What the oral exercises are

The Assessment Centre oral exercises are the part of the EPSO selection model where candidates speak rather than write. Depending on the cycle, they include some combination of an oral presentation, a competency-based interview and — historically — a group exercise. Each exercise is scored independently against the EU general competencies framework by a panel of two trained assessors, with a moderator reconciling differences.

The case study (covered in our case study guide) tests written analysis. The oral exercises test communication, working with others, leadership and resilience — the parts of the job that happen in meetings, briefings and corridor conversations. The two halves of the Assessment Centre together aim to predict performance as a junior administrator.

See the umbrella EPSO competitions guide for context, and the AD5 graduates competition page for the eligibility route most candidates take to reach this stage.

The exercises

Oral presentation

You receive a short brief — typically a one- or two-page case — and around 30 minutes to prepare. You then deliver a 10-minute presentation to a panel of two assessors and answer 10–15 minutes of questions. The brief usually asks you to analyse a situation and recommend a course of action, similar in shape to the case study but compressed and delivered orally.

Competency-based interview

A 30–45 minute structured interview. The panel asks behavioural questions ("tell me about a time when…") mapped to specific EU general competencies. They are looking for concrete examples from your past experience that demonstrate the competency, scored against an EPSO rubric. The format is rigid: each question maps to a defined competency, your answer is scored on that competency, and the panel does not substitute their general impression for the rubric.

Group exercise

When used, the group exercise puts four to six candidates around a table and asks them to discuss a scenario and reach a joint position within a fixed time. Two assessors observe each candidate and score behaviour, not the group's output. EPSO has used the group exercise unevenly in recent cycles; the notice for your competition tells you whether it is included.

From the EU Jobs Alert guide How to land a job at the EU institutions A walkthrough of EPSO competitions, agency calls, and contract roles — written by our editor. Read the guide →

Worked example: competency-based interview question

Question. "Tell me about a time when you had to deliver a result under significant pressure, with conflicting priorities from different stakeholders. What did you do, and what was the outcome?"

The competencies targeted: delivering quality and results, prioritising and organising, resilience, sometimes working with others.

Step 1 — pick the right example. A strong example has all four ingredients of STAR: a concrete situation with stakes; a defined task for which you were personally responsible; specific actions you took; a measurable result. Avoid examples where the result depended on someone else, or where the conflict was so generic it could have happened in any job.

Step 2 — structure the answer. Aim for two to three minutes. Roughly: 30 seconds for situation and task, 90 seconds for actions, 30 seconds for result.

Step 3 — sample answer.

Situation. "In my last role I was project lead for a cross-team product launch. Two weeks before launch, the engineering team flagged a security issue requiring a fix that would push the deadline by three weeks. The marketing team had committed press coverage for the original date and the executive sponsor wanted the launch on time."

Task. "My responsibility was to recommend whether to delay, partial-launch, or proceed with mitigations, and to align the three stakeholders before the next steering committee in 48 hours."

Actions. "I broke the question into three sub-decisions: technical (was the fix actually needed?), commercial (could the press coverage be rescheduled?), and risk (what was the residual exposure if we partial-launched?). I held three short meetings — engineering, marketing, the sponsor — within 24 hours, each with a defined question. I documented the trade-offs in a one-page note. I recommended a partial launch with mitigations, scheduled press for two weeks later, and a full launch four weeks out. I presented the recommendation to the sponsor with the engineering lead in the room so technical questions could be answered live."

Result. "The sponsor approved the partial launch. The product shipped on the original date, the security fix landed three weeks later, and revised press coverage produced 30% more media pickup than the original plan. Engineering, marketing and the sponsor all said in the post-mortem that the structured trade-off note made the decision possible."

Step 4 — anticipate follow-up questions. "What would you do differently?" — name one specific thing. "How did the engineering team react?" — be specific about how you handled disagreement. The panel rates depth of reflection here, not surface-level humility.

The trap candidates fall into is choosing a story that sounds impressive but does not demonstrate the targeted competency. A story where you "saved the project" with no detail on prioritising and trade-off reasoning fails delivering quality. A story with vague actions ("I worked with the team to find a solution") fails because the panel cannot score what they cannot picture. Specificity is what scores.

Recent format changes (2024–2026)

EPSO has trialled remote-video Assessment Centres alongside the traditional in-person format in Brussels in recent cycles, mainly for early stages and for some specialist competitions. The scoring rubric is identical between formats. Group exercises have been used unevenly across recent cycles. Format may evolve further; check the official EU Careers portal for the live notice and any pre-Assessment-Centre guidance documents.

Common mistakes

  1. Telling stories instead of showing actions. The panel scores what you did, not what happened around you. Use "I" verbs.
  2. Picking impressive over relevant examples. A small example that clearly demonstrates the competency beats a big example that touches on it tangentially.
  3. Memorising answers verbatim. The panel will follow up; rote answers fall apart on the second question.
  4. Ignoring the named competency. Each interview question maps to a competency. If you do not address the right one, the answer scores zero on that question.
  5. Dominating the group exercise. Talking the most does not score the highest. Quality of contribution and constructive engagement do.
  6. Disappearing in the group exercise. Equally fatal. The panel cannot score what they cannot observe.
  7. Speaking too fast under stress. If your second language is the language of the exercise, slow down. Clear is better than fluent.
  8. Reading from notes during the oral presentation. Notes are allowed; reading from them is not. Brief glances are fine; eye contact and structure are what scores.
  9. Skipping the post-presentation Q&A in your preparation. The Q&A is half the assessed minutes. Anticipate three follow-up questions for every recommendation in your presentation and rehearse the answers.
  10. Going to the Assessment Centre without practice runs. Live rehearsal with a friend is non-negotiable. Reading about the format is not preparation.

Preparation resources

Official

Public study material

Any solid book on the STAR interview method gives you the right scaffold for the competency interview. Toastmasters chapters in most European cities provide cheap, structured speaking practice that maps cleanly to the oral presentation format. For group exercise practice, there is no substitute for a live rehearsal with three or four other EPSO candidates; online communities (Reddit, dedicated EPSO forums) often coordinate practice sessions before each cycle's Assessment Centres.

Related guides on this site

Test-day strategy

Three habits beat any other tactic. First, prepare one strong STAR example for each of the eight EU general competencies. Eight examples is enough; with one or two fall-back examples you can answer almost any competency interview question without recycling. Second, rehearse out loud, ideally with a friend playing the panel. Speaking the answer is qualitatively different from imagining the answer — transitions become awkward, sentences run long, the time goes too fast. Only out-loud practice catches that. Third, treat the Q&A after the oral presentation as the heart of the exercise. The presentation lays out your structure; the Q&A demonstrates your reasoning. Anticipate the panel's three most likely follow-ups and have a clear, brief answer ready for each.

On the day, the meta-skill is composure under genuinely stressful conditions. The panel is professional and not adversarial, but they will probe weak answers. Take a breath before each answer; ask for clarification if the question is ambiguous; finish your sentence. Half the candidates leave the room saying "I rambled" — the candidates who do not are the ones who paused before answering. Pausing is not weakness; it is what the panel sees as judgement.

Manage your physical state. Assessment Centres run for half a day or longer; the oral exercises typically come after the case study. Plan for hydration, a meal between exercises, and a short walk if you can. The candidates who do best are not the ones with the most preparation but the ones who arrive composed and finish each exercise still composed. Stamina matters here more than in any other EPSO stage.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the EPSO oral presentation?

Typically 10 minutes of presentation followed by 10–15 minutes of questions from the panel. Preparation time is usually around 30 minutes to read the brief and structure the talk.

In what language are the oral exercises?

The oral exercises are usually conducted in your declared second language for generalist competitions. The competency interview may be in either language depending on the cycle. The notice fixes the regime.

Are oral exercises now in-person or remote?

Recent EPSO cycles have used both in-person Assessment Centres in Brussels and remote video-based formats. The notice or invitation will specify; both formats use the same scoring rubric.

Continue preparing

Wrap up your preparation with the language test guide.

Language test EPSO overview