Barclays Interview Questions & RISES Values Guide 2026

Barclays’ culture is defined by five core values captured in the acronym RISES: Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship. These are not aspirational slogans — they are the explicit scoring criteria that Barclays interviewers use to evaluate every candidate at every stage of recruitment. Understanding each value in depth is the foundation of strong Barclays interview preparation.

R — Respect

Respect at Barclays means treating everyone with dignity, actively fostering an inclusive workplace, and valuing the diverse perspectives that different team members bring. In practice, Respect surfaces in how you talk about colleagues, how you navigate disagreement, and how you ensure quieter voices are heard. Interview questions targeting Respect often ask about diverse teamwork, managing conflict constructively, and creating environments where everyone can contribute fully.

I — Integrity

Integrity means doing the right thing, always — even when no one is watching and even when it creates short-term cost or friction. For a regulated financial institution like Barclays, Integrity has a specific edge: regulatory compliance, accurate reporting, and ethical conduct are non-negotiable. Interview questions on Integrity typically involve ethical dilemmas, situations where you observed wrongdoing, or moments when you had to deliver uncomfortable truths to a manager or stakeholder.

S — Service

Service is about client and customer focus — putting the needs of others at the centre of your work. In Barclays’ context, this extends from retail customers managing their personal finances to institutional clients executing complex transactions. A strong Service response demonstrates that you understand who your customer is (internal or external), that you took time to understand their actual need rather than just their stated request, and that your actions produced a meaningful outcome for them.

E — Excellence

Excellence reflects Barclays’ expectation of high performance, continuous improvement, and quality outcomes. This is not about perfection — it is about consistently doing work to the highest standard you are capable of and actively seeking to raise that standard over time. Interview questions on Excellence often ask about situations where you went beyond minimum requirements, sought feedback proactively, or invested effort in improvement when it was not strictly required.

S — Stewardship

Stewardship is long-term thinking in action: sustainable value creation for all stakeholders — not just short-term profit. In Barclays’ strategic context, Stewardship connects to its commitments around climate transition finance, responsible lending, and community impact. For candidates, demonstrating Stewardship means showing awareness of wider consequences beyond the immediate task — the impact on communities, the environment, and Barclays’ long-term reputation.

Barclays’ graduate and internship recruitment follows a structured multi-stage process. Each stage filters candidates before the next, so passing the early screens is a prerequisite for reaching the interview. Understanding the full sequence helps you allocate preparation time appropriately.

The “Why Barclays?” question is one of the highest-weighted questions in any Barclays interview, at every stage. Interviewers are assessing genuine motivation, firm-specific knowledge, and cultural fit. Generic answers — “Barclays is a global bank with a strong reputation” — fail because every candidate says some version of this. Strong answers are specific, evidence-based, and personal.

What Makes a Strong “Why Barclays?” Answer

A compelling “Why Barclays?” answer requires engaging with what makes Barclays genuinely distinct from its peers. Four differentiators are worth knowing well:

• Transatlantic dual identity: Barclays is one of the very few banks with deep retail roots in the UK and a genuinely competitive investment banking franchise in the US. This creates cross-border client relationships and product integration that purely domestic or purely investment banks cannot replicate. For IB applicants, this is a real differentiator from US-headquartered firms.
• Barclaycard & consumer credit: Barclays runs one of the largest credit card businesses in the world through Barclaycard. This gives the bank a distinctive consumer credit angle that creates unique data, technology, and risk management capabilities relevant for consumer banking, technology, and risk roles.
• Barclays International (BCBS): Barclays’ international retail and business banking operations give it exposure to markets and client segments beyond the UK. For international applicants or those interested in cross-border work, this is a specific and genuine reason to choose Barclays over a purely UK-focused institution.
• Strategic direction: Barclays has been executing a multi-year simplification strategy focused on cost reduction, capital efficiency, and improved shareholder returns. This signals a disciplined, returns-focused culture — relevant for candidates who want to work in a firm actively reshaping itself rather than operating on autopilot.

Worked Example — Investment Banking Division (IB)

Worked Example — Barclays UK (Retail / Consumer Banking)

Barclays uses a strengths-based hybrid format — particularly at the HireVue Digital Interview stage, where the majority of questions are strengths-based rather than competency-based. This is a deliberate choice: Barclays wants to identify candidates who will find the work genuinely energising, not candidates who are skilled at rehearsing competency scripts.

Common Barclays Strengths-Based Questions

• “When do you feel most energised at work or study?”
• “Tell me about something you’re naturally good at.”
• “Describe a time you found a task genuinely easy that others seemed to find difficult.”
• “What strengths would your close friends say you have?”
• “What kind of work makes you lose track of time?”
• “Tell me about an achievement you are proud of — not because others praised it, but because it mattered to you.”
• “What would you do differently if you had more time in a typical working day?”

Worked Example 1 — “When do you feel most energised?”

Worked Example 2 — “What strengths would your friends say you have?”

At the Assessment Centre stage, Barclays uses structured competency questions assessed using the STAR framework: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Every competency question maps to one or more RISES values — identifying this mapping before you answer helps you select the right example and frame it correctly. For a full methodology guide, see our Competency-Based Interview guide.

Q1: Tell me about a time you worked in a diverse team

This question targets the Respect value. Barclays wants evidence that you actively value difference — not just that you have worked alongside diverse colleagues.

Q2: Describe a situation where you had to navigate a difficult ethical situation

This question targets the Integrity value. Barclays takes regulatory and ethical conduct extremely seriously — this question tests whether you will do the right thing when it costs something.

Q3: Give an example of when you delivered excellent client service

This question targets the Service value. The best answers demonstrate that you understood the client’s underlying need, not just their surface request, and that the outcome genuinely served them.

Additional Competency Questions to Prepare

• “Tell me about a time you had to manage multiple competing priorities under pressure.” (Excellence, Stewardship)
• “Describe a time you identified an improvement opportunity that others had missed.” (Excellence)
• “Tell me about a time you had to influence someone who was resistant to your idea.” (Service, Respect)
• “Give an example of a time you failed. What did you learn?” (Integrity, Excellence)
• “Describe a time you considered the long-term impact of a decision, not just the immediate outcome.” (Stewardship)

Technical questions at Barclays appear primarily at the Assessment Centre stage and are calibrated to the division you have applied to. The depth of technical knowledge expected at graduate level is conceptual — you need to understand how things work and why, not necessarily build models from scratch. Use the table below to identify the knowledge areas most relevant to your application.

The Barclays Assessment Centre is the final stage of graduate and internship recruitment. It typically runs for a full day and includes multiple exercises, each scored independently against the RISES values framework. A strong performance across exercises — rather than an exceptional performance in one and weak performance in others — is the target approach. Our comprehensive Assessment Centre guide covers the full range of exercises.

Group Exercise (45–60 minutes)

You will be placed in a group of 5–6 candidates and given a business case scenario to work through together. The scenario typically involves a decision or recommendation that the group must agree on. Assessors observe the group interaction and score each candidate individually — they are not scoring the group’s decision.

• Drive the discussion forward: Groups that get stuck rehashing the problem score poorly. Move the group toward structuring the decision criteria early, then evaluate options against them.
• Include quieter candidates explicitly: Assessors watch for inclusive behaviour (“Emma, we haven’t heard your view on the financial risk — what’s your read?”). This directly demonstrates Respect.
• Be concise: The most effective group exercise contributors make clear, well-structured points — not the most points. Long monologues reduce time for others and signal poor self-awareness.
• Disagree constructively: If you disagree, do so with reasoning and genuine openness: “I see it differently — my concern is that the cost assumption may be optimistic given the timeline. Could we sense-check that before committing?”

For detailed preparation on group exercises, including common scenarios and role dynamics, see our Group Exercise Assessment Centre guide.

In-Tray / E-Tray Exercise

The in-tray exercise presents you with a simulated inbox of emails, documents, and requests that you must work through within a set time limit (typically 30–45 minutes). You will need to prioritise items, make decisions, and sometimes draft written responses.

• Triage first: Spend the first 3–4 minutes scanning all items before acting on any. Identify urgent/important items before diving into the first email you open.
• Demonstrate judgment: The exercise tests decision quality, not just task completion. Where items require a recommendation, give a clear recommendation with brief reasoning — don’t sit on the fence.
• Manage time explicitly: If the exercise includes a time display, use it. Budget time per task category rather than working sequentially through the inbox.

See our dedicated In-Tray Exercise guide for worked examples and timing strategies.

Presentation Exercise

You will be given a brief or topic (sometimes in advance, sometimes on the day) and asked to prepare and deliver a short presentation (typically 5–10 minutes) followed by questions from assessors. Strong presentations are structured, time-managed, and end with a clear recommendation.

• Use a simple structure: context → key findings or analysis → recommendation → risks and mitigations.
• Practise your timing out loud — running over time is common and costs marks.
• Anticipate the questions. Assessors often probe the assumptions or trade-offs in your recommendation — prepare at least three “difficult questions” and your answers.

Competency / Strengths Interview

The Assessment Centre interview is a structured format conducted by HR and a line manager or divisional specialist. It typically runs 45–60 minutes and combines competency questions (STAR-based, linked to RISES) with strengths questions and a discussion of your motivation for the role and division. Preparation: have 8–10 STAR stories mapped across all five RISES values, your “Why Barclays?” answer rehearsed, and 2–3 strong questions to ask your interviewers.

Effective Barclays preparation is sequenced — addressing the early filters first, then building toward the Assessment Centre. Use the plan below to allocate your time across the full recruitment cycle.

• SHL aptitude test preparation (priority one): The online tests are the highest-volume filter in Barclays’ recruitment. Start here. Use our Barclays Aptitude Test guide for test format details and our free timed practice tests to build numerical reasoning speed and accuracy. Practise under timed conditions from day one — accuracy without speed is not enough.
• RISES value mapping exercise: Take 10–12 personal stories from your academic, work, and extracurricular experience. For each story, identify which RISES values it most strongly demonstrates. You want at least 2 stories per value, with no story reused across too many questions. Keep these in a written document so you can review before any interview stage.
• Strengths discovery: Reflect genuinely on what tasks energise you, where time disappears, and what feedback you most consistently receive from others. Use our Strengths-Based Interview guide for frameworks and worked examples. Practice answering strengths questions out loud — authenticity in delivery matters as much as content.
• Market reading — Barclays-specific: Read Barclays’ most recent Annual Report introduction and the CEO letter to shareholders. Follow FT coverage of Barclays for three to four weeks before your assessment. Know the current strategic priorities, recent results headlines, and one or two recent transactions or initiatives relevant to your division.
• Assessment centre simulation: Practice the specific exercises you will face. Use our Assessment Centre guide for a full overview of exercise formats and our Group Exercise guide for the business case format. Do a timed in-tray exercise practice using our In-Tray Exercise guide.
• Mock interviews: Record yourself answering 3–5 STAR questions out loud and review the footage. Most candidates are significantly more verbose and less structured than they realise when they hear themselves back. Target 2–3 minutes per competency answer. Practice “Why Barclays?” until it sounds natural, not rehearsed.