The Scheme
The Care Leavers Internship Scheme is an award-winning scheme run by the Department for Education. We offer jobs for care leavers in either a central government department or agency. The duration of the internship scheme is 18-months. You can be made permanent after the first 12-months depending on:
- your performance over the 12 months
- headcount within the department
- funding within the department
Eligibility Criteria
To apply for the scheme, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- entitled to a leaving care package*
- aged 18-30
- meet the Civil Service nationality requirements
*You must have been in care for a minimum of 13 weeks. Some of this time must have been after your 16th birthday. If you are unsure whether you meet this criteria, please speak to your personal advisor or local authority.
2025 application timeline
This year’s job advert will go live on Civil Service Jobs on June 9th.  You will not be able to apply to the scheme before this date.
The full application timeline for this year is:
- 9 June to 7 July – apply through Civil Service Jobs
- 4 August to 15 August – interviews take place via Microsoft Teams
- September onwards – successful candidates will be allocated a job role
Cited as ‘good practice’ in the independent review of the children’s social care system.
In the review of the children’s social care system, Josh MacAlister set a mission to create more jobs for care leavers by 2026. We have contributed to this mission by:
- offering job roles to over 880 care leavers across government, around 80% of these interns have been made permanent
- supporting the government’s commitment to social mobility
Scheme benefits
- you can develop work-based skills and increase your confidence in a professional environment
- we will provide learning and development opportunities alongside the role
- you can gain independence
- we will pay you the same amount as other Civil Service employees
- you can develop new friendships
- we can help you to reach your potential
Hear from our interns
“The skills I have developed working in the Civil Service have been vast. I have improved my confidence working in an office, my knowledge of Microsoft Packages, and I am more confident when presenting and speaking to people. The internship is providing me with insight into what career path I would like to pursue in the future. My friends and family think the experience I am getting on the Care Leavers Scheme has helped me to mature into a more rounded person.”
Toby, Welsh Government
“What I enjoy most about my role is how every day brings a new challenge. It is helping me to build my confidence and social skills, and although this is an ongoing battle, I have seen such a change in myself and in what I am able to achieve because of the supportive nature of my working environment. I would absolutely recommend the internship to other care leavers. My advice would be to just take a chance and go for it, it may just be the fresh start that you need.”
Gabrielle, HMRC
“I would 100% recommend all care leavers that want to join the Civil Service to apply through this scheme. This is the best life decision I have made, and I am grateful to be in a workplace where I am genuinely happy. There is also so much room for career opportunities.”
Shannon, HMRC
Children’s social care blog
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose which department I am allocated to?
You cannot choose your role or department. We will assign you a job role depending on the grade you were successful at during your interview and your location.
What happens at the end of the 18-months?
You can either be made permanent, have your contract extended, or your line manager should help you to apply for other roles on Civil Service Jobs.
I live in a town/city that wasn't advertised on the job advert. Can I still apply?
We can only offer you a role in a location that was advertised. If the locations are not within daily travelling distance, then we would advise you to not apply.
I have not passed maths or English, can I apply?
Yes you can apply. We do not ask for qualifications for the the internship scheme. However, you must be able to meet the essential criteria listed in the job advert.
I'm currently studying at university, can I apply?
We cannot offer you a role if you are in full-time education. If you are studying part-time, we can try to find you a suitable part-time role. However, this is not guaranteed and will depend on business needs.
Please email leavers.care@education.gov.uk for any further queries.
Follow us on X: @dfecareers
Benefits
The Civil Service provides many benefits for you and your family.
Things like health, well-being and discount schemes, the Civil Service Pension Scheme and reward and recognition schemes.
Reasonable
adjustments
To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any adjustments that could help you.
Things like changing the time, location or format of interviews or providing interview questions in advance.