Cabinet Office Homepage

Main navigation

Civil Service Fast Stream Recruitment 2007

Published by the Cabinet Office, July 2008

Written Ministerial Statement

• Introduction and Explanatory Notes
• Headline Figures
• Fast stream Recruitment in 2007
• In-service
• The Fast stream Selection Process
• Diversity
• Employee Engagement [PDF, 712KB]

Introduction

The Civil Service Fast Stream is a training and development programme which attracts some of the country's most talented graduates. Fast Streamers are selected for their potential to reach the Senior Civil Service and become the leaders of the future.

The Civil Service recruits to the Fast Stream on the basis of fair and open competition and selection on merit. This report summarises Fast Stream recruitment in the year ending November 2007.

• 2007 Fast Stream Recruitment Report in full [PDF 1.2MB, 25 pages]

To help you understand the Report

The Fast Stream consists of five separate schemes:

• The Graduate Fast Stream. This is the largest. In 2007 applicants could ask to be considered for the following options: Central Departments (essentially the Home Civil Service), the Diplomatic Service, the European Fast Stream, Parliamentary Clerkships, the Science and Engineering Fast Stream and the DFID Technical Development Option. Because the Graduate Fast Stream accounts for such a large proportion of each year's intake into the Fast Stream, this Report focuses on it separately as well as in the context of the Fast Stream as a whole.
• The Economist Scheme.
• The Statistician Scheme.
• The Government Communications Headquarters scheme.
• The Technology in Business scheme. This scheme – for graduates interested in using technology to support change in the public sector – was offered for the first time in 2007.

The Economist, Statistician and Technology schemes all involve a test of professional aptitude, but the underlying Fast Stream assessment is aligned with that of the Graduate Fast Stream.

The Graduate Fast Stream selection process is briefly explained on page 3. All Graduate Fast Stream options except Central Departments apply some form of final selection procedure after the Assessment Centre before deciding whom to recommend for appointment. However, all candidates who achieve the pass mark at the Assessment Centre have reached the required standard and are guaranteed a place in the Central Departments option if they want it.

There is also an annual competition (the In-Service competition) for serving civil servants who wish to join the Graduate Fast Stream. This too is included in the Report.

Headline figures from 2007 (for all schemes combined)

• Applications fell very slightly to 13,619 in 2007 ¹ from 13,945 in 20061
• 45 per cent of successful candidates were women, a decrease from 50.4 per cent in 2006.
• 9.5 per cent of successful candidates were from ethnic minorities, down from 11.1 per cent in 2006.
• The proportion of candidates recording a disability and recommended for appointment increased to 8.7 per cent from 7.4 per cent in 2006.
• The proportion of successful candidates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities rose slightly to 31.3 per cent, from 31.1 per cent in 2006.

¹ A total of 19,501 people in 2007 registered an initial interest on the Fast Stream website. However, an application is deemed to have been submitted only if a candidate has completed the self-assessment and proceeds to take the online tests. See page 3.