Civil Service Fast Stream

The Civil Service Fast Stream is the UK government’s flagship graduate programme, run by Civil Service Resourcing. It is a graduate entry route into accelerated leadership and management development, rather than a conventional employer or standalone internship.

Participants join one of 17 schemes, including Commercial, Finance, Digital, Diplomatic and Development, Government Policy and Project Delivery. The programme combines postings across government departments with structured learning, coaching, mentoring and, on many schemes, professional qualifications; participants cannot choose their exact department or role.

For a MiM student, its distinctive strength is breadth: work can span policy, operations, finance, digital and international-facing roles, with a permanent contract and a clear Civil Service profession pathway. Selection is highly competitive: the 2025 campaign recorded 251,344 applications across 676 vacancies and a 1.0% overall success rate.