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Looking to apply to the Bank of England? Well then you’ve come to the right place. In this text we will provide a useful insight into the hiring process and how to prepare to ensure you make it through to the final round.
In this detailed Bank of England guide, you will find out everything you need to know about applying for a job during the Bank of England selection process from the application stage all the way up to the final interviews.
Our website provides scientifically validated practice game-based assessments, assessment tests, interview simulations, and assessment center exercises that can be used to practice and prepare for the recruitment and assessment process.
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Not sure whether you should prepare for the Bank of England’s aptitude tests? According to research, 60-80% candidates are rejected based on their aptitude test results. It is proven that practice increases your chances of getting hired.
A recent study found that candidates who do not practice assessments tend to fail at the first hurdle of psychometric assessments (54%-84%). This study looked at the Top 100 global employers. Bradley et al (2019)
The Bank of England uses a variety of assessments to hire. These include:
These Bank of England online assessment tests sift out up to 50-80% of candidates at this stage. The proven way to get to the next round is to practice.
Practice for your online Bank of England interviews by answering questions that would typically come up in banking interviews. Your answers need to flow and be timely. For your Bank of England interview practice, use:
Our video interview practice platform provides a collection of ready-to-use questions that test your skills and knowledge in specific industries. It mimics the format used by popular employer interview platforms like HireVue, Pymetrics, and Sonru.
Use the STAR+R method for your answers and practice each answer several times.
The different exercises and assessments that could occur during the Bank of England assessment centre may include:
Continue reading to find out the solutions to the following critical questions:
For your Bank of England online test practice, click on the links below to get started now with our similar practice assessments!
Or, Go Premium to practice all the assessments above and ace your Bank of England assessments, first time.
Before we dive into the Bank of England application process, let’s find out more about the company first.
The Bank of England is the Central Bank of the United Kingdom and is also the world’s 8th oldest bank. The bank operates as the UK government’s bank, securing banknotes and keeping prices stable and regulating banks.
In February of 2023, the Bank of England employed over 5,000 people at the bank in their offices and across their agencies throughout the UK. But where does the Bank of England employ their people?
There are many departments within the Bank of England that are always in operation. Each of these departments are unique in their own way and contribute a lot to banking.
The Bank of England departments that you can apply to include:
To apply to any of these areas, it is key to understand the Bank of England’s values in order to stand out from hundreds of other applicants. Let’s find out what these values are below.
The Bank of England’s core values are often referred to as the Bank of England Bank Behaviours, which is what makes them so unique and characterised to the Bank of England. These are:
Act inclusively
The Bank of England aims to earn trust and confidence through consistent honesty, integrity and authenticity. The company believes that by embracing differences in culture and perspectives, they can do their best.
Drive growth
It is encouraged to support and help one another to overcome fears. The Bank of England values self-awareness and feedback to grow in order to meet career goals and job objectives.
Deliver outcomes
The Bank of England believes in working together to individually and collectively meet commitments. They aim to explore future scenarios, respond to change and set strategies to deliver their purpose.
By understanding the Bank of England Bank Behaviours, you are able to apply them to your work environment and reduce competition by standing out in the Bank of England hiring process.
So without further ado, let’s dive right in starting with the Bank of England application form.
The first step of your application is to complete the Bank of England application form. This consists of a Bank of England general questions section that includes competency, experiences and motivation-based questions.
During your Bank of England online application, you must complete the following sections:
Bank of England Online Application Form
Source: Bank of England Jobs
Take a short break and watch a video on our top 3 mistakes to avoid when tailoring your CV for your Bank of England application!
If you are shortlisted in your online application, you may then be invited to take the Bank of England online assessments. Let’s check these out below!
The Bank of England assessment is a 3-part blended test designed by Korn Ferry to assess your abilities, personality and behavioural traits to ensure that you fit the values and skills required to succeed at the Bank of England.
Depending on the role you have applied to, the Bank of England online assessment tests may include one or some of the following:
Good to Know: These Bank of England tests will be part of your Bank of England application process if you have applied for an administrative role or a Future Talent programme.
The first part of your assessments is the Bank of England situational judgement test. Read on below to uncover the details.
The Bank of England situational judgement test (SJT) assesses your behaviours to determine how well you align with their culture. During this Bank of England online test, you will be provided with scenarios that you may typically face at the bank.
Watch this video to further understand the Bank of England situational judgement test and how to prepare!
The Bank of England situational judgement test will provide you with scenarios and task you with ranking the best and worst actions to take for each scenario out of several options. This Bank of England test will not be timed.
Check out a sneak peek into what a Bank of England situational judgement test may look like with our example question below:
Bank of England-Style Situational Judgement Test Example
So how do we pass these Bank of England assessment tests? Check out our top 5 tips below!
The second part of your Bank of England tests is the personality assessment. Read on as we explore what this test includes in the following section.
The Bank of England personality test is based on the Talent Q Dimensions assessment. This Bank of England test will measure various preferences and traits, including your sources of motivation, how you prefer to manage your work relationships and how you approach tasks.
The Bank of England personality assessment measures you across the above three main areas through various relevant traits, such as creativity, conscientiousness and flexibility by using your responses to statements.
Bank of England-Style Personality Test Example
Looking to prepare for your Bank of England personality test?
The third and last part of your Bank of England online assessment tests are the cognitive tests, which includes verbal and numerical questions.
Let’s first check out the Bank of England verbal test below!
The Bank of England verbal reasoning test assesses your ability to work with written information. This test includes a passage of text followed by various multiple choice questions on the right-hand side.
The Bank of England verbal reasoning test measures your verbal comprehension, reasoning and analytical reasoning skills. This test also reveals how well you analyse written data from reports and short passages of information.
Stay ahead by practicing FREE verbal reasoning test questions with GF, or attempt this Bank of England-style verbal reasoning test below, designed by GF experts.
Bank of England-style Verbal Reasoning Test Example
Did you get it right? Check the correct answer at the bottom of the page!
To further your preparations ahead of your Bank of England assessment, check out our top tips to pass your verbal reasoning test below.
Looking to boost your Bank of England verbal reasoning test practice?
Alongside the verbal ability questions, you will also answer questions in the Bank of England numerical reasoning test.
The Bank of England numerical reasoning test is typically included as part of your cognitive assessments and assesses how you handle various data, statistics and figures. This Bank of England assessment test will provide you with a table of information with multiple choice questions related to this table.
The Bank of England numerical reasoning test measures your ability to analyse and reason with numerical data within a strict time limit. Whilst a strong understanding of maths isn’t needed, to exceed you should have a GCSE-level grasp of maths.
Practice with our FREE numerical reasoning test questions or check out this Bank of England-style numerical reasoning test below!
Bank of England-style Numerical Reasoning Test Example
Got the right answer? Don’t forget to check the correct answer at the bottom of the page!
To help pass your upcoming assessment, don’t miss our top tips to pass your Bank of England numerical test:
Want to further your Bank of England numerical test practice?
Now that we’ve aced the tests, let’s dive into the next stage of your Bank of England application process; the Bank of England interviews!
The Bank of England interview or interviews may occur online or in-person with 2 recruiters, depending on the role. This interview will include competency-based questions, as well as questions around your CV and skills, as well as their Bank Behaviours.
For many roles, instead of the assessments you may be invited to this video interview stage after completing your online application.
Good to Know: If you are applying for a Future Talent programme, this will be a pre-recorded video interview with 2 rounds including 5 questions related to your competencies and the banking industry. Each question will have a time limit of up to 3 minutes.
Watch this video to gain more knowledge to understand what a video interview is and what questions might come up!
The Bank of England interview measures a candidate’s skills, competencies and personality traits. Suitability is a key aspect as employers can determine a candidate’s fit for the job role or if they’re better suited for a different job role.
Discover and prepare for even more potential Bank of England interview questions with our 60 unique video interview sets used across top industries including Banking with our Practice Video Interviewing Platform.
Gain further insight with more tips and tricks to pass the Bank of England interview stage:
After the interviews, we have aced most of the Bank of England hiring process. Great job so far!
For some roles, you may then be invited to the Bank of England assessment centre. Let’s find out more about what to expect at this last stage of your Bank of England assessment process.
The Bank of England assessment centre is often the last stage of the application process for those applying for a Future Talent programme. These assessment centres are often held in London or virtually and aim to assess various skills required to succeed in the role.
The Bank of England assessment centre exercises will depend on the role you have applied for, and may involve:
Good to Know: If you have applied for an apprenticeship, internship, industrial placement or a graduate programme, your assessment centre will consist of a group exercise and an interview. If you have applied for the Economist or Data Placement schemes, you may also need to complete an Excel test.
Let’s find out more about each of these exercises, starting firstly with the Bank of England group exercises.
The Bank of England group exercises are often used as part of your Future Talent programme and typically takes around 30 minutes. During these initial group exercises, your team will be given various tasks to complete within the time limit.
The first Bank of England group exercise measures your:
Another group exercise you may take at the assessment centre is the Bank of England case study. Let’s take a look at what this involves below.
During the Bank of England case study or written exercise, your group will be provided with a case study brief and will be given time to discuss the provided scenario before proposing a solution to your assessors.
The Bank of England written exercise measures a variety of job related competencies at the bank, including:
You may also complete the Bank of England presentation exercise at the assessment centre stage. Check out what to expect in this assessment exercise below.
The Bank of England presentation exercise may involve pitching your solution as a group from the group case study discussed above to your assessors or individually as a separate short topic. This often depends on the role and entry level programme you have applied for.
The Bank of England presentation exercise measures your:
Towards the end of the assessment centre, you will be invited to complete a final Bank of England interview. Don’t miss the following section where we uncover what this final stage involves.
The final Bank of England interview occurs after or at the end of the assessment centre and will include motivational, competency-based and technical questions around the role you have applied for.
Good to Know: If you have applied for a more senior or specialist role, then you will be asked to come back for a second and a possible third interview.
So how do we ace this Bank of England final interview round? Check out our top tips below.
Check out even more body language tips you can use to ace your final Bank of England interviews:
Let’s put the above tips to the test as we check out some example Bank of England interview questions with example answers!
The Bank of England interview questions asked in this final interview stage will often depend on the entry-level and requirements of the role. These can include:
So how do we answer these Bank of England questions? Read on as we provide some example Bank of England interview questions and answers.
Example Answer:
As an economics undergraduate, I’m excited for the opportunity to contribute to the Bank of England’s important role in maintaining financial stability for the whole of the UK. I admire the Bank’s commitment to promoting sustainable economic growth, especially through recent initiatives around digital finance and financial inclusion.
I want to apply my academic knowledge in a practical setting, learning from experts who shape and make a real impact on economic policy. Working at the Bank of England aligns perfectly with my career goals and allows me to grow within an institution that supports both national and global economic stability.
For more tips on how to answer this commonly used Bank of England interview question, check out our video below!
Situation
During my final year of studies at university, I had to manage multiple deadlines for assignments and group projects, as well as a part-time job.
Task
To ensure I met all the deadlines and performed well at my job, I had to prioritise my work and studies in a way that worked for me.
Action
I first made a note of all the upcoming deadlines and broke these down into manageable tasks in a timeline over the next few weeks, taking the importance and urgency of these tasks into account. I also informed my manager and my groups of my availability to ensure I was able to work effectively during these times.
Result
Because of these efforts, I was able to submit my assignments ahead of the deadlines, the team project received good marks and my manager praised me for my openness and communication.
Reflection
Looking back, this has helped reinforce my drive to prioritise tasks using proactive thinking, communication and openness in order to collaborate effectively and achieve excellent results.
During my part-time job while at university, I was managing the weekly inventory when I noticed the stock records did not match the actual inventory.
I needed to identify the cause of this difference and make sure that the records were accurate in order to avoid order errors and customer complaints.
To find the source of this error, I reviewed the recent logs and found a few miscounted items during a busy period. I corrected these records and proposed a process to double-check the stock updates after these busy times with my manager.
My adjustments had resolved the error, and my proposed process helped to prevent future issues with the inventory accuracy.
This experience further developed my attention to detail and ownership of responsibilities. It also helped me to understand the importance of a proactive approach in order to meet and exceed our goals.
If your assessment centre and final interviews went well, Voila! You have aced the Bank of England recruitment process and may receive an offer letter from the Bank of England within 1-2 weeks. Congratulations!
Before you go… If you are interested in programmes to kickstart your career at the Bank of England, take a look at our Bank of England Future Talent section below!
The Bank of England Future Talent programmes helps students to gain an insight into working for the Bank of England through multiple programmes at different stages can experience different opportunities whether you’re a graduate, school leaver or student.
Check out the key details about each of these programmes below, firstly starting with the Bank of England apprenticeship programmes!
The Bank of England apprentice programmes last from 18-36 months depending on the programme. All programmes take place in their London or Leeds offices (hybrid working), where you will be introduced to many areas of work at the bank while you work towards your qualifications.
These Bank of England apprenticeship programmes include the:
During your Bank of England apprenticeship, you will dedicate 20% of your work time to your studies and will be provided with support from your line manager and the Future Talent team. At the end of your apprenticeship, you will also be offered a permanent position at the bank.
The Bank of England apprenticeship schemes have many streams you can apply for, including:
To apply for the Bank of England apprenticeship programmes, you must meet these entry requirements:
Good to Know: The applications for the Bank of England apprenticeships open in November and close in the following January for a mid-August start.
As part of the Bank of England Future Talent programmes, you may also apply to their various internship schemes. Read on to discover more details.
The Bank of England Internship programmes lasts from 6-8 weeks or 13 months, depending on which of the 4 programmes you choose. During your internship, you will work on an assigned project at a London office to develop your skills with the opportunity to continue working through their grad or post grad schemes.
The 4 Bank of England Internships are:
Good to Know: Successful Bank of England Black Future Leaders applicants also receive £5,000 towards living costs for 1 year at university. To apply, you must be of a Black/mixed Black Heritage background and have a household income of less than £50,778 per year.
To be able to apply for these Bank of England internship schemes, you must:
If you are applying for the Bank of England industrial placement, you will have the opportunity to spend 13 months working with your team in your selected Stream where you will be involved in various areas of operational work and research.
These Bank of England Industrial placement streams include:
To apply for any of the above Bank of England placement streams, you will need to meet the following criteria:
Good to Know: The applications for the Bank of England internships open in November and close in the following January.
Another popular Bank of England Future talent programme are the graduate schemes. Let’s find out more below!
The Bank of England graduate programmes offer you the opportunity to discover various areas of the bank in London or Leeds across 24-42 months. During these graduate programmes, you will gain the opportunity to train and gain further qualifications alongside a permanent position.
There are currently 3 main Bank of England graduate programmes available for you to apply for. These are:
To apply for the Bank of England Graduate development or Actuarial development programme, you will need to:
The Bank of England trainee solicitor scheme is a 30 month programme where you will be introduced to various public and private law issues as you train in London alongside experts, regulators and authorities. This scheme also includes a paid course to study for your SQE1 and SQE2 with additional Law study support.
Good to Know: During the Bank of England trainee solicitor programme, you will also have the opportunity to qualify as a solicitor at the bank and earn as you learn.
To boost your chances of a successful application for the Bank of England trainee solicitor programme, ensure you meet the following criteria.
Good to Know: The Bank of England graduate programme applications open in September and close in mid-November.
You can also apply to the Bank of England Future Talent PhD programmes to gain support during your postgrad studies. Don’t miss the following section where we outline the key facts.
The Bank of England PhD programmes last for 12 weeks to 3 years depending on which programme you pick; the PhD Internship Programme or the PhD Research Programme. During your programme in London, you will undertake a live research project and gain first-hand experience on how research is conducted.
The hiring areas for the Bank of England PhD programmes can vary each year. Last year, the Bank of England hired in the following areas:
Good to Know: The Bank of England PhD Research Programme opens in September and closes in November whereas the PhD Internship application opens in November and closes in February.
And with that, we’ve covered all you’ll need to know to apply for the Bank of England recruitment process. Thanks for sticking with us!
But wait!
Before starting your Bank of England application, have a look at our Bank of England assessment FAQs for more information about the Bank of England hiring process.
The Bank of England uses various challenging hiring stages to screen applicants to find the best fit. These include various tests, interviews and assessment centre exercises. To improve your chances of success, preparation for your Bank of England tests is crucial.
The Bank of England interview process includes an initial video interview over Zoom and a second or final interview during an assessment centre. For senior roles, there may be an additional 2-3 more interviews.
To prepare for the Bank of England interviews, ensure to do your research on the bank. Use the STAR+R method to structure your answers to practise commonly used Bank of England competency interview questions.
The Bank of England industrial placements have a starting salary of £25,000 per year, whereas the bank’s graduate scheme salaries are typically between £93.85 to £98.08 per day.
The main focus of the Bank of England is to oversee and maintain financial and monetary stability but to also make handling money easier and more safe for the people of England.
Do you want to pass your Bank of England tests,first time? Sign up for tools offered by GF, the only aptitude practice test experts that provide tests to students in 150+ universities in the UK, US, across Asia and continental Europe. Go to GF now and select from the range of products we offer at no risk. We offer a comprehensive premium package with a full set of assessment tools for job candidates (numerical, verbal reasoning, situational judgement tests, assessment centre exercises and more). Buy with peace of mind with a full 100% money-back guarantee if you do not pass your job assessment tests*. Correct answers to example questions: Verbal Reasoning Test: B Numerical Reasoning Test: C
Do you want to pass your Bank of England tests,first time? Sign up for tools offered by GF, the only aptitude practice test experts that provide tests to students in 150+ universities in the UK, US, across Asia and continental Europe.
Go to GF now and select from the range of products we offer at no risk. We offer a comprehensive premium package with a full set of assessment tools for job candidates (numerical, verbal reasoning, situational judgement tests, assessment centre exercises and more).
Buy with peace of mind with a full 100% money-back guarantee if you do not pass your job assessment tests*.
Correct answers to example questions:
Verbal Reasoning Test: B
Numerical Reasoning Test: C
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