Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test Inference and Assumption

Question 1

Statement: 'The Department for Education has allocated an additional £500 million to school building repairs following a survey that found 38% of school buildings have significant structural deficiencies.' Which inference is most strongly supported?

Accepted Answer

The government considers school building conditions to be a serious issue requiring investment

Answer

All schools with structural deficiencies will be repaired

Answer

£500 million is sufficient to repair all deficient buildings

Answer

The survey was conducted by the Department for Education

Question 2

Statement: 'The Civil Service has introduced blind recruitment for all Fast Stream applications, removing candidates' names, universities, and school qualifications from initial sift assessments.' What assumption underlies this policy?

Accepted Answer

Assessors may be unconsciously influenced by personal information when evaluating candidates

Answer

All candidates from prestigious universities are less competent

Answer

The Fast Stream previously discriminated against all minority applicants

Answer

Removing names is sufficient to eliminate all recruitment bias

Question 3

Statement: 'Following the introduction of mandatory cyber security training, the number of successful phishing attacks on government systems decreased by 60% within six months.' What can be most safely inferred?

Accepted Answer

The training appears to have contributed to improved staff awareness of phishing threats

Answer

Cyber security training is the sole reason for the decrease in phishing attacks

Answer

Government employees are now fully protected against all cyber threats

Answer

Phishing attacks against government systems have stopped entirely

Question 4

Statement: 'The Ministry of Defence spends more on external consultants per year than any other government department, despite having the largest in-house analytical capability.' What assumption would someone need to make to conclude this spending is wasteful?

Accepted Answer

The in-house analytical capability should be sufficient to handle the work currently given to consultants

Answer

External consultants always provide poor value for money

Answer

Other departments manage without external consultants entirely

Answer

The Ministry of Defence has the largest budget of all departments

Question 5

Statement: 'The Government Property Agency has reduced its London office estate by 40% since 2020, moving towards a hub-based model with shared workspaces outside the capital.' Which inference is best supported?

Accepted Answer

The government believes it can maintain operations with less dedicated London office space

Answer

All government staff have been relocated outside London

Answer

London-based civil servants are now all working from home permanently

Answer

The change has saved the government money

Question 6

Statement: 'HMRC has introduced Making Tax Digital, requiring businesses above the VAT threshold to submit quarterly digital returns instead of annual paper returns.' What is the underlying assumption of this policy?

Accepted Answer

Digital quarterly reporting improves tax compliance and accuracy compared to annual paper reporting

Answer

All businesses have access to reliable internet and digital tools

Answer

Paper returns are always inaccurate

Answer

Annual returns are no longer accepted by HMRC for any purpose