How to apply

All our current vacancies are advertised on the Civil Service Jobs website. You can search for jobs there and filter roles by various parameters, including location, role or salary.

We recruit on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, in line with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. Our selection processes are designed to ensure that all candidates receive fair and equal treatment.

Because we recruit to so many different roles, it’s not possible to describe the detailed selection processes for all of them here – but every advert we publish describes what we’re looking for and how we’ll assess applications for that role.

On this page, you’ll find an overview of the selection approaches we use and the general application process we follow.

1. How we assess applications – Success Profiles

Like other Civil Service departments, we use the Success Profiles framework to assess applications for our roles. Success Profiles contains 5 elements: Ability, Behaviours, Experience, Strengths and Technical. You can learn more about Success Profiles and the different elements.

Not all of the Success Profiles elements are relevant to every role. The ones we choose to assess you by will vary depending on the level and type of role you apply for. You might be assessed on only one element, or any combination of them.

In addition, for some roles we may use Professional Technical Frameworks to help assess candidates. When we do so, this fact and further information on those frameworks will be clearly set out in the job advert.

2.Before applying – Eligibility

Before applying you should check whether you are eligible to do so.

  • Firstly, you must have the Right to Work in the UK. There must be no employment restriction or time limit on your permitted stay in the UK. You will need to demonstrate that you are legally permitted to work and that you have no restrictions on your permitted time to stay in the UK. EEA nationals and their qualifying family members with pre-settled status or an outstanding application under the EU Settlement Scheme may apply. Those with time limited Right to Work must ensure that they maintain their Right to Work during their employment.
  • Secondly, you must meet the nationality requirements stipulated in the job advert. All our posts are classed as either Non-reserved or Reserved.

Non-reserved posts

Are open to UK Nationals, British Nationals (Overseas), British Protected Persons, Commonwealth Citizens, EEA Nationals of other member states and certain non-EEA family members and Swiss nationals under the Swiss EU agreement. Candidates with dual nationality are in principle eligible for employment in the Civil Service, provided that they meet the requirements in relation to one of their nationalities.  Candidates should note the need to be eligible under the Civil Service Nationality Rules.  More information can be found on Gov.UK

Reserved posts

Are open to UK nationals i.e. British citizens, British subjects under Part IV of the British Nationality Act 1981 having the right of abode in the UK, and British Dependent Territories citizens  acquiring citizenship from connection with Gibraltar.  Candidates with dual nationality are in principle eligible for employment in the Civil Service provided that they meet the requirements in relation to one of their nationalities.  Candidates should note the need to be eligible under the Civil Service Nationality Rules.  More information can be found on Gov.UK

3. Submitting your application

We only accept applications through the Civil Service Jobs website and all applications must be made online unless you have a disability that prevents you from applying by that route  (see Reasonable adjustment section below). Please note that once you submit your application, you cannot amend it.

As part of your application, you will be asked to enter your most current employment details, covering a period of at least 3 years. You can enter up to a total of 8 previous jobs, and you must provide details of any gaps in your employment history.

Reasonable adjustment

We are a Disability Confident Leader and as such, if a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we are committed to adapting our processes.

If you require such a change to complete your application, you should approach the point of contact in the job advert to discuss your needs as soon as possible before the closing date.

Please also complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to explain what help you might need during the recruitment process (for example, we can ensure wheelchair access or a Language Service Professional at your interview).

4. Online tests

For some vacancies, we ask candidates to complete online tests. Online tests are an assessment of your ability to meet the requirements of the role. The standard tests that we choose from include:

  • The Civil Service Verbal Test
  • The Civil Service Numerical Test
  • The Civil Service Work Strengths Test
  • The Customer Service Skills Test
  • The Civil Service Management Judgement Test
  • The Casework Skills Test

We also sometimes use other tests, where relevant to the role.

Typically, we ask you to sit one or more of these tests. Candidates must pass each test in order to proceed to the next stage of the application process. We use these online tests because they offer a robust and effective assessment of your ability, and require no evaluation of education qualifications or work experience.

We will calculate your score based on the responses you provide, and then compare it with the results of a peer group who have taken the same test(s).

You will receive an automatically generated feedback report that will help you to understand how well you performed. It will also provide some general suggestions as to how you could have improved your score.

5. Application

If you pass the online tests set, you’ll proceed to the full application stage. The information you’ll be asked to complete will vary depending on the role, but the advert and the application form will set out exactly what’s required of you.

You might be asked to submit a CV demonstrating your qualifications and employment history and/or a personal statement. These may be used to assess different Success Profiles elements, including your Experience and any Technical professional skills, knowledge or qualifications. Behaviours – examples of actions or activities you’ve delivered – can also be assessed from your CV, or we might ask you to provide specific examples of them on the application form.

Whatever documents you are asked to complete, please do not include any information that could identify you. This is really important, as we want our candidates to succeed based on their suitability for the role, not who they are.

Your application will be scored by us to determine whether you will be invited to the next stage or not. Once you’ve submitted your application, you’ll be able to track its progress via the Civil Service Jobs website.

Guaranteed interview scheme

As a Disability Confident Leader, we offer a guaranteed interview for people with disabilities. We also offer these for veterans of the armed forces applying for our externally-advertised roles. In both cases, candidates meeting the minimum criteria for appointment (as published in the relevant job advert) will be guaranteed an interview.

If you wish to apply for consideration under this scheme, please complete the appropriate section on the online application form so that we can make any necessary arrangements.

6. Interview

If you are successful in reaching this stage of the application process, you will receive an email explaining how to arrange your interview slot.

Most interviews last about an hour and will test you on the advertised criteria for the post. These may relate to the Behaviours, Experience and Technical elements considered previously, or to Strengths (which are most commonly tested at interview only), alongside any other assessment elements being used.

As the name suggests, Strengths questions test the things you’re good at. There are no right or wrong answers to Strengths questions: we are looking at your initial and unrehearsed responses.

You may also be asked to prepare a presentation on a given subject area. If this is the case, we will notify you in advance of the interview.

7. After the interview

If you are unsuccessful in your application, you will receive an email from us containing links to your scores for the different elements tested. We aim to offer all candidates invited to interview further feedback, but sadly this isn’t always possible due to the nature of some roles and the volume of responses we receive.

If you have been successful in your application, we will send you a provisional offer of employment, pending the pre-appointment checks specified in the job advert.

These checks include those relating to your eligibility. They can take several weeks to conduct and must be satisfactorily completed before we can make a formal offer of employment or agree a start date. Therefore, if you are in employment, please do not hand in your notice until a formal job offer is made.

All non-civil servants need to undergo a security check as part of pre-employment checks. If you are an existing civil servant, some roles may require further, more detailed vetting. To enable us to complete a security check, you should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV. Please check the advert for the level of Security Clearance required for the role.

A lack of UK residency is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the recruiting manager listed in the advert for further advice on this front.

Visit GOV.UK for more information about the different types of security checks.