Border Force Interview Questions and Online Tests

Border Force is the part of the Home Office that runs immigration and customs checks at UK airports, seaports and rail terminals. Officers check documents, question passengers, search baggage and vehicles, and write up cases that may end up in court. It is a Civil Service job, so the selection process follows Civil Service rules: online tests, a sift and an interview built on the Success Profiles framework.

This page covers each stage, practice questions in the style of the online tests, and interview questions with example answers.

What the Border Force officer role involves

According to the National Careers Service, most officers work at a border post, often outdoors, in uniform and on shifts that include evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Assessors want to see that you can stay calm with the public, follow procedure exactly, decide with incomplete information and write accurate notes. Every answer you give should point back to one of those.

The Border Force selection process step by step

Border Force recruits through campaigns advertised on Civil Service Jobs and promoted on Home Office Careers. The exact stages change from campaign to campaign, so treat the outline below as the typical pattern and read your advert carefully.

  1. Eligibility and application. The National Careers Service lists being over 18, a UK citizen, resident in the UK for the last five years, a full driving licence and good fitness. Direct entry at officer level usually asks for five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4, including English and maths. Apprenticeship and Assistant Officer routes also exist.
  2. Online tests. In the November 2024 Home Office campaign for Border Force Officers and Assistant Officers, applicants were invited to complete a Civil Service Verbal Test, a Civil Service Numerical Test and a Customer Service Test. A Higher Officer campaign used the Civil Service Management Judgement Test instead, which is a different test from the standard Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT). Results usually decide who moves forward, so these tests are the biggest single filter.
  3. Sift. Some rounds ask for a short CV or personal statement. If yours does, write it against the behaviours named in the advert, with specific examples.
  4. Interview. The officer campaign above moved successful candidates to a strengths-based interview. Other rounds have combined strengths and behaviour questions. Interviews are often held by video.
  5. Pre-employment checks. Expect enhanced background checks, security checks and a medical check. If you pass, initial training follows and continues through your first months on the job.

For background on how Civil Service tests and interviews fit together, our guide to aptitude tests for government jobs and the general Civil Service interview questions page are worth reading alongside this one.

How the Civil Service tests work

The verbal test checks that you draw only the conclusions a text supports, the numerical test uses tables and straightforward calculations, and the customer service test asks you to judge responses to situations with the public.

Where the standard Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT) is used, the official guidance describes a short self-assessment followed by workplace scenarios in which you rate each action from Counterproductive to Effective. It is untimed, but allow at least an hour. Passing the minimum standard does not guarantee an interview, because the pass mark can rise after the closing date.

Practice questions in the style of the online tests

These are our own practice items, written to mirror the type of thinking each test asks for. They are not real test questions.

Practice question 1

A passport control hall has 6 desks open. Each officer processes an average of 40 passengers per hour. Two flights land together, carrying 360 and 240 passengers. At a steady rate, how long will it take to clear both flights?

  • A) 2 hours
  • B) 2 hours 15 minutes
  • C) 2 hours 30 minutes
  • D) 3 hours

Answer: C. Total passengers are 360 + 240 = 600. Hourly capacity is 6 × 40 = 240. 600 ÷ 240 = 2.5 hours, which is 2 hours 30 minutes.

Practice question 2

A port recorded 1,250 seizures last year and 1,400 this year. What is the percentage increase?

  • A) 10.7%
  • B) 12%
  • C) 15%
  • D) 11.2%

Answer: B. The increase is 150. Divide by the starting figure: 150 ÷ 1,250 = 0.12, or 12%. Option A divides by this year's figure instead, a common slip under time pressure.

Practice question 3

An officer works a pattern of 4 shifts on, then 4 days off, with each shift lasting 12 hours. Starting on day 1 with a working shift, how many hours do they work in a 28-day period?

  • A) 168
  • B) 180
  • C) 192
  • D) 204

Answer: C. Working blocks fall on days 1–4, 9–12, 17–20 and 25–28. That is 16 shifts, and 16 × 12 = 192 hours.

Practice question 4

Read the passage: "Travellers arriving from outside the UK must declare goods above their duty-free allowance. Officers may examine baggage whether or not a declaration has been made. Failure to declare goods can lead to seizure of the goods."

Which statement is supported by the passage?

  • A) Baggage is only examined when a traveller makes a declaration.
  • B) Goods that are not declared will always be seized.
  • C) Officers can examine baggage of a traveller who has declared nothing.
  • D) Travellers from inside the UK must also declare goods.

Answer: C. The passage says officers may examine baggage "whether or not a declaration has been made". A contradicts that. B overstates "can lead to" as "always". D is not covered by the passage at all.

Practice question 5

A passenger in a long queue becomes angry, says the wait is ridiculous and starts filming you on their phone. What is the most effective response?

  • A) Tell them filming is not allowed and ask a colleague to remove them from the queue.
  • B) Stay calm, acknowledge the wait, explain briefly why checks take time, and carry on professionally.
  • C) Ignore them completely and avoid eye contact.
  • D) Let them skip ahead to calm the situation down.

Answer: B. It lowers the temperature without giving way on the process. A escalates unnecessarily, C dismisses the passenger, and D is unfair to everyone else and undermines the controls.

Practice question 6

During a busy shift you see a colleague wave a vehicle through without carrying out a check you believe is required. What should you do?

  • A) Say nothing, because they are more experienced than you.
  • B) Discuss it with other colleagues on your break.
  • C) Raise it with your colleague or line manager through the normal route, sticking to what you saw.
  • D) Report the colleague anonymously to the press.

Answer: C. Raising a concern factually through the right channel protects the border and your colleague. A and B let it drift, and D breaches your duties as a civil servant.

Practice question 7

An elderly passenger who speaks very little English seems confused by your questions. What is the best first step?

  • A) Repeat the questions more loudly.
  • B) Use the interpretation service or a suitable colleague so you can communicate properly.
  • C) Let them through, as they are unlikely to be a risk.
  • D) Ask the passenger behind them to translate.

Answer: B. You still need accurate answers, and the passenger deserves to understand what is happening. C skips the check on an assumption, and D relies on an unknown member of the public, which raises accuracy and confidentiality problems.

The Border Force interview: format and questions

Recent officer campaigns used a strengths-based interview. Strengths questions are short and come quickly: what you enjoy, what energises you, how you react when something goes wrong. Panels are looking for natural, honest reactions, not polished case studies, so answer in your own words and give a brief example to back it up. Where behaviour questions are included, use the STAR method and keep each answer to around two minutes.

1. Why do you want to be a Border Force officer?

"I want work with a direct public purpose. I have spent four years in airport security screening, so I know the pace of a terminal and I like it. Border Force is the next step: making decisions about who and what comes into the country, and being accountable for them."

2. What do you enjoy about dealing with the public?

"I like the moment a tense conversation turns. People at my current job are often stressed about missing a flight. If I explain clearly what I need and why, most relax, and the few who stay difficult do not put me off."

3. Tell me about a time you had to follow a procedure exactly, even when it was inconvenient.

"At the screening checkpoint, a frequent flyer who knew one of my managers asked to skip the secondary bag check. The queue was long and he was pushing. I explained that the check applied to everyone, did it quickly and politely, and logged it. Afterwards my manager backed the decision. For me the point is that a control is only worth something if it is applied consistently."

4. How do you feel about working shifts, weekends and outdoors?

"I am used to early starts and nights. I plan my sleep and meals around my rota and I have a routine that works. Working outside in poor weather at a seaport does not bother me as long as I have the right kit."

5. Describe a time you made a decision without all the information you wanted.

"A passenger at screening had a medical device I had not seen before. The supervisor was on another lane. I checked the guidance we had, asked the passenger sensible questions, and decided the device needed extra screening rather than waving it through. It turned out fine, but I recorded the details so the team could add it to our briefing."

6. What would you do if you suspected a passenger was lying?

"I would stay neutral and keep asking open questions, looking for inconsistencies between what they say and their documents. I would not show suspicion or jump to conclusions. If my concerns stayed, I would follow the referral process and write down exactly what was said."

7. Tell me about a time you dealt with an aggressive person.

"Situation: a customer at my previous job shouted at a younger colleague over a refused refund. Task: I needed to calm things down and protect my colleague. Action: I stepped in, introduced myself, spoke slowly and kept a bit of distance, and explained what we could and could not do. Result: he calmed down, accepted the alternative, and my colleague got a break. We reported it so the manager knew."

8. How do you make sure your written records are accurate?

"I write notes as soon as I can, while the detail is fresh, and stick to facts: times, words used, what I saw. I avoid opinions unless they are clearly marked as mine. I always reread before I submit."

9. What does integrity mean to you in this job?

"Doing the right thing when nobody is checking: treating everyone the same and declaring anything that could look like a conflict of interest."

10. How do you handle pressure?

"I focus on the next passenger, not the queue, and I ask for help early rather than letting a backlog build."

For more examples of behaviour questions, see our competency-based interview questions guide.

Preparation tips

  • Two weeks before the tests: do short, timed sets of verbal and numerical questions daily. Accuracy matters more than speed at first. The free practice tests at Assessment-Training.com are a good starting point.
  • Read the official guidance: the Civil Service publishes candidate guidance for its tests. Knowing the rating scale and the format removes a lot of nerves.
  • Prepare five or six examples: customer conflict, following procedure, a mistake you learned from, working under pressure, teamwork and a decision you made alone. Each can be reused for several questions.
  • For the strengths interview: think about what you genuinely enjoy at work and why. Panels can tell when answers are rehearsed.
  • On the day: test your camera and connection for a video interview, dress smartly, and have your ID ready.
  • Common mistakes: saying "we" so the panel cannot tell what you did, offering opinions on immigration policy, and underestimating the online tests.

Pay, locations and shift allowances vary by post, so check the job advert for the figures that apply to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tests do Border Force officer applicants take?

It depends on the campaign. In the November 2024 Home Office campaign, Border Force Officer and Assistant Officer applicants took the Civil Service Verbal Test, Numerical Test and Customer Service Test before the interview, while a Higher Officer campaign used the Civil Service Management Judgement Test rather than the standard Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT). The job advert on Civil Service Jobs always lists the tests for that round.

Is the Border Force interview strengths-based or behaviour-based?

Recent officer campaigns have used a strengths-based interview, which asks what you enjoy and how you naturally work. Some rounds add behaviour questions from the Success Profiles, so prepare short examples too.

Do I need a driving licence to join Border Force?

The National Careers Service profile for Border Force officers lists a full driving licence among the usual requirements, along with being over 18, being a UK citizen and having lived in the UK for the last five years. Check the specific advert, because requirements can differ by post.

What checks happen after a Border Force job offer?

Expect enhanced background checks, security checks and a medical check. Do not resign from your current job until you have a confirmed start date.

How should I prepare for the Border Force online tests?

Practise timed verbal and numerical reasoning and work through customer service scenarios until you can explain why one response beats another. Read the official Civil Service test guidance beforehand.

About the author

Ingmar van Maurik is a specialist in test and interview preparation who helps candidates perform better in recruitment processes.

References