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Completing your self-assessment – Judicial Skills and Abilities Framework

Your self-assessment is a critical part of your application. It helps the panel understand how you have approached tasks, challenges and decisions in the past. The panel will use this to decide whether you meet the requirements for the role.

Your self-assessment must:

You do not need to cover every point in the framework, but you should aim to cover as many as possible.

How to prepare

To complete a strong self-assessment:

  • read the skills and abilities for the role carefully
  • think about your experience and how it relates to the competencies
  • choose examples that best show how you meet each area
  • use SOAR or STAR to structure your examples

SOAR model

We recommend using the SOAR model to structure your examples:

  • Situation – briefly explain the context
  • Objective – say what you needed to achieve
  • Action – describe what you did and how you did it (this is the most important part)
  • Result – explain the outcome and what you learned

You can also use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) mode which works in a similar way.

Tips on writing your self-assessment

Do:

  • choose specific, detailed examples
  • use the SOAR or STAR models
  • focus on your actions using ‘I’
  • be clear, avoid jargon
  • match your examples to the competency area
  • keep within the word count (300 words per area)
  • use examples relevant to the level of the role

Don’t:

  • make vague or general statements
  • use too many short examples in one area
  • include links – these will be ignored
  • go over the word limit – extra words will be disregarded
  • list past cases without explaining your role or the outcome
  • focus only on recent or legal examples – older or non-legal examples are ok if relevant

Choosing the best examples

Each skill and ability covers a different area of the role. Your examples should:

  • be directly relevant to the skill and ability
  • show how you handled complex or sensitive situations
  • reflect the level of the role you’re applying for

More help with choosing the best examples in your self-assessment.

Examples: strong and weak self-assessments

Two made-up examples show how a panel might grade your evidence using the the skills and abilities framework (JSAF). The notes are designed to help you understand what makes a strong and weak application.

See an example of a strong self-assessment.

See an example of a weak self-assessment.