Interview practice

Real interview questions, answered out loud against the clock: 214 of them, in five UK sets.

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Question set
Competency-basedPlanning

Tell me about a project you planned from start to finish.

Show a shape to follow

Use STAR: the Situation, your Task, the Action you took and the Result. Spend most of your time on the Action.

Ready when you are
How long to talk

What the lights mean

  • Green at1:00You can stop here
  • Amber at1:30Start wrapping up
  • Red at2:00Time’s up: finish your sentence

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How long should interview answers be?

One to two minutes for most answers. Here’s how that splits, so you can set the timer to match.

  • “Tell me about yourself”60 to 90 secondsLong enough for what you do now, how you got here and why this job is next.
  • Quick questions30 to 60 seconds“Why this job?” or “What motivates you?”: answer, give one reason, stop.
  • A STAR exampleAbout two minutesMost of it on what you did. Past two minutes, interviewers start to lose the thread.

The STAR technique

For every “Tell me about a time when…” question. Practise it until you don’t have to think about it.

  1. S

    Situation

    Set the scene: who, what, when, where.

  2. T

    Task

    Explain the task you faced.

  3. A

    Action

    Detail the steps you took. Take ownership of your responsibilities by saying “I”.

  4. R

    Result

    What was the outcome? Any key results or lessons learned?

Question types

Pick one above, or leave it on “Any set” to mix them up.

  • Common questions

    The ones almost every interview includes, from “Tell me about yourself” to “Why should we hire you?”

  • Competency-based

    “Tell me about a time when…” questions, scored against the skills in the job description.

  • Graduate and first job

    For graduate schemes, apprenticeships and first jobs, when your examples come from study and part-time work.

  • NHS values

    Questions built around the six values in the NHS Constitution, used in values-based interviews.

  • Civil Service behaviours

    Questions in the style of the Civil Service Success Profiles behaviours.

Practice questions in the style of NHS and Civil Service interviews. We aren’t connected to the NHS or the Civil Service.

FAQs

How long should interview answers be?

Most answers land well at one to two minutes. “Tell me about yourself” works at about 60 to 90 seconds, and a competency (STAR) example can run to about two minutes. Longer than that and interviewers start to lose the thread.

What is a competency-based interview?

It’s the UK name for an interview built on questions about what you’ve really done, usually starting “Tell me about a time when…”. Interviewers score your examples against the skills in the job description. Most people answer with the STAR shape.

What is the STAR method?

A shape for “Tell me about a time” questions: the Situation, your Task, the Action you took and the Result. It stops answers drifting and makes your part clear. Spend most of your time on the Action.

Is this like Google Interview Warmup?

In some ways. Google retired Interview Warmup in 2026. This tool gives you real questions and a timer for free, and the Learn to Speak Easy app records your answer and gives you feedback on your pace, filler words and timing.

Are these real NHS and Civil Service questions?

They’re practice questions written in the style of those interviews, built around the NHS values and the Civil Service behaviours. We aren’t connected to the NHS or the Civil Service.

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