The Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced that the Career Service Examination for Foreign Service Officer (CSE-FSO) will be moved to 12 September from its original date of 22 August.

In an advisory, the CSC explained that the rescheduling is a result of the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in the National Capital Region (NCR) from 6 to August 20, which has affected the preparatory or administrative requirements and procedures necessary for the conduct of the said exam.

Moreover, the restrictions implemented by the government would most likely affect the mobility of the examinees, most of whom will come from NCR.

A total of 777 examinees are scheduled to take the CSE-FSO at testing centers in Bacolod City, Baguio City, Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Legazpi City, Lucena City, Quezon City, San Fernando City (La Union), City of San Fernando (Pampanga), Tuguegarao City, and Zamboanga City.

Conducted in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the CSE-FSO serves both as a qualifying test and an eligibility examination. As a qualifying test, it forms the first part of the five-part Foreign Service Officer Examination (FSOE). Thus, passing the CSE-FSO is a requisite to be able to proceed to the succeeding parts of the FSOE, which are the Preliminary Interview, Written Test, Psychological Test, and Oral Test, all administered by the DFA. The FSOE is being done to recruit candidates for the Foreign Service Officer, Class IV position.

As an eligibility examination, passers of the CSE-FSO shall simultaneously be conferred the Career FSO Eligibility. This eligibility is appropriate to first level (clerical) and second level (technical) positions in the government that do not involve practice of profession and are not covered by bar, board, and other laws.