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You commission
Enter the candidate’s name and email and pay £195 +VAT by card. The invitation goes out from hello@thecorestandard.co.uk within one working day, with a single-use link valid for 14 days.
For employers . Entry assessment New
Three modules from a real EA working day, scored on the five pillars and signed off by a reviewer, with a two-page report back within 48 hours.
First Look is the smallest thing we sell, and it is built for the first time you use us. One candidate sits three short modules at an operational pace: the morning inbox, a diary that falls apart, and a reply written in the principal’s voice. A reviewer scores all three against the published rubric and tells you what they saw. If you then want the full assessment on the same candidate, the £195 comes off the price.
What you receive
£195 +VAT per candidate. Deducted in full from an EA Hire assessment on the same candidate commissioned within 30 days. Report within 48 hours or your money back.
Who First Look is for
Most clients come to us with a shortlist and a seat they cannot afford to get wrong, and for them the full assessment is the right product. First Look is for the step before that. You have one candidate you like, you have not used The Core Standard before, and you want to see how the scoring works and what the reviewer notices before you spend £495 or more.
It is the same three tasks we recommend in our guide to running an in-tray exercise yourself, built and scored by us instead. The candidate sits them under a time limit, identical for everyone, and a reviewer marks them against the same rubric used in every Core Standard report.
Where it earns its keep
See a real report on a real candidate for £195 before you decide whether to run the full assessment across a shortlist.
Where it earns its keep
One candidate, one seat, no hiring team behind you. Thirty minutes of their time and two pages back tells you whether to carry on.
Where it earns its keep
Both interviewed well. The same three tasks, scored by the same reviewer, give you a like-for-like read on how each one actually works.
If the seat is senior, go straight to the full assessment. First Look runs at an operational pace and will not show you board logistics, multi-principal choreography or the strategic brief.
How First Look works
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Enter the candidate’s name and email and pay £195 +VAT by card. The invitation goes out from hello@thecorestandard.co.uk within one working day, with a single-use link valid for 14 days.
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Thirty minutes with a hard stop, in their own time. The morning inbox, a diary that falls apart, and a reply in the principal’s voice, all set in the same “Ashworth Partners” scenario as the full assessment.
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Each module is scored against the published rubric on the five pillars: Prioritisation, Judgement, Communication, Execution and Partnership. The reviewer reads every answer and signs the report before it goes out.
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Pillar scores, the reviewer’s note, and a steer on what to do next. If you commission the full assessment on the same candidate within 30 days, the £195 is deducted and the candidate sits only the modules they have not yet seen.
What lands in your inbox
Page one: the scores. Five pillar scores on the same 0 to 100 benchmark used in every Core Standard report, so a First Look result reads directly against a full assessment or a Recruiter Summary. Each score carries a one-line reason drawn from what the candidate actually did.
Page two: the reviewer’s note. What stood out, what to probe at interview, and a plain steer: proceed to interview, run the full assessment, or look elsewhere. The reviewer signs it. There is no hire recommendation at a level, because three modules are not enough to give one honestly. That is what the full assessment is for.
Want to see the full version? Walk through a complete Core Standard report page by page.
Price
Secure checkout via Stripe · UK VAT-registered via eavolve Ltd · Report within 48 hours or fully refunded. Priority turnaround is not offered on First Look. Every other price is on the pricing page.
Commonly asked
Yes. It is three modules from the full working day, run at an operational pace and scored by the same reviewers against the same rubric. What you lose is depth: the full assessment covers a whole working day and gives a hire recommendation at the level you commissioned. First Look gives you scores, a reviewer’s note and a steer on what to do next.
Commission the full assessment on the same candidate within 30 days and we deduct the £195. The candidate sits only the modules they have not already seen, their First Look scores carry across, and you receive the full employer report with a hire recommendation.
You can, and the upgrade credit still applies, but we would not recommend it as the deciding step. The modules run at an operational pace and do not include the board logistics, multi-principal diary work or strategic brief that separate senior candidates. For those seats the full assessment is the one that matters.
They receive a short confirmation that their submission has been received. The report goes to you as the commissioner. Candidates who want their own report and certificate can sit TCS Certified independently.
Yes. Partner agencies commission First Look at the same £195 and many use it as a screen before putting a candidate forward. Partner rates on the full assessment, credit packs and referral terms are on the For Recruiters page.
The tasks are the same ones our in-tray guide gives you for free. The difference is that we build the scenario, run it under identical conditions for every candidate and have a specialist reviewer score it against a published rubric, so the result is comparable with every other candidate we have ever assessed. If you have the time and a confident marker, run it yourself. If you want it done and signed, that is First Look.
Thirty minutes of their time, two pages back within 48 hours, and the £195 comes off the full assessment if you go on to commission it.