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Civil Service Test Questions and Answers UK: Verbal Review

Audio from the Open Exam Hub video of the same name; the video shows the numbers and practice questions on screen.

Civil Service Verbal Test rapid review: 80 quick original questions, one- or two-sentence passages and one-line explanations, grouped into eight reading rules (10 questions each). Rule 1, Only the Passage Counts. Rule 2, All, Some, Most, None. Rule 3, Only, If and Unless. Rule 4, May, Will, Should, Must. Rule 5, Cause Versus Link. Rule 6, Past, Present and Plans. Rule 7, Numbers and Comparisons. Rule 8, Claims, Quotes and the Main Point. As of October 2026, per the gov.uk guidance: the Civil Service Verbal Test shows a text passage followed by a statement, and you decide whether the statement is true, false or cannot say based on the information given; it measures the ability to identify relevant information and draw logical conclusions from written information. It is untimed (most people take 15 to 45 minutes; allow at least an hour), adaptive (length varies, every question must be answered, no skipping or going back) and includes unscored trial items. Your score is a percentile against a representative group; each job level has a minimum standard, the recruiter may raise the pass mark after the deadline, and a pass is banked for six months for jobs in the same grade group. No fixed pass mark is published. Real items have three answer choices; every question here has four options, so you practise the same judgements in a different format. The eight-rule grouping is ours. Our 64-of-80 target is a planning estimate, not an official pass mark. Questions are original, not real test questions. Not affiliated with the Civil Service or the Cabinet Office.

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Chapters
0:00 Rapid review: 8 rules, 80 questions
1:11 Rule 1: Only the Passage Counts: Questions 1 to 10
5:59 Rule 2: All, Some, Most, None: Questions 11 to 20
10:57 Rule 3: Only, If and Unless: Questions 21 to 30
16:11 Rule 4: May, Will, Should, Must: Questions 31 to 40
21:05 Rule 5: Cause Versus Link: Questions 41 to 50
26:22 Rule 6: Past, Present and Plans: Questions 51 to 60
31:27 Rule 7: Numbers and Comparisons: Questions 61 to 70
36:23 Rule 8: Claims, Quotes and the Main Point: Questions 71 to 80
41:40 Score yourself

Exam facts are from the official UK Civil Service (Cabinet Office), Civil Service Verbal Test pages as of 2026-10-26. Fees and rules can change, so confirm on the official site before you enroll. Open Exam Hub is an independent study resource, not affiliated with UK Civil Service (Cabinet Office), Civil Service Verbal Test. Practice questions are not from a real exam. Narration is an AI-generated voice.

Music
"Fresh Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Carefree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Reminiscing" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Almost Bliss" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

"Friday Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Sound effects: Kenney (kenney.nl), CC0.

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