The Civil Service is one of the largest employers in the UK. It supports the government of the day to implement its policies. Civil servants deliver their roles in the spirit of the Civil Service values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Joining the Civil Service means you will become part of a modern, vibrant community of professionals, who have one goal in common: to give back to the communities they serve. You can find out more about what it feels like to work for the Civil Service.

The Civil Service Fast Stream is the Civil Service’s graduate and leadership-development programme. Fast Streamers work across the Civil Service, typically gaining experience of working in different government departments, as they are developed to become the future leaders of the Civil Service. The programme offers unlimited career potential to reach the very highest levels of the organisation. As a Fast Streamer, you will be challenged and stretched from the outset and will be able to apply your skills and learning in a variety of contexts.

Life in the Fast Stream

One of the constants you will find across all streams is the level of responsibility you are entrusted with. A key aim of the Fast Stream is to prepare you for a quicker accession to positions of leadership and to ensure that you are sufficiently equipped to carry out this role to a high standard. Consequently, it is common for Fast Streamers to find themselves getting heavily involved in key elements of work and strategic departmental priorities. This is an integral part of developing the necessary leadership skills to excel within the Civil Service and progress higher up the ranks.

To help you along, the Fast Stream also prides itself on the excellent training opportunities they are able to provide. Whilst some of this may be uniform across all streams, specialist streams also have partnerships with external qualification bodies such as CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) or CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development).

The nature of these roles are fast-paced and high intensity, but the Fast Stream provides you with plenty of support and guidance. Whilst your line manager is responsible for your day-to-day wellbeing and activity, your talent development manager also acts as an overarching support system to ensure you get the most out of your placements.

How to get involved

Make the most of every event run by current Fast Streamers – you’ll gain invaluable insight into what the Fast Stream is really like and how to pass the application process.

As well as applying for the Fast Stream, you can also apply for one of the two award-winning diversity internship programmes the CS offers:

• The Early Diversity Internship Programme is a one week, paid internship in a Government department available to first year undergraduates, which gives you great early insight into working for the Civil Service, shadowing current Fast Streamers at work.
• The Summer Diversity Internship is a 6-9 week paid internship in a Government department for those in their final two years of university (including those in postgraduate studies immediately following their degree), giving you the opportunity to undertake challenging, project related work, developing the skills needed for a Fast Streamer. Upon successful completion of the scheme, you can access the ‘Fast Pass’, which allows you to skip the initial stages of the Fast Stream application and go straight to the final stages. You can also access a coaching scheme designed to increase your chances of successfully passing the FS selection process.

Read more about the FS, EDIP, SDIP including Ambassador blogs and Case Studies here. To pre-register for the 2022 Fast Stream, SDIP & EDIP campaign please send an email to fs.preregister@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Leadership and Assessment Centres: What does it look like in action?

Our Employer Skills Session with representatives from the Civil Fast Stream is on Thursday 3rd December at 6pm. The session will give you more of an insight into the programme and what to expect in their assessment centres. Book your place here