Part 1: The size, shape and development of the fast stream

Recent history

The 2010s were a time of transformation for the fast stream

The fast stream – or something like it – has existed for decades. Since at least the mid-20th century generations of civil servants have benefited from accelerated career progression and often reached the most senior grades. By the late 1980s the term ‘fast stream’ was in common usage and today the scheme is the civil service’s most widely known talent development programme, attracting thousands of applicants each year and ranking highly among graduate employers. ³¹ Government Skills, ‘Fast Stream retains a top spot in graduate employer ranking’, 23 September 2024, www.gov.uk/government/news/fast-stream-retains-a-top-spot-in-graduate-employer-ranking

The scheme in its current form is the product of a series of changes introduced primarily during the 2010s. Before these changes, the fast stream consisted of a series of separate schemes – some focused on training the next generation of civil service generalists and others on developing specialist and analytical skills. Co-ordination across the schemes was largely limited to recruitment, which was managed centrally by the Cabinet Office. Fast streamers would be allocated to individual departments, where they would be posted for the entirety of the programme. Under this model, fast streamers’ experiences were strongly shaped by the departments they were posted to, with little sense of consistency or coherence across the board – in the kind of work fast streamers did, the mentorship they received, the quality of line management or the training offer.

In the early 2010s, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude started a process of reform seeking to centralise and standardise the scheme and bring its operating model closer to that of private sector graduate schemes. ² Chambers J, ‘The Fast Stream enters the rapids’, Civil Service World, 22 February 2012, www.civilserviceworld.com/in-depth/article/the-fast-stream-enters-the-rapids  Following a review by a ‘Fast Stream Task and Finish Group’ led by then HMRC permanent secretary Lin Homer, fast stream schemes started to be brought under central management, and fast streamers began rotating across departments over the course of the scheme. ³ Ibid.

These reforms were implemented with the 2013 cohort of fast streamers. ⁴ Civil Service Human Resources, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2013, September 2014, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7da4c440f0b65d8b4e2a23/Fast_stream_annual_report-2013.pdf  Most notably, this included the launching of a rehauled Corporate fast stream (which later became the Generalist scheme), the new version of which was built around a standardised four-year programme, comprising four six-month postings across at least two departments (and, often, across locations – with a particular focus on placing fast streamers outside of London), followed by two year-long postings.

Subsequent reforms included moving the so-called ‘e-Tray’ stage of the application process fully online in 2014, ⁵ Ibid.  and more schemes being centrally managed from the Cabinet Office by the Fast Stream and Emerging Talent (FSET) team within Civil Service HR. These included the Digital and technology and the European schemes from 2014, ⁶ Civil Service Fast Stream, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2014, September 2015, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/457600/Civil_Service_ Fast_Stream_-_Annual_Report_2014__web_.pdf  and the Statistical service scheme from 2015. ⁷ Civil Service HR and Fast Stream and Emerging Talent, Fast Stream and Early Talent Annual Report 2016, February 2018, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ab528e8e5274a1aa2d415c7/FSET_Annual_Review_2016.pdf_23_March_Final.pdf

The overall number of schemes available also increased during this period, with five new profession-aligned* (but still centrally managed) schemes on Project delivery, Finance, Audit, Commercial and Communications also launched in 2015. ⁸ Civil Service Fast Stream, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2014, September 2015, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/457600/Civil_Service_Fast_Stream_-_Annual_Report_2014…  The learning and development (L&D) offer was also sharpened, with the introduction of phased formal learning delivered centrally by Civil Service Learning. ⁹ Civil Service Human Resources, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2013, September 2014, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7da4c440f0b65d8b4e2a23/Fast_stream_annual_report-2013.pdf

A greater focus on diversity

The 2010s also saw intensified efforts to improve diversity in the civil service generally, and in the fast stream specifically. The Summer Diversity Internship Programme (SDIP), dedicated to undergraduates from under-represented groups, was made larger and more prominent and by 2017 a ‘Fast Pass’ system was introduced allowing summer interns to skip the initial assessment stage of the fast stream application process. ¹⁰ Civil Service HR, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2017 and 2018, December 2018, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c1cff7b40f0b66cf8298a17/Civil_Service_Fast_Stream_Annual_Report_2017_-_2018.pdf  An Early Diversity Internship Programme (EDIP), which further diversified the fast stream’s outreach offer by offering weeks-long placements to first-year undergraduates interested in the civil service, was set up in 2015. ¹¹ Civil Service Fast Stream, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2014, September 2015, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/457600/Civil_Service_Fast_Stream_-_Annual_Report_2014…

To complement the diversity internships, FSET launched a streamlined schools outreach programme, organising work experience and tutoring opportunities as well as events aiming to raise the profile of a civil service career. ¹² Civil Service Fast Stream and Early Talent, Civil Service Fast Stream and Fast Track: Annual Report 2015, January 2017, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7fa27ded915d74e33f7a16/Fast_Stream_Annual_Report_2015_Publication.pdf

In 2016, the Bridge Group published a government-commissioned report on socio-economic diversity in the fast stream. ¹³ Bridge Group, Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring and Cabinet Office, Socio-Economic Diversity in the Fast Stream, February 2016, www.gov.uk/government/publications/socio-economic-diversity-in-the-fast-stream-the-bridge-report  The report marked a turning point in awareness around socio-economic background (SEB) and the under-representation of those from lower SEB on the scheme – many of which, as the report found, still saw the scheme as “white, male and Oxbridge”. Many of its findings and recommendations, including around the length of the recruitment process, the assessment centre venue, and the scheme’s geographical focus on London, were accepted ¹⁴ Civil Service HR and Fast Stream and Emerging Talent, Fast Stream and Early Talent Annual Report 2016, February 2018, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ab528e8e5274a1aa2d415c7/FSET_Annual_Review_2016.pdf_23_March_Final.pdf  and have informed fast stream reform efforts since. ¹⁵ Civil Service HR, Civil Service Fast Stream: Annual Report 2017 and 2018, December 2018, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c1cff7b40f0b66cf8298a17/Civil_Service_Fast_Stream_Annual_Report_2017_-_2018.pdf

The pandemic and beyond

The volume of fast stream applications increased substantially over the second half of the 2010s, peaking in 2020 against the backdrop of pandemic-induced uncertainty in the graduate job market. But between 2020 and 2023 the number of applications declined by 58%, raising some concerns around the attractiveness of the scheme. ¹⁶ Urban J, Thomas A and Worlidge J, ‘Declining fast stream applications are a warning sign for the civil service’, Institute for Government, 22 March 2024, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/declining-faststream-applications-warning   ¹⁷ Markson T, ‘’Very worrying’: Interest in the Civil Service Fast Stream plummets’, Civil Service World, 12 March 2024, www.civilserviceworld.com/in-depth/article/civil-service-fast-stream-applications-plummet-paycovid- disruption  The number of applications ticked up again in 2024.

There were various reasons for this, some of which go beyond general Covid-induced fluctuations and are specific to the fast stream. At least part of the drop could be attributed to the disruption caused by the Johnson government temporarily pausing the scheme in 2022, which the Institute for Government at the time argued was a short-sighted mistake. ¹⁸ Clyne R, ‘Stopping the civil service fast stream is a short-sighted mistake’, Institute for Government, 31 May 2022, www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comment/stopping-civil-service-fast-stream-short-sighted-mistake  Though the Sunak government later reversed the decision and recruitment was resumed, this led to a substantially shorter recruitment window and may have had a ‘stickier’ effect on application numbers, damaging the trust of prospective candidates and creating a sense of unpredictability around what had until then been a stable feature of the graduate job market.

Pay has also emerged as an increasingly salient issue in recent years. In 2023, fast stream members of the FDA union voted to strike for the first time, amid wider cost of living pressures and against the backdrop of stagnating pay. ¹⁹ Markson T, ‘Fast streamers vote to strike for first time ever over stagnant pay’, Civil Service World, 17 January 2023, www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/fast-stream-vote-strike-over-pay-first-time-fda-union  But labour was not ultimately withdrawn, and negotiations with the Cabinet Office yielded a pay settlement worth 6.75% over two years, alongside the introduction for the first time of a London living allowance on the scheme. ²⁰ Markson T, ‘Fast streamers vote to strike for first time ever over stagnant pay’, Civil Service World, 17 January 2023, www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/fast-stream-vote-strike-over-pay-first-time-fda-union  Both came into effect in 2024, when applications ticked up again. In 2025, FDA and the Cabinet Office struck a new pay deal for 2025/26 which included uplifts between 1.18% (for first year fast streamers) and 6.41% (for second year fast streamers) – with the Cabinet Office confirming that fast stream pay would be reviewed annually in the future, following broader civil service pay remit guidance. ²¹ Markson T, ‘Fast streamers accept 2025-26 pay award’, Civil Service World, 22 August 2025, www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/fast-streamers-accept-202526-pay-award

The post-pandemic period has also seen renewed interest in fast stream reform. The transformation programme initiated in 2020 and finalised in 2024 included full alignment between fast stream schemes and the civil service professions, culminating with splitting the Generalist scheme (successor to the Corporate fast stream) into Government policy and Operational delivery, the introduction of regional pilots in Darlington, Yorkshire, the West Midlands, and later Scotland (whereby fast streamers were guaranteed their postings would all be located within the region), upgrades to the L&D offer and increasing STEM representation on the programme. ²² Modernisation and Reform Unit, ‘A Skilled Civil Service: Reforming the Fast Stream’, November 2023, https://moderncivilservice.blog.gov.uk/2023/11/05/a-skilled-civil-service-reforming-the-fast-stream/

Starting in 2024, FSET also reformed its approach to line management. Previously, every fast streamer would be assigned a skills and capability manager (SCM) based in the Cabinet Office, who would be expected to support their development for the duration of the scheme and serve as a single point of contact for airing concerns. SCMs shared some line management responsibilities with activity managers, who task manage fast streamers on their individual postings. The 2024 reforms replaced SCMs with fast stream delivery managers (FSDMs), who are no longer expected to be in contact with individual fast streamers throughout the programme. They are instead involved in managing an online platform through which fast streamers can raise issues and queries around their postings and activity managers – and have them picked up by any available FSDM (rather than one specifically assigned to them or their cohort).

Changes have also been recently made to the internship programmes feeding into the fast stream. In 2023, the EDIP was scrapped and the SDIP became a summer internship programme (SIP) open to all undergraduates. In 2025, the government announced that it was once again restricting eligibility for SIP – but only to applicants from a lower socio-economic background. ²³ Cabinet Office and the Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP, ‘Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service’, 1 August 2025, www.gov.uk/government/news/internship-scheme-to-get-more-working-classstudents-into-civil-service

The programme today

The schemes

As of 2025, the fast stream consists of 17 different schemes, all of which are aligned with a profession or function. The latest available application data (for the 2024 intake) shows a plurality of fast streamers joining the Government policy scheme (314, 32% of the total intake), followed by Digital, data, tech and cyber and Project delivery (102 and 101 respectively, or 10% of the intake).

There is substantial variation in how competitive different schemes are. The most competitive schemes are Diplomatic and development (0.4% success rate), Social research and HR (0.9% and 1% success rate).

The fast stream is managed by FSET, but the professions have recently become more actively involved in the design of their respective schemes – as well as supporting FSET on operational aspects. The programme is now between three and five years long, varying by scheme, and fast streamers are usually expected to rotate across multiple departments. Each profession determines the overall length of their scheme, as well as the number and length of postings.

Recruitment

Eligibility to apply to the fast stream varies slightly by scheme – and whether candidates are currently working in the civil service or not. A 2.2 undergraduate degree is the minimum requirement for external applicants, with more stringent requirements in place for the analytical schemes (e.g. 2.1 undergraduate degree in a ‘highly numerate degree subject’ for Operational research) and the Science and engineering scheme, which requires candidates to hold a postgraduate degree in any science or engineering discipline, or be a chartered engineer or scientist. Existing civil servants (that is, internal candidates) are exempt from the degree requirement when applying for most schemes. 

The application process is to a great extent standardised across schemes and starts with a series of online tests, of which, in the latest application cycle (for the 2025 entry cohort) there were three – on using data, work-based scenarios and a case study assessment. ²⁴ Civil Service Fast Stream, ‘Online tests’ Civil Service Careers, (no date) retrieved 15 August 2025, www.civilservice- careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/fs-how-to-apply/fs-online-tests/  This is followed, for those who have reached the required standard in the online test stage, by a half-day assessment centre, held online, which includes a written advice exercise, a stakeholder communication exercise and a personal development conversation. ²⁵ Civil Service Fast Stream, ‘Assessment Centre’ Civil Service Careers, (no date) retrieved 15 August 2025, https:// www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/fs-how-to-apply/fs-assessment-centre/  For all schemes bar Government policy, Human resources and Digital, candidates have to go through a third stage, the final selection board, where the assessments are designed and delivered by the relevant profession. ²⁶ Civil Service Fast Stream, ‘Final Selection Board’ Civil Service Careers, (no date) retrieved 15 August 2025, www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/fs-how-to-apply/fs-final-selection-board/

Career progression and development

One of the fast stream’s main selling points to prospective applicants is the accelerated career progression it offers to those on the scheme. Starting at HEO-level equivalent, fast streamers are expected to take up Grade 7 roles upon finishing the scheme and passing their end-of-scheme assessment (ESA).

To support this career progression, fast streamers can access a dedicated L&D offer that has been standardised in recent years to include a formal induction programme (Base Camp), structured training on leadership and management skills and further learning organised by and around the professions.

Several schemes offer certified qualifications to fast streamers as part of the programme – such as the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) qualification for the Commercial scheme and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) qualification for HR. In 2024, fast streamers on the Government policy scheme are also required to take the PGL2 module on policy making offered by King’s College London.

Postings

The allocation of postings on the fast stream is managed centrally by FSET. Each year, departments submit bids for fast streamers, setting out the number of fast streamers they want to be allocated, as well as their professions. Once allocations are confirmed, departments submit details on the roles fast streamers will be doing to FSET. These roles are quality assured by departmental profession leads as well as FSET – and may be rejected if they fall short of specified standards.

After roles are approved and quality assured, FSET matches fast streamers to available postings, accounting as far as possible for fast streamers’ expressed preferences as well as their development needs.**

Relocation

There is still an expectation that fast streamers should be ready to relocate across the country over the course of the programme, depending on their posting allocation. All fast streamers receive eight weeks’ notice of their next posting and those who have to relocate can also access financial support for some moving-related costs. Relocation restrictions exist for those who are not able to move due to personal circumstances (e.g. caring responsibilities or health reasons).

The recently introduced regional pilots in Darlington, Yorkshire, the West Midlands and, since 2024, Scotland guarantee fast streamers who have opted in that all their postings will be in the same region.

_{* ‘Professions’ are groupings of civil servants with particular skills or knowledge, and serve as a means for developing skills and defining career pathways. Almost all civil servants belong to one of about 30 professions, though some belong to more than one.}

_{** Previously, fast streamers could specify departmental preferences as part of the posting allocation process. This is no longer an option. Starting in 2025, fast streamers instead specify the skills they would like to develop on their next posting – which are then fed into FSET’s matching process.}

Size and recruitment

Fast stream cohorts have become larger over time

Before the 2013 reforms the fast stream had been reasonably stable in size, with between 300 and 600 appointments made every year since 1999. The programme has since expanded substantially, driven by departments’ resourcing demands. Recommendations for appointment* peaked in 2018 – at 1,411 – and subsequently declined, reaching 986 for the latest intake for which data is available.

Interest in the fast stream has also fluctuated. Between 1999 and 2009, the number of applications was below 20,000 every year bar one – and it continued to hover around this level for the first half of the 2010s. Between 2015 and 2017, applications nearly doubled, driven primarily by the closing gap between those registering and those submitting their applications.** Applications continued rising in subsequent years and peaked in 2020 (at 64,697). The post-pandemic period saw a sharp drop in applications, which had declined by 58% by 2023, with numbers rebounding substantially in 2024.

Success rates have also seen some variation over time. Between 2013 and 2021, success rates fell from 4.8% to 1.8%, reaching their lowest level since 1998. They saw a subsequent spike between 2021 and 2023, only to decline again to 2.2% in 2024.

The balance between internal and external applicants to the fast stream has also changed over time. In 2012, partly owing to more onerous requirements for internal applicants, just 0.5% of total applications were from existing civil servants. The figure has been on an upward trajectory, more than doubling in 2016–17 (from 4.1% to 9.2%) and reaching its peak – of 20.4% – in 2023. Between 2012 and 2024, the share of candidates recommended for appointment who were already working in the civil service more than doubled – from 5.5% to 11.2% – though it has in the last year seen a drop from its peak (16.9% of offers in 2023). The increased share of in-service applicants among fast streamers has occurred against the backdrop of deliberate inreach efforts by FSET, alongside external outreach.

_{* Recommendations for appointment have, since 2018, been the main metric for fast stream applicant ‘success’, given the Cabinet Office no longer publishes the numbers of appointments made to the scheme. Following a recommendation for appointment, a candidate may decline appointment – and, every year, some do. As a result, the number of fast stream appointments will in practice generally be lower than the number of recommendations for appointment.}

_{** The Cabinet Office publishes data on the number of candidates who ‘registered’ to apply for the fast stream. This includes everyone who has created an account on the online application platform. Applications are considered submitted only after candidates have completed the initial online test stage of the recruitment process.}

Diversity

The fast stream has become more representative of the general population

In recent decades, fast stream management has made conscious efforts to address gaps in representation on the scheme (see above). As a result, recruitment data shows fast stream cohorts generally becoming more diverse over time. The fast stream is now above the UK population benchmark in terms of representation for most sociodemographic characteristics.

Women’s representation on the fast stream has fluctuated in recent decades. In most fast stream intakes since 1998, female candidates have had higher success rates in fast stream recruitment than male candidates – and since 2014, women’s share of fast stream applications as well as recommendations for appointment* has been above the UK population benchmark.

Between 2019 and 2022, a greater share of fast stream offer holders were female than their share in the whole civil service. But in recent years that has changed. In 2024, women made up 50.2% of fast stream recommendations for appointment – lower than the proportion of applicants (53.6%) or civil servants overall (54.5%).

Minority ethnic representation on the fast stream has been on a clear upward trajectory – as it has been in the wider civil service. The share of minority ethnic applicants for the fast stream has consistently been above the UK population and whole civil service benchmarks since 1998 and 2002 respectively. By 2024, over a third of applicants were from minority ethnic backgrounds (35.8%), over double the UK population benchmark (17.5%) and comfortably above the overall share of minority ethnic civil servants (16.6%).

Minority ethnic candidates have also made up an increasing share of recommendations for appointment, surpassing the population benchmark every year since 2005 and peaking at 30.4% in 2023. But the figure saw a marked drop in the most recent intake (to 22% in 2024). And minority ethnic candidates have always made up a greater share of applicants than offer holders, and have therefore always had – and continue to have – lower success rates on the fast stream than White applicants, with data on specific ethnic groups showing even starker divides. In 2024, applicants identifying as ‘Black or Black British – African’ had the lowest success rate (0.3%), compared to 2.7% for those identifying as ‘White – British’. The highest success rate was recorded for candidates identifying as ‘White – Irish’ (3.3%).

Disabled representation on the fast stream has also been increasing. The share of disabled applicants has risen from 1.8% in 1998 to 16.0% in 2024, broadly tracking increases in disabled representation across the civil service (rising from 4.1% in 1998 to 16.0% in 2024). In every intake since 1998, the success rate for disabled applicants has been higher than that for non-disabled applicants. And since 2020, the share of disabled offer holders has also been greater than the UK population benchmark, peaking at just over a quarter of recommendations for appointment in 2021 and reaching 20.4% in 2024.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and otherwise non-heterosexual (LGB+) candidates are also better represented on the fast stream than in the overall civil service. Sexual orientation data started being recorded in fast stream recruitment statistics in 2014. Since then, the share of overall as well as successful applicants who identify as LGB+ has been above the share of LGB+ civil servants, which has in turn been above the UK population benchmark. In 2024, 6.9% of civil servants identified as not straight, while 17.9% of applicants and over a quarter (27.6%) of successful applicants did the same. LGB+ candidates have consistently seen higher success rates in fast stream recruitment than heterosexual candidates.

The picture for candidates from a lower socio-economic background is mixed

In the 2010s, and in particular following the publication of the Bridge report, ²⁷ Bridge Group, Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring and Cabinet Office, Socio-Economic Diversity in the Fast Stream, February 2016, www.gov.uk/government/publications/socio-economic-diversity-in-the-fast-streamthe- bridge-report  fast stream management took more action to address its historical reputation as ‘reserved for’ those coming from higher socio-economic backgrounds (SEB) and who had attended elite educational institutions.

The number of fast streamers from lower SEB has been increasing, but the class make-up of the scheme remains highly unreflective of the overall UK population. The share of lower SEB** candidates recommended for appointment to the fast stream in 2024 was three times smaller than the share in the overall UK workforce, according to estimates by the Social Mobility Commission based on 2019 data. ²⁸ Social Mobility Commission, Simplifying how employers measure socio-economic background: An accompanying report to new guidance, May 2021, www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-a-workforces-socioeconomic-background-for-change/simplifying-how-employers-measure-socio-economic-ba…

In recent years, FSET has started to collect more data on various measures of socioeconomic background, and has recorded some further variation across different indicators. For instance, success rates for candidates who went to state non-selective schools have, since 2022, been equal to or above the average success rate for fast stream candidates.

On the other hand, success rates for those from routine and manual (lower) SEB and those whose parents have no formal education were consistently below overall success rates. Although the gap has narrowed over time, success rates for candidates from lower SEB or with parents without formal education were in 2024 roughly half what they were for all fast stream applicants (1.3% and 1.1% respectively, compared to 2.2%).

Oxbridge graduates have the highest success rates of any fast stream applicant group

The largest gaps between the share of applications and recommendations for appointment are with respect to higher education background. In 1998, Oxbridge-educated candidates made up 9.9% of total applications but 34.5% of recommendations for appointment. Both figures have been on a downward trajectory since – and the gap has substantially narrowed. But Oxbridge-educated candidates still have by far the highest success rates of any applicant category – 7.2% in 2024 (compared to 2.2% for all applicants and 1.1% for those educated at non-Russell Group institutions), when they made up 4.5% of applicants but 14.1% of recommendations for appointment.

_{* All fast stream recruitment diversity figures are expressed as shares of total known, excluding those for whom the socio-demographic characteristic is not reported or not known.}

_{** The headline measure of socio-economic background in fast stream recruitment data is based on parental occupation at age 14.}

Fast streamers' views and attitudes

Institute for Government research shows fast streamers value ‘making a difference’

Until now, very little has been known publicly about the views of current and former fast streamers or about those interested in the programme. Although research – like that conducted by High Fliers ²⁹ High Fliers Research, ‘Welcome to High Fliers Research’ (no date) retrieved 15 August 2025, www.highfliers. co.uk  – on graduates’ views and attitudes towards the job market exists and is widely used, it looks at overall trends rather than the fast stream in particular. Results from research carried out internally by the civil service on the fast stream are not generally published.

For the first time, Institute for Government research has set out to generate publicly available insights specific to the fast stream. We researched current and former fast streamers’ and (prospective) applicants’ attitudes towards their career and the importance they assign to various aspects of their professional lives, as well as their views of the fast stream and the civil service more broadly. Our findings, obtained through a survey with 587 respondents and a series of focus groups, reveal substantial agreement across the three respondent categories – though with some notable variation, especially in respondents’ views of the fast stream.

When asked to assess the importance of various aspects of their careers, ‘making a difference’ scored highest for all three categories of respondents. ‘Good prospects for career progression’ and ‘a good relationship with my line manager’ came next, though in different orders for different groups.

At the other end of the spectrum, ‘being able to openly express my political beliefs’ was the only aspect of respondents’ careers that was, on balance, ‘unimportant’ rather than ‘important’, though applicants were marginally more likely to classify it as important than former and current fast streamers.

We also recorded slight differences in respondents’ priorities. Current fast streamers were marginally more likely to consider ‘a good work-life balance’ to be an important aspect of their professional lives than either applicants or former fast streamers. Former fast streamers were more inclined to value both ‘getting a lot of responsibility at work’ and ‘a fast-paced work environment’. And applicants were marginally keener on ‘working in government’ than both current and former fast streamers.

In terms of their views of the civil service, survey respondents from all three categories were positive about the impact on society of working as a civil servant. Current fast streamers were slightly more positive about the treatment that civil servants receive in the workplace, though respondents from all categories on balance thought civil service staff are generally treated well. Although held less strongly, all respondent categories tended towards the view that the civil service is more diverse than other organisations.

The greatest level of variation was recorded in respondents’ views of the pace of work in the civil service, with current fast streamers more likely to think that the civil service is, on balance, more slow- than fast-paced – while applicants and particularly former fast streamers saw it as fast-paced rather than slow-paced.