Civil Service Fast Stream

Approx 45% of civil service is men. And about 83% of those men are white. It is very competitive but it’s possible. I would consider applying for other options as well if he is open to that.

Agreed

The university blind thing is a red herring. You have to be incredibly smart to get onto the fast stream. The recruitment process is really rigorous.

I'm a civil servant in a major Whitehall department. There are lots of white middle class men, but once you're in I think it's pretty meritocratic.

Incredible - overt discrimination is allowed, apparently. Makes a mockery of DEI .. but oh apologies, it only works one way doesn’t it, especially with the nasty Labour Party. Sooner they’re out the better.

And despite the fact that Mummy didn't get involved with his application.

Wow, what a spiteful comment.

But Imperial is out of the question for many families in the middle whose kids don’t get full loans and who aren’t as a family on uber high incomes. Accommodation in London is ££££ and families are having to increasingly look at cheaper unis closer to home. Your uni absolutely shouldn’t be part of the selection process particularly when you consider the privately educated are over represented in the top unis
anyway.

Not any more according to the BBC article that's just been published today. You are going to be asked what job your parents so they can employ 'working class' people.

What’s th e point in the masters?

I know a lovely Fast Streamer. He's thirty now so got in some years ago. He's white and middle class and even says he's a rare bird because he didn't go to private school or Oxbridge (he is however fluent in arabic and one of the most capable young people I know - definitely ambassador material).

I also know lots of others of all stripes who didn't make it who are now doing other great jobs.

My very white middle class son finished the fast stream a year or so ago. He hasn’t mentioned any bias towards or away from himself

My DH is a senior science officer for the civil service and is white, middle aged and from a rather privileged background.

I wouldn't worry.

Easy least then if we follow these instructions

That really annoys me. DC could have gone to the university a mile up the road to the one they went to got fee reduction because of having three A* grades at A level coasted through the course and get a first while gaining experience with plenty of time to apply for jobs and to work part time gaining experience.
Also DH and I should have left school at 16 and got "working class" jobs and thought thirty years ahead about what DC's will need

And asking about parental job is all very well but what if it’s single parent family, which is going to be relatively economically disadvantaged? Adverse childhood experiences? Looked after children? free school meals? Etc etc

People are responding to this like the son exists. Come on. Never seen such a transparent attempt to stir up drama about a (very insignificant) news story

@EdisinBurgh You do realise civil servants encompasses people in admin grades on not much more than minimum wage as well? The vast majority of civil servants do not hold enough power to make decisions that affect the running of the country. Even so, many of the people I work with came from industry or academia, and a lot of our SLT worked elsewhere for many years before joining the civil service.

Thank you both for posting about the entry requirements that’s interesting
I would say economic deprivation is an objective marker, not the same as ‘class’ which feels very subjective. it’s also easily verifiable if the parents were UK based and in the tax system. And still verifiable internationally.

So basically the priviledged privately educated are ok and now those from low income backgrounds will be prioritised so essentially those from the squeezed middle are now screwed.

Any organisation hoping to attract the best and brightest - as our government certainty should be - needs a graduate entry route. That is a fact.

Besides, the Fast Stream pays £30k a year. Acceptable for a fresh grad with a clear path to promotion, but the capable sort of people the Fast Stream seeks to recruit are not going to be interested in a salary that low five years out from university by which point they will be earning far more elsewhere.

If that is what he wants to do, he should apply. He doesn’t need you putting daft ideas in his head. And if he doesn’t get it, he shouldn’t just blame a scheme.

Seems like a good career choice to me though. Well paid, good pension, lots of opportunities once you are in, don’t seem to get made redundant even if they’ve got no work to do.

Also, if he is as good as you think he is, then stop worrying unnecessarily about his future. Life is stressful enough without making up potential problems.

Personally I think anyone who wants to run our country (eg the civil service) should get as wide experience as possible beforehand and so entry to the civil service should be for people with a minimum of five years solid work experience in other sectors.

Too many civil servants went straight from school to university to fast stream. They’ve seen nothing or little of the real world (like some politicians!)

@Theroadt The policy refers to 6 week internships, not all civil service jobs.

Having conducted final interviews for the fast stream, my advice would be:

1. Don't be arrogant
2. Answer the actual question, not what you want the question to be
3. Use the STAR/CAR format
4. Give me some indication that you've read at least some of the masses of information about the scheme
5. Those with experience outside formal education often had better answers
6. Don't waffle

I’m civil service and my manager is a white middle aged man and his manager is a white middle aged man. It’s fully of white middle aged men

Someone I managed was successful applying for fast stream last year. It is London centric but there are postings elsewhere; just less of them. Oh and the person I managed is a white middle aged man too. Not sure what class he is but he used to be a head teacher 🤣

FWIW I worked with a small group of FSers once. Maybe ten years ago. Not all white and of both sexes. All were standout intelligent, super personable, keen and confident, proactive, capable. Definitely not ‘Tim Nice but Dim’ types, the selection process is notoriously lengthy and ruthless. Anyway the work they did was very impressive.

I didn’t ask their educational or employment backgrounds but could hear from their accents that they were from all over the country. I definitely didn’t go to school with anyone that sparky like that! So OP please do encourage your young person to apply, he sounds great.

My tip is what I felt the majority of the the Civil servants and fast streamers lacked was practical operational expertise, but very bright people were not scarce among them.
So maybe if he can gather any sense of how a major project or major system like a hospital or factory or data centre works via a temporary job or internship, that would stand him in good stead and make him stand out from other bright candidates.

My DD2 joined the fast stream last year and is loving it . The process was long , I think. 6 or 7 different parts to the assessment starting with a maths assessment then some problem solving case study type things . There was an assessment day with other applicants where they had to work as a group . Then a q/a by teams and last stage was an interview panel of some sort - all by teams.
she approached it on the basis of the stats that she would be unsuccessful but would give it her very best shot for the experience.
she is white middle class -2:1 from Russell group uni.
the experience and training she is getting so far in her first year is amazing -.she is well supported and there is a good social vibe with others in the fast stream as they are in a little work group for continuing development. Only draw back is having to move jobs ( and may be move) at the end of the year but she did get to express a preference and got what she wanted . Pay is ok ish but not great compared to other grad schemes but there’s a good path to promotion and the funded training will enable her to jump ship.into the private sector if necessary.She also really likes the people she’s working with and respects them as hard working knowledgeable professionals but also just really nice people . Good luck to your son - loads of her cohort are same demographics as him so I honestly don’t think it will be a barrier .