Civil Service

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Sector Overview

This page has been written by Shona Mach, the relevant Careers Adviser for this occupational area. To see how you can meet Shona, or any of our advisers, go to our website to view how and when you can meet them. 


Is it right for me? - further information on this career area, including skills/attributes required and tactics for success (pdf)



The Civil Service is one of the largest employers in the UK with 480,000 staff (as at October 2012; the smallest number since World War 2) working in a wide range of functions, helping the Government of the day to develop and deliver its policies as effectively as possible. For graduates there is a large and varied range of job opportunities with the Civil Service, from the fast stream to specialist roles for professionals and direct entry jobs.

The Civil Service incorporates three types of organisations – departments, agencies, and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). They work in a wide range of areas that touch on everyone’s day-to-day lives, such as education, health and policing. Because their organisations deal with so many different aspects of government, civil servants work in an enormous variety of roles.

Civil servants are politically impartial and their workforce includes people who deliver crucial services direct to the public across the UK, such as Jobcentre Plus staff and coastguards. They also have staff working on policy development and implementation, including analysts, project managers, lawyers and economists.

The Civil Service - Fast Stream

The Fast Stream is a popular career route for graduates as it offers an accelerated development programme into senior positions. It is a competitive and demanding graduate scheme, with limited places and is highly selective in nature. Don't let that put you off applying for the Fast Stream but, if you are very interested in the Civil Service, it is also worth exploring other routes.

The Fast Stream provides an opportunity to be part of a competitive, rewarding graduate scheme where you will be trained to deal with issues such as healthcare, education, democracy, unemployment, pensions, food safety, and transport - topics rarely touched upon in the private sector. 

You can apply for any post in the Civil Service as long as you’re a UK national or have dual nationality with one part being British. In addition, about 75% of Civil Service posts are open to Commonwealth citizens and nationals of any of the member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as Switzerland.

In the Fast Stream graduates are exposed to a range of placements in their own department and via secondments to other departments, agencies, business or industry. Placements can last from 12-18 months and are designed to give experience in three different career groupings: policy, operational delivery and corporate services. Visit the Civil Service Fast Stream website to see the full extent of types of work.

The Fast Stream has six major schemes:

The Civil Service Fast Stream has formal links with Teach First, and they make it possible for successful Fast Stream candidates to defer entry into the Civil Service in order to spend time teaching with this charity.

Also see the Civil Service's Facebook Hub for updates and insights into the programme and the application process.

The Civil Service - Main Stream/Direct Entry/Professional Entry Routes

Civil Service roles vary greatly depending on the department to which you are assigned but you will be contributing to political affairs and working within a team to deliver a high quality of service. The range is enormous and covers any department which employs civil servants. Some of these jobs may be part of a graduate programme and most offer on the job training and a senior member of staff as a mentor. The Civil Service is committed to continuing professional development (CPD) and professional qualifications and has a policy of rewarding excellent service with promotion and/or pay increases.

  • Other departments such as GCHQ, MI5, SIS (MI6) and HMRC also recruit graduates separately from the Fast Stream.
  • Direct Entry jobs, which have been reduced since 2010 as part of the Coalition Government's spending cuts, tend to be specific to a department and applicants generally don't go through an accelerated program of training. When searching for jobs you will need to think about the kinds of posts you can apply to, some of these might be at admin or assistant level others slightly more advanced. They might not specify degree qualifications so looking at the starting salaries and the job descriptions will give you an idea of which jobs would match your knowledge/skills and experience. Once in post Civil Servants can apply for the Fast Stream via the Open Competition described above as well as the In-Service Fast Stream.

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Network with alumni

Connecting with University of St Andrews alumni already working in this sector is a great way to make contacts, gain an insight into what's happening in the sector, and in some cases alumni can become valuable mentors.

  • LinkedIn – By joining the group University of St Andrews Alumni, and the sub-group University of St Andrews Alumni - Mentorship Programme, you'll be able to make contact directly with alumni. Further details can be found on our website: LinkedIn.
  • The Department of Health, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Government Insolvency Service are some of areas of the Civil Service employing members of the University of St Andrews Alumni group.

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How to get experience

  • The Government Economic Economic Service (GES) offers 6 to 12 week Summer Student Placements to students in 2nd year or above who are studying for a degree in economics or a joint degree where economics comprises at least 50% of the total course.
  • The Cabinet Office Summer Diversity Internship Programme offers 6-9 week summer placements to students and graduates from a black & minority ethnic background as well as those from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds. The summer 2013 programme opened for applications on 15 October 2012 and closes on 4 January 2013.
  • In summer 2012 the FCO Future Talent Scheme was offered in two strands for penultimate year students: 1) female undergraduates of any background studying any degree at any UK University; 2) any undergraduate of any background at any UK University studying either hard languages (Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, Farsi, Dari, Pashtu, Russian) or economics.
  • Check Adopt an Intern for paid internships in Scotland for postgraduates and graduates, many of which are in the public sector


Other ways to gain experience

  • Civil Service recruitment is competency-based, which means that they look for good examples of evidence of relevant competencies (skills and aptitudes) in applicants. This means that any work experience where you have the opportunity to develop these will be valuable.
  • At university there are many opportunities to develop competencies. Involvement in societies and volunteering can give you teamwork, organisational, leadership, project management, communication and many other types of experience.
  • The St Andrews Award recognises and celebrates your development through extra-curricular and work related activities and your achievement of the Award will appear on your degree transcript.
  • Use the Careers Alumni Network to contact St Andrews graduates who work in government. Read our advice on networking then send some well-crafted emails to find out what the work is really like and gain tips on how to progress your own career.

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How to find a job

Fast Stream

  • Applications for the 2013 Civil Service Fast Stream competition will be accepted from mid-September 2012. Closing dates will be notified once the online application process has opened.
  • The Fast Stream offers the opportunity to apply for certain combinations of schemes. Further information on the application process and advice about how to approach it are available on the Fast Stream website.
  • If you are a British Citizen and are interested in The Diplomatic Service (FCO) you will need to select this as your first choice under the Graduate Fast Stream in order to be in with a chance. If you score highly on the first round and are selected you will undergo a slightly different selection process and security clearance.
  • The application process varies slightly depending on which scheme you apply to, but generally takes the form of a self-assessment exercise and on-line tests, options selection, e-application form, then an E-tray exercise followed by attendance at an Assessment Centre. You are strongly advised to apply as early as possible.
  • Once you have selected a scheme you will have a specific number of days to complete each stage of the application process, so make sure you are thinking about it early. Come into the Careers Centre to access our books on aptitude tests and have a look at the Psychometric Tests page to start practising tests.
  • The level of competition for all Fast Stream entry posts is intense and you should bear this in mind (although don't let it put you off applying!). Have a look at the most recent Fast Stream Report to see the application statistics for each scheme, including how St Andrews students and graduates performed.
  • Read the helpful report written by a St Andrews student who successfully navigated his way through the recruitment process.
  • The Civil Service Fast Stream has a partnership with Teach First. This means that if you are successful with your Fast Stream application you can defer your place for two years to work with Teach First. Alternatively, if you have been unsuccessful with the Fast Stream, consider applying to Teach First and re-apply to the Fast Stream when you come to the end of your two years teaching.
  • If you are not successful with the Fast Stream, but are still keen to work for the Civil Service look for Main Stream/Direct Entry opportunities (see below) and re-apply for the Fast Stream in-post. Of those civil servants shortlisted by their departments to attend the Fast Stream Assessment Centre in 2010, 37.5 per cent were successful.
  • There are no limits between the time that you graduated and your application. There is also no age limit when applying to the Fast Stream although departments will expect several years’ service before normal retirement age. This means that you can start your career in another area and apply to the Fast Stream later, or re-apply after you have gained some work experience and stronger evidence of the "competencies" sought.
  • Also see the Civil Service's Facebook Hub for updates and insights into the programme and the application process.

Main Stream/Direct Entry/Professional Entry Routes

  • Each government department runs its own recruitment activities, so you can also check the websites of each department you’re interested in and contact them directly when opportunities occur.
  • See the list of Professional Entry Routes on the Civil Service website.
  • Direct Entry jobs tend to be specific to a department and applicants generally don't go through an accelerated program of training. When searching for jobs you will need to think about the kinds of posts you can apply to, some of these might be at admin or assistant level others slightly more advanced. They might not specify degree qualifications so looking at the starting salaries and the job descriptions will give you an idea of which jobs would match your knowledge/skills and experience.
  • If you're interested in working for MI5, read Guardian Careers - Working for MI5: what you need to know about the application process.
  • If working in politics is a strong interest for you have a look at our Public Affairs page too.

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Key Links and Resources

Careers Centre resources

Books

  • How to be a Civil Servant
  • How to Pass the Civil Service Qualifying Tests
  • The London Diplomatic List
  • The 46th Civil Service Year Book

Online

  • Policy Jobs: the Careers Centre subscribes to Policy Jobs - Public Policy jobs and Internships. Allows member access to its sister sites: Political Jobs, Ethical Jobs and Human Rights Jobs [subscriber's username and password]

General Civil Service-related careers information

The EU

  • EU Careers: The European Personnel Selection Office organises open competitions to select staff for recruitment to all institutions of the EU (including Translators and Interpreters, Administrators (Graduate Level), Assistants and Scientific Researchers)
  • EU Careers Facebook page

USA

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