Statement of suitability: the Civil Service personal statement

A Civil Service advert may ask for a personal statement, which the Civil Service Careers site also calls a statement of suitability. Check your advert for the length and for what the statement is assessed against. This guide describes the statement as the Civil Service's candidate pages describe it on 3 November 2026.

What the advert asks for

Civil Service Careers says "We may ask you to provide a personal statement (or statement of suitability)." It calls the statement "your chance to show your passion for the role and tell us about your skills and experience".

The Success Profiles candidate overview on GOV.UK says a statement can come with a CV: "You may be asked to submit a CV (and sometimes a supporting statement) as well as, or instead of, an application form." It says the statement is for showing how you meet "the essential criteria required to do the role". Success Profiles has five elements: ability, technical, behaviours, strengths and experience. The overview says "Not all of the elements are relevant to every role" and "Details of which elements will be assessed and how we will assess you are included in the job advert."

A Defra recruiter, writing about Defra's digital, data and technology adverts, quotes the question such an advert typically asks. The statement should "demonstrate how you are suitable for the role by providing relevant examples".

Word limits

Take the limit from your advert. The table has the figures that these pages publish, each one for a single employer.

Where	What it asks for	Limit	The source
Defra digital, data and technology adverts	Personal statement	"Typically" 250-1,000 words	Defra digital blog, 14 April 2023
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)	Personal statement	"a maximum total word count of 750 words"	COPFS page, last updated 8 September 2026
Scottish Government	Supporting statement	No number: "keep to the word limit"	Candidate guide, last updated 23 June 2026

The Defra digital blog was posted by a Resourcing Partner in Defra Digital Data and Technology. It warns that irrelevant detail "can eat up your word count". COPFS says "You will need to be concise as there is a maximum total word count of 750 words." The Scottish Government's guide gives no figure, and warns that a statement that is "too brief" will not give "the required depth of detail and evidence".

How it is scored

The guide to how shortlisting is scored sets the COPFS scale beside the NHS Jobs tick and the scales in four employers' recruitment documents. Two of the pages above describe a scale of 1 to 7:

• The Defra blog says "We mark on a merit basis and use a Civil Service rating scale between 1 and 7 to score each assessment on the job advert." To pass to the next stage, "you will require to score a 4 or more on each assessment."
• COPFS publishes the seven marks with names, from 1 "Not Demonstrated" to 7 "Outstanding Demonstration", and sifts personal statements "based on the essential criteria for the post".

Writing to the advert

The Scottish Government's candidate guide gives these points for a supporting statement:

• Use headings: "it's a good idea to use headings based on the criteria".
• Show the skill in use: "describe how you have developed or used those skills in a relevant context".
• Use plain English and "avoid using acronyms or jargon".
• Add "additional evidence beyond what is contained in your CV".
• The STARR approach (situation, task, action, result, reflection) is "not essential but it may help you structure your statement".

The sources differ on structure. The GOV.UK overview and the Defra blog suggest the STAR method, which the overview describes as "set the scene, show what and how you did and the overall outcome". COPFS says "You do not need to use a specific format (such as STAR)", and asks you to explain "How you demonstrate the behaviours" and "The impact or results of your actions". COPFS also says to write "in the first person" and to be "careful to avoid it becoming a list".

The shape of one answer

The experience criterion below is made up, and so are the short lines after "Made up": they show how much one line holds. Use things that really happened to you.

Criterion: "Experience of dealing with the public in a busy setting."

• When and where: the setting and the dates (a contact centre, an office, a shop, a year). Made up: a council contact centre, 2023 to 2025.
• What you did: one task you handled yourself, in plain words. Made up: answered about 40 calls a day on housing repairs and logged each one on the case system.
• What happened: what changed for the caller or the team. Made up: repeat calls fell once a standard reply went out with each repair booking.

The three lines follow the overview's STAR advice: the setting, what you did, the outcome. Put the criterion above them as a heading.

A note on changes

The Future Civil Service site's priorities page says "We are going to start by scrapping success profiles", that what replaces them "emphasises skills and expertise", and that "further changes" will follow "over the coming months". The page carries no date. On 3 November 2026 GOV.UK still published the Success Profiles candidate overview, marked "Updated 29 January 2025", and Civil Service Careers still described the personal statement as above.

Before you submit

• Find the word limit on your advert and check your count against it.
• Read the advert for the elements it says are assessed.
• Check each essential criterion has its own heading and example.
• Explain any acronym, or leave it out.

You can also check your draft against the person specification.