Situational Judgement Test (SJT)

The assessment process is made up of 1 mandatory part - the Situational Judgement Test (SJT).

A Situational Judgment Test (SJT) is a measurement tool where you are tested on hypothetical work situations.

The DFT SJT is set within the context of dental foundation training.

You will be assessed on the non-academic, professional attributes expected of a Foundation Dentist soon to enter the Dental Foundation Training programme. The attributes are listed below:

• Professional integrity
• Resilience and coping with pressure
• Empathy and communication
• Working effectively as part of a team

The SJT is a computer-based assessment and will be administered by Pearson Vue test centres.

The SJT will last for 105 minutes and will consist of 56 questions.

Please note that only 50 of these questions will be used for the overall SJT score. 6 questions are being asked as part of an evaluation process.

It is important that you try and plan your time carefully and attempt to answer all questions.

You should not spend more than 2 minutes on each question.

Additionally in 2024, these evaluation questions will be used to break ties but will not form part of the final score.

You will not be made aware which questions are part of the evaluation process. 

For ranking questions, you will receive partial credit for attempting to answer the question.

You will receive no marks for any questions (both ranking and multiple choice) that you do not answer, but you will not be negatively marked (your score on other items won’t be reduced).

You will be required to sit the 105 minute assessment at a Pearson Vue Driving Test Centre between 6 November 2024 to 14 November 2024.

You will be able to self-book a time and venue within this window which is convenient to you (subject to availability).

For approved reasonable adjustment candidates the time adjustments will vary and are outlined on the Pearson Vue Website.

Email to register for the SJT to be sent out via Oriel no later than 20 September 2024.

The email to book your SJT exam will be sent by 5pm on 23 September 2024.

For more information on the SJT and process of sitting your exam please visit the Pearson Vue website for Dental Foundation Training.

If you do not attend the SJT, you will be unable to progress and therefore removed from the process on Oriel.

Preparing for the SJT

Once the application timeframe has ended, you will receive a message asking you to register with Pearson VUE using the credentials associated with your Oriel account. 

There is no need to revise for the SJT as it is not a test of clinical knowledge.

The SJT assumes that applicants have knowledge of, and insight into the job role of a Foundation Dentist, and applicants will be required to respond as they should at this level.

After consulting clinicians and consultants in the field, Work Psychology Group (WPG) has written the questions for the SJT.

WPG are experts in creating selection and assessment processes and liaise extensively with subject matter experts to develop and finalise the test content.

The questions are ranking and multiple choice, designed to assess applicants’ non-academic attributes and responses to hypothetical scenarios in work relevant situations.

Documentation

You may be asked to provide certain documentation as part of the recruitment process such as evidence of the right to work in the UK.

Failure to provide the required documentation may result in you not being assessed.

If you have any concerns over their ability to provide the required documents, you should make contact with the Dental Foundation National Recruitment Office via the online portal.

On the day

Please see Pearson Vue website for on the day. 

Sample tests

Sample test will be available week commencing 23 September 2024.

The test is to give you an insight into how you will navigate the full test for your SJT exam.

There will be a total of 6 sample questions. The full SJT exam will consists of 56 questions. 

For sample practice papers please visit the COPDEND website.

By October 2024 there will be a 6 question Pearson Vue sample test available to get an insight of how the actual SJT will look at the test center.

These are sample questions.

ID documents

If your documents are in your marital name and you applied under a different name please take your certificate of marriage with you to the test centre.

If you experience any issues on the day please report this to the test centre before you leave and come to our applicant portal.

We are unable to help if you have not come to us within 24 hours of the experience.

For reasonable adjustments please see this section on Pearson Vue site.

If you require reasonable adjustments

You must apply for reasonable adjustments as part of the national application process also submitting any relevant supporting information by the closing date at 4pm (UK local time) on 3 September 2024.

It is important to note that the Reasonable Adjustments allowed for the SJT selection assessment may differ from those you obtain for university exams.

For more information about reasonable adjustments please review our page on reasonable adjustments.

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