Scheme duration
5 Years
Location
London and Glasgow (followed by subsequent opportunities overseas).
Scheme overview
The heart of international economic issues, development and foreign policy.
Who is the scheme suitable for
Diplomatic and Development Economics fast streamers are placed in a range of varying roles with the primary purpose of making sure development and foreign policy is underpinned by sound economic analysis. No two Diplomatic and Development Economists fast streamers will share the same career path and you can choose to spend a large part of your career overseas. The unique benefit of this scheme is that the training it provides allows Diplomatic and Development Economists to apply for both analytical economics roles and policy roles later in their career, both within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) or in other government departments. This offers a great range of career pathways and options for you in the future.
All Diplomatic and Development Economist fast streamers must be granted ‘Developed Vetting’ (DV) security clearance before starting. For DV clearance, you need to have lived in the UK for 5 of the last 10 years, including a consecutive 12-month period. Security clearance relies on assurance checks that can only be carried out in the UK – which is why a sufficient UK footprint is a mandatory requirement for this scheme.
Entry requirements
- you must be a British citizen (those with dual nationality may apply)
- resided in the UK for at least 5 of the previous 10 years, including a consecutive 12-month period
- you need, or expect to receive, a 2:1 degree, degree apprenticeship or higher or a postgraduate degree in an economic subject
- for mixed degrees, at least 50% should be in economics
The benefits you’ll enjoy
You will have the opportunity to work on international issues that really matter, from alleviating poverty to ensuring security and prosperity for the UK. The Fast Stream programme provides an excellent platform for promotion and long term career progression across the Civil Service.
Joining as a permanent employee, you will benefit from Civil Service Pension Scheme, recognised language qualifications, season ticket loans, sports and social activities, childcare assistance, diversity support networks and forums.
Demystifying the Diplomatic and Development Economics scheme
Supporting your learning
Diplomatic and Development Economists have outstanding access to learning and development (L&D) opportunities. These L&D opportunities follow the 70:20:10 model (70% of learning through on the job experience, 20% for peer to peer learning, and 10% through more formal courses and tuition).
- Professional economics Training: Providing structured economics training and long-term support, with courses from leading providers to achieve postgraduate-level understanding in key economic areas by the second year.
- Tailored training programme: Focuses on leadership, diplomatic tradecraft, and international development, offering core knowledge, mentoring, work shadowing, and on-the-job training.
- Short-Term projects: The ‘10% time’ scheme allows for short-term economics and analytical projects outside your main work area to build wider skills and applications.
- Non-Economic L&D opportunities: Access to a variety of courses from the International Academy and Civil Service Learning, covering FCDO policy areas and skills like effective ministerial communication.
- Economics community: Join a vibrant economics community with knowledge-sharing through lunchtime sessions, virtual and in-person conferences, and town halls.
- Regular economics seminars from leading academics.
- Peer to peer learning from economists across the FCDO’s network.
Bartholomew talks about his experience on the Diplomatic and Development Economics scheme, and why he chose to apply.
All Diplomatic and Development Economists will sit an economic ‘Readiness Panel’ to assess technical skills and readiness for expert economist roles at higher grades. Full support will be provided by the Economics Head of Profession to prepare you for this stage in your career development.
“Being able to work on live and evolving international issues you would usually only read about in the news has been rewarding”
Bartholomew Oram
Diplomatic Development Economics fast streamer
Diplomatic and Development Economics fast streamer, Tolly
About this scheme
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advances UK national interests and promotes the UK as a force for good in the world. It serves British citizens, protects UK security, defends values, reduces poverty, and tackles global challenges with international partners. The FCDO operates globally with 280 posts worldwide.
Economics is vital to the FCDO, placing economists at the core of policy, partnerships, diplomacy, and aid spending decisions. The FCDO, an international economic department with a global development mission, relies increasingly on economic expertise to provide ministers with fresh ideas and deep policy insights.
Economics enhances policy and programming by:
- understanding the impact of economic developments on broader policy interests
- diagnosing and prioritising challenges
- designing evidence-based solutions, considering trade-offs and cost-effectiveness
- implementing policy with measurable success metrics
- influencing others with data-driven arguments
Diplomatic and Development Economists engage in diverse, rewarding projects, focusing on country-specific and thematic issues across international borders. This role places you at the centre of development, global macroeconomic policy, and international relations.
UK-based roles involve collaboration with government departments, consultancies, international organisations, and academia, offering valuable experience and training before an overseas posting.
Scheme placement details
On arrival to the programme, you will be either assigned to an Assistant Economist role in the central Economics & Evaluation Directorate (led by Chief Economist) or embedded within a team in one of the other Directorates across the FCDO.
Your role will cover a geographical or thematic area for which you will have responsibility. Here you will enjoy a wide variety of work, focused around analysis supporting priority development and foreign policy areas; this will involve leveraging your own expertise (supported by your wider team) and that of the FCDO economics network (UK based and across the world). You will also have the opportunity to provide economic and analytical support to policy teams across the FCDO on your area or working on specific projects.
In your second year you will undertake a second Assistant Economist role to broaden the range of experience you gain working on economic issues and shaping and influencing policy development.
Alternatively, you could take up the challenge of applying for an overseas role that requires you to learn a language during your second year, such as Mandarin or Arabic.
In these final years, you will undertake an economics related role in the FCDO’s overseas network. There is a wide variety of roles across all regions of the world and a mixture between roles that are primarily or exclusively economic. There are also other roles which cover portfolios such as energy, trade, climate and politics. Language training is provided for any overseas roles where this is required.
As a member of the Diplomatic and Development Economics Fast Stream, you must be prepared to go to any appropriate post in the overseas network to which you are appointed. When allocating overseas roles, your preferences and personal circumstances will be taken into account, but it cannot be guaranteed that you will be deployed to your preferred post.