Economic Assessment Centre (EAC) Guide
The Economic Assessment Centre (EAC) is a half-day Assessment Centre to assess a candidate’s economics skills against set criteria
The Economic Assessment Centre (EAC) is a half-day Assessment Centre to assess a candidate’s economics skills against set criteria.
It assesses graduates applying for the Fast Stream Scheme and the Assistant Economist Scheme.
There are 4 separate economics exercises to complete at the EAC:
There may be periods of downtime in your timetable when you do not have to complete any exercises. Each candidate completes the same series of exercises with the same amount of time to prepare, so time delays will not disadvantage or advantage you. You will complete the EAC virtually from home, completing all work on a computer.
You will be assessed against 3 competencies throughout the EAC:
- Knowledge of Economics
- Application of Economics
- Communication.
You must pass all three competencies to be successful.
Preparation
The EAC assesses your knowledge of economics and how you apply economics to policy questions. Your assessors are looking for a firm grasp of the economic fundamentals and the ability to take things back to first principles. They want to see that you can apply the fundamentals to a range of topics, including some that may be new or unfamiliar. You are not going to be assessed on obscure techniques on the day.
Candidates are advised to ensure they are familiar with the content in introductory economic textbooks. Some recommended reading includes:
- Introductory Economics by Michael Parkin
- Economics by John Sloman, Dean Garatt et al
- Macroeconomics: a European perspective by Olivier Blanchard, Alessia Amighini and Francesco Giavazzi
- Intermediate microeconomics by Hal Varian
Of all these books, the first-year introductory texts and intermediate micro are the most important. Candidates will then be asked to apply this knowledge to policy questions. For example:
- you may have memorised the formula for price elasticity of demand but what is the formula when elasticity is applied to the length of an elephant’s trunk with respect to the pull of an alligator?
- You can define opportunity cost but can you apply this to an asset?
- You may know MC=MR as a profit maximising condition but what if there are no costs?
- Can you draw on economics to shed light on the pros and cons of charging for entry to museums?
- Should water be metered?
- Why don’t lampposts have slot meters?
- What economic concepts are relevant to a smoking ban or the provision of early childcare?
Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is used extensively in government but for EAC you are expected only to understand its roots in welfare economics rather than use advanced CBA techniques. So be well versed in market failure, deviations from efficiency and distributional concerns that could lead to policy interventions.
On the day
The assessment centre start and end times will be communicated in your invitation.
To join the EAC, click the URL in your briefing email. Please note these rooms will remain locked until the event begins. You will then be placed into a virtual meeting room with your test administrator and other candidates in your group. You will need to have your microphone and camera switched on so we can communicate with you and complete the registration stage. We will brief you on the running of the day and give you access to your schedule and our virtual assessment centre platform. You will complete your exercise preparation in the virtual meeting room, and this will be timed by your test administrator.
Please be reassured your test administrator is here to help and guide you through the process. It is important to have your phone on hand in case you lose connection, and we need to contact you offline. If you have done everything you can beforehand to ensure a good WiFi connection and you are still disconnected from the internet, don’t worry. These things happen and we will work with you to find a solution.
While at EAC
Below are some useful tips to consider when attending the EAC:
- stay relaxed and try to enjoy the day. This is a great chance to showcase your skills
- be yourself. There is no such thing as a typical economist and we want you to be you
- assessors can only give credit for what you say and do. They are not trying to trip you up; they want you to do well and help you demonstrate your capability
- go into each exercise with a positive frame of mind. It can be hard to do well in every exercise. You may not be the best judge of your own performance so don’t get knocked off course. The process is designed so that, if you do less well in one exercise, you have a chance to perform better in another
- read the exercise instructions and follow them very carefully. If you are unsure of something, please ask before the exercise begins. Do not feel embarrassed about doing so
At the EAC
The whole Economics Assessment Centre takes place under examination conditions. This means you must not have any materials (books, mobile phones or papers) near you when you do the EAC. Only a copy of your completed technical report that you write on the day may be used to prepare for the interview, and you may have it near you when you complete the interview. You must not consult any books/internet sites between completing your written economics exercises and your interview. Any candidate found doing so will be disqualified.
Sections
1. Technical report.
The question is shared with you 7 days before your EAC. Within your answer at EAC, you are encouraged to ‘showcase’ your knowledge, technical grasp and understanding of the relevant economics. For example, you will need to demonstrate (briefly) that you understand and can apply the relevant principles, theory and evidence. You may set the scene with memorised facts and statistics, but it is not a good use of your time to do much of this. Concentrate instead on communicating how economic theory and evidence can inform an assessment of the potential impacts of the policy. You may use freehand diagrams or equations where you wish, but these must be clear, labelled and explained as required. If you do a diagram or equation, you will need to take a picture and attach it to your email with the technical report.
Remember - you will have just 30 minutes to write this report at EAC. We are only expecting candidates to produce a report between one and a half to two pages maximum with size 12 font. If your report is longer than candidates are expected to produce, the additional pages will not be marked by the assessors.
2. Short answer questions
This will be set a set of questions (10 in total) covering macroeconomics, microeconomics and might also include econometrics and/or an international trade question. One question may be quantitative in nature, in which you are asked to work something out.
You should attempt to answer all ten questions, but as you have only 30 minutes overall your answers must be brief.
Remember the golden rules: breathe and read the questions carefully! A good strategy is to scan all the questions through once so that you complete answers for those items that you can answer most easily first, knowing that you will pick up marks for these and then move onto areas where you may need to think more. This should help you avoid ‘getting stuck’ on a particular question or writing too much for one answer. Above all, don’t be discouraged if there are things you do not know, just press onto the next question and build a level of answer for all the questions as far as you can. The pass mark is around 40 per cent and you will have a further opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of your knowledge during the interview as the topics and questions in the SAQ will be revisited.
Remember: The first two exercises are done back-to-back, this means you will spend one hour producing your written work on a PC.
3. Presentation
For this exercise you are asked to turn your technical report into a presentation, translating it for a non-economist audience. You should practice doing this before your EAC.
The presentation is at the start of your interview and should last for 10 minutes. You will be stopped if you over run. It is an oral presentation and you do not need to prepare any handouts or visuals. The interview board will comprise of one academic economist and one government economist or two government economists. For the purposes of the presentation, you should assume that the audience are not economists and therefore avoid using overly technical language or assuming a prior knowledge of economics. Your assessors will then ask you questions on your presentation and reports. You may answer all verbal questions assuming interviewers are economists.
Remember: There should be a clear distinction between the technical report and your presentation as they are intended for different audiences. Do not merely read out your technical report for your presentation
4. Interview Questions
This will follow on directly from the presentation. It will cover the technical report and presentation topic, where the questions will focus on the economics within that topic, the short answer questions paper (including perhaps additional questions on related topics), your strongest area of economics and, for Assistant Economist Scheme candidates, a competency-based interview covering behaviours and strengths. The technical presentation and interview will take an hour in total for all candidates. The behaviours and strengths part will take an additional 30 minutes, but this is only for Assistant Economist Scheme candidates, not for those candidates whose EAC is part of their fast stream assessment. In the fast stream, broader non-technical areas are tested at the Fast Stream Assessment Centre.
Your strongest area of economics
You will have been asked to state your ‘strongest area of economics’ in your application form and this topic will be used as part of your interview within the Economic Assessment Centre. Your EAC assessors will ask you further questions to explore your knowledge of the topic. You will have picked your strongest area from a topic list which will be sent to you with other candidate information for the scheme you apply for. An example list is below (in alphabetical order)
- Behavioural economics
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Development economics
- Economic growth (including productivity)
- Environmental economics
- Financial economics (money and banking, not inflation)
- Fiscal policy
- Game theory
- Health economics
- Industrial economics
- Inflation / monetary policy
- International trade
- Labour markets
- Market failure
- Taxation (not fiscal policy)
These are typical economic subjects, many of which you will have covered in your degree. You are being tested on your understanding of economic fundamentals, with questions covering the economic theory and application of economics. There may also be a question on a topical economic issue.
Need help?
Please email us at gesrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk if you have any concerns regarding the above information. For example, if you don’t have a computer, or a quiet place to take your assessments then please get in touch as early as possible. We are here to help you through the process and can offer advice in this area.
Last updated 1 March 2023 + show all updates
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Removed requirement that at least one SAQ feature International Trade
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Clarify that competency section is not for Fast Stream candidates
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Removed video
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Remove references to fast stream and add reference to assistant economist scheme
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First published.