Civil Service Careers

Learning new things helps humans thrive

By learning something new, you create neurological connections which help improve your mental agility and resilience – and, ultimately, increase your well-being.

At Government Campus, we believe passionately in the transformational impact that learning can have – both on individuals and the organisations they serve. We exist at the heart of the Civil Service to give all 500,000 people who work in central government easy access to high-quality learning and development opportunities.

“Working with colleagues across the Civil Service, our aim is to equip the government with the skills, knowledge and networks needed to deliver now and in the future. We provide civil servants with access to shared training courses, help develop leaders in the Civil Service and public sector, and run the Civil Service Fast Stream.”

Andrew Key

Director, Government Skills

Develop through our curriculum

Our learning curriculum offers a huge range of learning designed to meet your needs, whatever your requirement or stage of your career. We have thousands of courses – many of which are free – covering topics like digital and data skills, line management and much, much more.

The starting point for our learning is the much-acclaimed Civil Service Induction. Some 98 per cent of people who do our induction would recommend it to their colleagues and it has now been incorporated into our newly-launched foundational learning package – Civil Service Essentials.

Useful links

See the Government Campus page on GOV.UK

Take a look at the prospectus online

Visit the Booking Portal

Sign up to Government Campus News

You can undertake an apprenticeship at any point in your career, gaining formal qualifications right up to postgraduate level while applying what you learn in your job.

Accelerate your career

There is no limit to where our learning can take you. As part of our curriculum, we offer accelerated development schemes which help successful applicants reach their full potential and progress to the next stage of their career. These start with Beyond Boundaries and the Fast Stream before moving on to the Future Leaders Scheme and development schemes for Senior Civil Servants.

Think about your journey

We know it can seem like a struggle to know where to start when it comes to learning. To tackle this, we are developing a new cross-government learning and skills portal – Government Skills Campus – that will make it easier for everyone to access learning and record their skills.

We are due to pilot the service from the end of this year and when rolled out across departments, it will help you identify what learning you need, signpost you to the best matched courses and help you compile a skills record that will stay with you if you move to a new job within the civil service.

Learning is more than just doing a course. It’s part and parcel of what we do every day – in the workplace and in our private lives.

How to Learn

The world of work is changing. And within the Civil Service, there are now new and more flexible ways of developing your own career.

That’s why Government Campus has developed a new learning resource to help you – Navigating Your Career.

Whatever position you are in, whether you are a new joiner or consider yourself a seasoned civil servant, this resource will help you think about your own career, your potential and how to achieve more.

It proposes you construct your career on the basis of five building blocks – each underpinned with recommended learning resources – that will each help you decide what you want from your work.

Building block 1

Lay the foundations for success

Choose your preferred approach.
Develop self knowledge: your dreams, strengths, values, and practical requirements.
Develop world knowledge: what skills, knowledge and personal qualities are needed in the workplace now and in the future.

Building block 2

Learn How to learn

Consider all opportunities to learn and develop.

Our video How to Learn is a good starting point.

Building block 3

Seek out support

Your line manager is there to support your career aspirations, but seek out coaches and mentors too.
The Civil Service has a range of talent schemes that can help boost your career trajectory and take you in the direction you want to go. These start with Beyond Boundaries and the Fast Stream before moving on to the Future Leaders Scheme and development schemes for Senior Civil Servants.

Building block 4

Develop breadth of experience…

… through lateral moves, job crafting and corporate objectives.

Our new video Overview of the Success Profiles Framework (see video below) will help you understand your own personal Success Profile and how you can use this to identify and apply for roles that will take advantage of your full potential.

Recruitment with Success Profiles

Civil Service Essentials is an easy–to-use learning package that signposts you to all the foundational skills and knowledge you need to thrive in your Civil Service role.

Government Skills director Andrew Key has described Civil Service Essentials as “a brilliant launch pad for new starters and a useful basecamp for those more established within government roles” and said it “brings together all the learning you need to master the fundamentals of working in government.”

How the Civil Service Induction gave my career the best possible start

Civil Service Essentials includes:

On induction

the highly-rated Civil Service Induction which 98 per cent of participants say they would recommend to colleagues.
the Line Manager Induction Programme which is great preparation for the Line Management Standards.
Civil Service Expectations – Eleven quick-bite modules covering the Civil Service Code, the 2010 Equality Act, the importance of diversity and inclusion, where to go for help and support … and much more.

On Core Skills

Foundations of Writing in Government JASPER – bite-size learning that covers the basics of effective writing and that you can do at your own pace.
Basic analysis – Do you know what makes a good sample? Or the difference between mean, medium and mode? Watch these four short videos to develop basic analysis skills for your role.
Excel: Foundation – Get familiar with this much-used software so you can learn to automate basic data-processing tasks.
How to Learn – a four-minute animation which is an ideal entry point for people who want some quick and easy guidance about how to approach workplace, informal and formal learning.

On Specialist Skills

Because tomorrow’s government won’t run on yesterday’s technology, Government Campus is helping civil servants learn how to harness advances in the world of data and digital to make life better for the people we serve.

We have developed a Data and Digital Learning Journey that can help you progress from the most basic level of awareness to a degree of knowledge that will see you equipped to take on data and digital leadership roles.

Our Learning Journey

Start with …

Awareness level

Understanding Data

Data Visualisation 101

Microsoft 365 Essentials

Introduction to Generative AI

Embed your knowledge with …

Working level

Working With Data

Data Quality

Working with Agile

Learn to lead with …

Practitioner level

Digital Excellence Programme

Data Masterclass

The Digital Excellence Programme is Government Campus’ flagship digital learning package for senior civil servants, Grade 6s and Grade 7s and has been designed to help you bring about cultural change both within and beyond your team.

“The Digital Excellence Programme gave me the context and confidence to lead digital transformation and bring people along with me.”

Andy Cooke-Welling

Deputy Director in the Home Office’s UK Central Authority.

Great line managers make a huge difference to people’s working lives.

That’s why Government Campus has a complete suite of learning to help you become the best line manager you can be – whatever your level of experience or expertise.

Line Manager Induction Programme – is the perfect starter course and is ideal for those new to line management or needing a refresher. Since its launch last year, thousands of line managers have completed it and it’s been promoted as ideal preparation for the Line Management Standards.

Management: Foundation Programme – helps new managers, of any grade, to develop the necessary skills, knowledge and networks that people need in order to perform their roles as leaders and managers within the Civil Service.

Management Practitioner Programme – supports experienced managers, of any grade, to be equipped with the skills, knowledge and networks needed to stay ahead in the Civil Service.

The new Management Senior Practitioner Programme will be available to book on Civil Service Learning from July, with the first cohorts starting in September.

The Management Practitioner Programme: Common Myths

Back to GPG Hub

Explore other exciting areas of work within Government People Group.

Explore more from GPG

Platforms, Data and Interoperability

We’re making joining, collaborating, and moving around the Civil Service more seamless.

Explore Platforms, Data and Interoperability

Line Management Capability

Improving line management is a key part of Civil Service Modernisation and Reform and the Civil Service People Plan.

Explore Line Management Capability

The Civil Service

What do Civil Servants say?

Early Careers

Experienced Hires

Supported Schemes

Applying for a Job

Supporting your Application

Government Campus

Learning new things helps humans thrive

Develop through our curriculum

Useful links

Accelerate your career