open to change' earn nothing without a specific example behind them.
Not exactly, but negativity hurts you. Describing a broken process as context is fine and expected. Complaining about colleagues or managers who resisted change, without showing how you handled that constructively, triggers negative indicators and drags the score down at every grade.
Each behaviour is usually scored on a 1–7 scale by trained assessors, often independently by more than one person. Your scores for each behaviour are combined with any other elements the advert sets, and candidates above the cut-off go through. See our scoring guide for the full picture.
Next step
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