OPM expands USA Hire skills assessments across federal jobs

The Office of Personnel Management has completed a major expansion of USA Hire standard assessments, giving agencies a governmentwide option to evaluate broad job-related competencies across all General Schedule occupational series covered by the program.

OPM said on July 8, 2026, that its Wave 1 and Wave 2 reference materials had been published in USA Staffing and were available for agency use. The PATCO expansion was completed in June, increasing USA Hire coverage from 138 to 412 GS occupational series, according to OPM.

The change may mean more applicants encounter online assessments that measure demonstrated competencies instead of a process based mainly on self-reported questionnaire answers. It does not eliminate education, experience, licenses, selective factors or other requirements listed in a vacancy announcement.

What the PATCO expansion covers

PATCO stands for Professional, Administrative, Technical, Clerical and Other. OPM uses the five categories to organize federal white-collar occupations and scale assessment coverage across job series and grade levels.

OPM says the expanded USA Hire suite now provides coverage for 100% of GS and GS-equivalent non-supervisory positions covered by the program. The assessments remain series- and grade-specific, so the expansion does not mean every federal vacancy will use the same test.

What applicants may see

A standard USA Hire assessment is generally an un-proctored, online battery designed for a particular occupational series and grade combination. OPM says these assessments measure broad competencies such as reasoning, reading comprehension, decision-making and interpersonal skills.

Agencies may combine a standard USA Hire assessment with other tools to evaluate technical and general competencies. Depending on the position, an announcement may also include a work sample, structured interview, technical assessment, structured resume review or review by subject-matter experts.

Applicants should read each USAJOBS announcement carefully for language referring to USA Hire or another assessment requirement. OPM also provides practice-assessment information and reasonable-accommodation guidance for applicants who need it.

Questionnaires still have a limited role

The Chance to Compete Act of 2024 and the federal Merit Hiring Plan provide the legal and policy framework for moving toward skills- and competency-based assessments. OPM’s July 2026 implementation plan says agencies are transitioning away from using self-assessment questionnaires as the primary rating and ranking tool.

Under the plan, questionnaires may generally still be used to determine minimum qualifications and eligibility. Stated exceptions include seasonal work, positions at GS-4 and below, and cases in which OPM authorizes their use for rating or ranking.

The policy shift reflects OPM’s view that self-reported proficiency and traditional proxies such as degrees or tenure may not consistently show whether an applicant can perform a job. But the agency has not said the new system guarantees better access or better outcomes for applicants without four-year degrees.

The transition is still underway

OPM’s implementation plan describes a phased transition rather than an immediate overhaul of every federal vacancy. The plan sets a full-implementation target for the end of fiscal year 2028.

OPM reported that agencies posted 224 vacancies using new assessment batteries during the first two weeks after release, generating 8,622 applications. It also reported that, as of the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, 34.3% of Delegated Examining announcements included technical or off-the-shelf assessments, while reliance on self-assessment questionnaires alone had fallen by 16.3 percentage points.

Those figures are agency-reported implementation data, not an independent evaluation of hiring quality, validity or fairness. OPM’s plan also says agencies continue to be responsible for analyzing each job, setting minimum qualifications and deciding whether additional mission-specific assessments are needed.

For applicants, the practical takeaway is straightforward: a USA Hire assessment may test demonstrated competencies, but it does not replace the need to satisfy the announcement’s education, experience, license, selective-factor or technical requirements. Assessment formats are likely to vary by agency, occupation, grade and vacancy as the government moves toward the fiscal 2028 goal.

Sources

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