How Communicating and Influencing statements are scored

Most departments score behaviour statements on a 1 to 7 scale at sift, with 4 the typical pass mark. Here is what each band looks like for Communicating and Influencing, and how moderation keeps scores consistent.

The 1 to 7 scale

Assessors award a single score per behaviour using the Civil Service's standard scale: 1 and 2 are below the bar, 3 is a marginal fail, 4 is a solid pass, 5 is good, 6 is strong and 7 is exceptional. In practice, most successful candidates score 4s and 5s.

The score is evidence-based, not comparative. Your statement is matched against the level descriptor, not against other candidates, so a clear, honest example is never penalised for being ordinary. Scores of 6 and 7 are rare, reserved for evidence that covers the whole descriptor with ease.

What 4, 5, 6 and 7 look like

The jump from 4 to 5 is about visible thinking: why you chose that audience approach, that channel, that moment. The jump from 5 to 6 or 7 is about scale and durability: more stakeholders, bigger stakes, and a result that persisted after you left the room.

For example, two AO statements about the same till-queue problem can land at 3 and 5: the higher one names the audience, shows the script change, and counts the complaints it prevented.

Why the same event earns different scores

Assessors can only score what is written, which is why telling matters as much as doing. Three habits separate the high scorers.

1. They name the audience and the stakes in the first two sentences.
2. They narrate choices, not just events: I chose, I asked, I changed.
3. They end on evidence a stranger could check.

None of this is decoration; each habit maps to an indicator the assessor is required to find.

How moderation works

Departments moderate sift scores to keep assessors consistent: a sample of statements is second-marked, and scores are adjusted where markers drift. This is why two people can describe the same event and receive different scores; the telling is the evidence.

If you score a 3

A 3 almost always means one of three gaps: the example did not test this behaviour, your personal actions were buried in 'we', or the result was unverifiable. Fix all three and the same experience often re-scores as a 5.

Where departments offer feedback, take it. Compare the comments against the descriptor verbs, rewrite, and run the draft past the assessment criteria on this site before your next application. Do not bin the experience; bin the telling.