What is Situational judgement test?
Also called: SJT · Situational judgment test · Scenario-based assessmentDefinition
A situational judgement test (SJT) is an assessment that presents realistic workplace scenarios and asks the candidate to choose, rate or rank possible responses. Responses are scored against a key developed with subject-matter experts, often with partial credit for reasonable but not ideal answers. SJTs measure practical judgement and how someone applies knowledge in context, rather than recall of facts, and are widely used in graduate recruitment, leadership selection, and certification exams that need to test applied skill.
Each SJT item has a scenario (a customer complaint, a team conflict, a risky AI output), a question (“what is the best response?”, “rank these from most to least effective”) and several plausible options. Writing good items is the hard part: every option must be something a real person might do, and the scoring key must be agreed by experienced practitioners. Partial credit recognises that judgement is graded, not binary.
For corporate L&D, SJTs fill the gap between a knowledge quiz and a full practical assessment. They show whether people can apply a policy or a skill to a messy situation, at scale and at low cost. Bodhih’s Applied AI course exams include situational judgement items scored with partial credit of 3, 2, 1 or 0 points per item.
Common mistakes: writing options where one is obviously right and the rest are absurd; keys based on one person’s opinion; using SJTs alone for high-stakes decisions; and scenarios that do not match the learners’ actual work.
Key points
- Realistic scenarios with plausible response options.
- Scored against an expert-agreed key, often with partial credit.
- Measures applied judgement, not recall.
- Item writing and key development are the main effort.
- Best combined with other evidence for high-stakes decisions.
An example at work
A Bengaluru bank’s branch manager assessment includes this scenario: a long-standing customer is angry that a loan was declined and asks the manager to “override the system”. Candidates rank four responses; explaining the decision and the appeal route scores 3, offering to escalate scores 2, apologising without explaining scores 1, and promising an override scores 0.
Where this is used at Bodhih
Related terms
Competency assessment
Competency assessment is the process of measuring a person’s proficiency against defined competencies, using evidence from tests, tasks, observation or work samples.
Proctored exam
A proctored exam is an assessment taken under supervision, in person or online, so the result can be trusted as the candidate’s own unaided work.
Diagnostic assessment
A diagnostic assessment is a test taken before training to measure a learner’s current level and identify specific gaps, so training can target them.
Pre and post assessment
Pre and post assessment is measuring the same skills before and after training, using equivalent instruments, to show how much learners changed.
More about Situational judgement test
How are situational judgement tests scored?
Each response is compared with a key agreed by subject-matter experts. Formats vary: choosing the best option, picking best and worst, rating each option or ranking all of them. Many SJTs give partial credit, for example 3 points for the most effective response down to 0 for a harmful one.
How do I prepare for a situational judgement test?
Understand the role and the organisation’s values, read each scenario carefully, and choose what an effective professional would actually do, not what sounds impressive. Practice items help with the format, but SJTs reward real judgement, so reflecting on how you have handled similar situations is the best preparation.