Treasury scrapped numeracy tests to boost graduate scheme diversity

The Treasury has adjusted its graduate recruitment processes over recent years, moving away from standardised testing for numeracy and verbal reasoning. These changes, enacted to increase the diversity of candidates reaching assessment stages, have prompted intense scrutiny regarding the maintenance of professional standards within the government's economic department.

Internal documentation, surfaced via Freedom of Information requests, reveals that the department conducted a review of its policy adviser graduate programme in 2019. Following this evaluation, officials removed the numerical reasoning test from the application process in 2020. According to the board minutes, the decision was driven by evidence that the test had an adverse impact on candidate diversity. The department stated it aimed to ensure more diverse ethnicity at assessment centres and argued that requiring multiple tests created an additional hurdle for applicants, effectively narrowing the pool of candidates before the final selection phase.

Media additions

The department’s efforts to calibrate its intake began prior to the removal of the maths assessment. In 2019, the Treasury increased the number of candidates permitted to pass its situational judgement test to maximise the number of diverse candidates in our process. This focus on demographic outcomes continued into 2023, when the department intentionally allowed more applicants to advance from the initial selection stage, having observed that setting higher benchmarks in previous years had risked reducing the diversity of the candidate pool.

In 2024, the department further altered its criteria by removing verbal reasoning assessments. This decision was informed by advice from the recruitment firm Rare, which observed that its candidates tend to struggle with verbal testing in particular. These tests were replaced by the Civil Service Strengths Test, which asks applicants to rank their agreement with various behavioural statements and evaluate the effectiveness of provided responses to workplace scenarios. These questions include statements such as I prefer not to have to concentrate on one thing for too long and it is important for me to exceed expectations when I am given a task to do.

The policy shifts have drawn significant criticism from political figures who argue that the changes compromise the competence of the civil service. Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s economic spokesman, stated:

"If people can’t add up, they shouldn’t be in the Treasury."

Jack Rankin, a Conservative MP, characterised the development as truly through the looking glass stuff, asserting that the department had decided without dissent, that ethnicity is more important than numeracy in appointments to the Treasury. Lord Agnew, a former Treasury minister, criticised the department for opting to quietly sweep numerical reasoning under the carpet rather than hold the line on standards. Lord Frost added that the news would surprise absolutely nobody involved with the Civil Service in recent years.

HM Treasury has consistently rejected claims that these changes amount to a lowering of recruitment standards. In a formal statement, a spokesperson maintained:

"It is complete nonsense to suggest that we have lowered our hiring standards for the sake of diversity. We are proud that we employ people from a wide range of backgrounds, while maintaining rigorous, merit-based recruitment to ensure that we have the very best people developing and delivering economic policy."