PSEE Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield PSEE facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Select the sentence that is free of redundancy: → The meeting will commence at 9 AM.
2. A supervisor says: 'Flag all files with status PENDING or ESCALATED. Do not flag CLOSED or UNDER REVIEW files.' Which action is correct? → Flag a file marked ESCALATED and do not flag one marked CLOSED.
3. You are shown this sequence: 7, 3, 1, 9, 5, 2, 8, 4, 6. Which option matches it exactly? → 7, 3, 1, 9, 5, 2, 8, 4, 6
4. If inflation increases the cost of a service from $850 to $918, what is the percentage increase? → 8%
5. Copy this address accurately: 255 Albert Street, Suite 410, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6. Which option is correct? → 255 Albert Street, Suite 410, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
6. Choose the correctly spelled word from the options below. → Separate
7. Which word is a synonym for 'DILIGENT'? → Industrious
8. Government revenue this year is $5.4 billion. If revenue grew by 8% from last year, what was last year's revenue (rounded to the nearest tenth of a billion)? → $5.0 billion
9. A committee has 5 members: Ana, Ben, Carlos, Diana, and Eve. Ana and Ben cannot serve together. If Ana is on the committee, who is excluded? → Ben
10. A clerk receives a stack of 240 documents and must file 30 per hour. How many hours will it take to complete the filing? → 8 hours
11. You are preparing a briefing note and realize you are missing key data. The meeting is in two hours. What is the best approach? → Note the missing data clearly in the briefing and attempt to source it before the meeting.
12. A colleague drafted: 'The committee will meet on Tuesday, March 12th, at 10 a.m. in the morning.' What is wrong with this sentence? → 'in the morning' is redundant with 'a.m.'
13. Think about the sequences 5, 6, 11, and 17. What figure should come after that? → 28
14. Which sentence correctly uses the apostrophe? → The department's budget was approved yesterday.
15. Which act prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities while on duty? → Hatch Act
16. Identify the error in: 'Between you and I, the new policy seems unfair.' → 'I' should be 'me'
17. Which word means 'to officially withdraw or cancel a law or order'? → Repeal
18. A table shows employee absences by month. If the total for the year is 360 absences and January had 45, what percentage of annual absences occurred in January? → 12.5%
19. Your supervisor asks you to process a file that appears to contain incomplete information. What is the most appropriate action? → Bring the incomplete information to your supervisor's attention before processing.
20. Which of the following words is spelled correctly? → Accommodate
21. Which word correctly fills the blank? 'The memorandum was addressed ____ all division chiefs.' → to
22. Colour-coding system: Blue = Active; Green = Archived; Red = Urgent; Yellow = Awaiting signature. A clerk sees a red file. What is its status? → Urgent
23. Think about sequences 3, 6, 11, and 18. What figure should come after that? → 27
24. A project requires 3 employees working 8 hours a day for 10 days. If 4 employees are assigned instead at the same daily hours, how many days will it take? → 7.5 days
25. Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct? → Neither the manager nor the staff was informed.
26. Choose the word that is spelled correctly. → occurrence
27. A government survey shows satisfaction ratings of 78%, 82%, 75%, 89%, and 81% across five service centers. What is the average satisfaction rating? → 81%
28. No classified documents may leave the building. The file marked 'Top Secret' is a classified document. What follows logically? → The Top Secret file may not leave the building.
29. A clerk must process 480 records in 8 hours. If she works at a constant rate, how many records should she complete in the first 3 hours? → 180
30. A public service office has 320 files to be archived. Two clerks can archive 40 files per hour together. How long will it take them? → 8 hours