Information on job vacancy

Release date:
1 August 2018

You asked

Please provide the following information in relation to vacancy 1588160 – Head of Health Analysis – G6, which was recently advertised on the Civil Service Jobs website (closing date 24th June 2018):

  1. How long was this post advertised for?

  2. How many applicants were there?

  3. How many applicants adhered to the 300-word limit for the personal statement?

  4. How were the scores for the qualifications and personal statement weighted towards the overall score?

  5. What was the sift pass mark?

  6. How many applicants passed the sift and were subsequently invited to interview?

  7. Did anyone invited for interview submit more than the maximum 300 words for the personal statement?

In the advert for the vacancy, it states:

In cases where there is a high number of applications the sift pass mark may be adjusted and candidates will be invited to interview in merit order, i.e. those scoring the highest.

8. For vacancies which had only one post available, how many times has this been applied in cases where there was the same number of applicants as there were for vacancy 1588160, in the last 12 months?

9. Is there any Civil Service or ONS guidance on what constitutes a ‘high number of applications’?

We said

Thank you for your request.

Please see our response to your request using your numbered format.

  1. 7 days.

  2. Due to the small number, and all candidates being internal, this information is disclosive. This information has been withheld as it is considered personal data and is therefore exempt from disclosure under s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

  3. Due to the small number, and all candidates being internal, this information is disclosive. This information has been withheld as it is considered personal data that is exempt from disclosure under s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

  4. The applicants had to have the relevant qualification to be eligible to have their application considered. Only the evidence in the personal statement was scored.

  5. The sift pass mark for all roles is 4 - however, only candidates with a higher score were invited to interview

  6. Due to the small number, and all candidates being internal, this information is disclosive. This information has been withheld as it is considered personal data and is therefore exempt from disclosure under s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

  7. Due to the small number, and all candidates being internal, this information disclosive. This information has been withheld as it is considered personal data and is therefore exempt from disclosure under s.40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

  8. For roles with one post, and the same number of applications as this post, this has been applied once

  9. No - though decisions to do so are based on merit.

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