Three years ago this page listed ten interview questions, and most of them asked about the person rather than the work. In 2026 that is the wrong way round. Since 1 October a candidate who believes an interview went against them unfairly has six months, not three, to bring a claim, and the questions an interviewer asked are the first evidence anyone looks at. Here are ten questions worth asking now, drawn from the Interview Question Bank on the STAR shelf, and the ones to stop asking.
The rule that comes before the questions
Build the set from the essential criteria for the job before the advert goes out. For each criterion choose one question that asks for evidence of it, usually a past example, and one that asks how the candidate would handle a situation the job will bring. Six to eight questions is enough for a 45-minute interview. Give the same set, with the follow-ups, to every interviewer, ask it of every candidate in the same order, and score what was said against what the job needs. Follow up on what each person says, but do not open a new topic for one candidate and not another. Interviews that wander from candidate to candidate are where discrimination claims begin.
Ten questions worth asking in 2026
- Tell us about a piece of work you delivered to a deadline under pressure. Then the four follow-ups that go with every example: what was the situation, what exactly did you do, what was the result and how do you know, what would you do differently.
- Give an example of a decision you made with incomplete information. Judgement shows here, and so does honesty about the result.
- Describe a mistake you made at work and what you did about it. A specific, owned mistake with a correction is a stronger answer than a weakness dressed as a strength.
- Give an example of improving a process or a result. What was the measure? The measure is the point. An answer without one is a claim.
- Tell us about a time you had to influence someone who did not report to you. Most work is done sideways.
- Here is a situation this role will meet. Talk us through how you would approach it. Describe a real situation from the job. The answer tells you how the person thinks before they know your way of doing things.
- Which tools and systems have you used for this work, and to what level? Then: give an example of something you built or fixed in one of them.
- How do you prefer to receive feedback? Give an example of acting on some. The example is the answer, not the preference.
- What part of this role would you find hardest? A candid answer here predicts the first six months better than a confident one.
- Is there anything about the process so far that you would like us to adjust for the next stage? Asked of everyone. It is the lawful way to find out whether someone needs an adjustment, and it tells the candidate what kind of employer you are.
The questions to stop asking
Anything that touches a protected characteristic, directly or by a side door: where someone is from, when they left school, whether they have children or plan to, how they will manage childcare, whether they are married, what their first language is, whether they will need time off for religious observance, how old they are, whether they are "fit and healthy". A question about any of these is evidence that it played a part in the decision.
Health and sickness absence before an offer. Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 prohibits pre-offer questions about health or disability except for narrow purposes, which are to find out whether the candidate needs an adjustment to the process, to establish whether they can carry out a function that is intrinsic to the work when every candidate is asked about the function, for equality monitoring kept apart from the decision, and where the characteristic is an occupational requirement. After an offer, a health questionnaire limited to what the role needs is lawful.
Current salary. Not unlawful in the UK, but it imports another employer's pay decisions, including any unequal pay, into yours. Ask what the candidate is looking for and state the range for the role.
And the five that produce no evidence against any criterion: "What are your weaknesses?", "Where do you see yourself in five years?", "Why should we hire you?", "Tell me about yourself" with no frame, and "What animal would you be?". Three of them were on this page in 2023.
How to score the answer
Score each question against the criterion it tests, 0 to 4, on a sheet every interviewer uses. A strong answer has a specific situation, the candidate's own actions in the first person, a result that can be checked, and some reflection. A weak answer is general ("I always make sure"), is about the team rather than the person, or has no result. Score the evidence, not the delivery; a nervous candidate with a verifiable example outscores a fluent one without. Keep the sheets. From 1 October 2026 they may be read six months after the decision.
Three questions people ask
Can we ask about criminal records? Only what the role lawfully allows. For most roles that is unspent convictions only, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and only where relevant to the job. Roles that qualify for a standard or enhanced DBS check follow the DBS code, with the question asked at the stage the code permits.
Can we ask whether someone can work the hours or travel? Yes, if every candidate is asked the same question about the job's requirement ("The role involves two nights away a month. Is that something you can commit to?") and nobody is asked why.
Where is the full set? The Interview Question Bank 2026 (55 questions by criterion, the follow-ups and the forbidden list with its sources), with the interview record and scoring sheet beside it, is on the STAR shelf for in-house recruiters who hold BIOR's STAR membership, at ior.org/star.
Sources
Equality Act 2010, sections 13, 19, 39 and 60, and Schedule 9. Equality and Human Rights Commission, Employment Statutory Code of Practice, chapter 16, and the EHRC guidance on pre-employment health questions. Acas, Recruiting staff: interviews. Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Disclosure and Barring Service code of practice. Acas on the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the six-month time limit for tribunal claims from 1 October 2026. All read in October 2026.
Written by The BIOR Membership Team. First published 14 March 2023. Rewritten for 2026 and last reviewed 21 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.