Learning Offer
We believe that providing excellent public services starts with excellent learning. As the new National School of Government and Public Services, we are committed to helping everyone across the Civil Service to build the skills they need to thrive, and to supporting public sector leaders.
To support the design and delivery of excellent learning and development, the National School is establishing an evidence-based curriculum designed to build the effectiveness and productivity of the Civil Service and public sector leadership. It is underpinned by a universal skills taxonomy and will provide a common framework for progression and targeted learning across government.
Universal Skills
The National School will offer learning based around Universal Skills important for all civil servants, regardless of grade, profession or department. Built around six core capability areas, the learning offer comprises over 200 courses designed to enhance productivity and professional effectiveness:
- Leadership and Management: Skills for leading teams, managing operations, and line management.
- Working in Government: Understanding Parliament, Ministers, devolution, and the responsibilities of a civil servant.
- Digital, Data, Innovation and AI: Digital literacy, data analysis, innovation, and Artificial Intelligence.
- Personal Effectiveness: Productivity, organisation, wellbeing, and resilience.
- Communication and Collaboration: Working with customers, stakeholder management, writing, presentation, and listening skills.
- Strategy and Critical Thinking: Strategic planning, problem-solving, systems thinking, and foresight.
Access the Universal Skills offer via Civil Service Learning here
Specialist Skills
Many roles require specific, technical, or professional expertise. Alongside our Universal Skills offer, we are developing dedicated pathways for specialist skills. These provide targeted learning opportunities to help civil servants master the professional requirements of specific roles.
Access the Specialist Skills offer via Prospectus Online here
College for National Security
The College for National Security provides learning to improve responsiveness and effectiveness in countering increasingly hybrid threats and supports a growing community of national security practitioners in building their careers and networks.
Talent Programmes
Our talent programmes offer accelerated development opportunities to equip high-potential civil servants with the skills, networks, and confidence to succeed at every career stage, from early entry to senior leadership. The Accelerated Development Schemes provide targeted development and cross-government networking opportunities for high potential individuals to accelerate career progression and drive key government priorities.
These include the Future Leaders Scheme (FLS), for Grade 6 and 7 civil servants; the Senior Leaders Scheme (SLS) for Deputy Directors; and the Director Leadership Programme (DLP) for Directors.
Civil servants can find out more about the range of talent programmes here
Fast Stream and early talent
The Fast Stream is our flagship leadership and management programme. It is number 1 in the Times Top 100 list of graduate employers.
The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme gives people from lower socio-economic backgrounds the opportunity to see what a career in the Civil Service is like. It puts talented undergraduates on a work placement in a government department.
The Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship supports successful applicants on a 2 year fixed term contract, combining a full time job with dedicated time to complete the Level 3 qualification. This apprenticeship route offers a unique opportunity to earn whilst you learn with a bespoke package of support and training, to help you start to build your career.
Public Sector Leadership
The Cabinet Statement on rewiring the state sets out a clear imperative to support collaboration across the public sector. We currently offer a range of support for leaders across the UK’s public services to inspire and enable collective public sector delivery. In 2027 we will build upon the National Leadership Forum and the Public Leaders Programme with a new programme for deputy-CEO level leaders and more regional and place-based events and networks.