The government will tighten eligibility criteria for Whitehall internships as part of a broader push to make the civil service more representative of the working class.
The civil service summer internship programme will now be limited to students from “lower socio-economic backgrounds” and based on which occupations their parents held when they were 14.
The programme will give roughly 200 undergraduates the opportunity to work in a Civil Service department for two months, acting as a stepping stone to a career in the civil service post-university.
Undergraduates on the programme, which is paid, will get experience that could include planning events, writing briefings for ministers, shadowing senior civil servants and carrying out research for policy development.
Those on the scheme will get access to tailored support, including being allocated a “buddy” who is a current Fast Streamer and getting access to skills sessions.
Participants who perform well will be fast-tracked to the final stages of the Fast Stream selection process if they decide to apply for a job after graduation.
Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the minister responsible for civil service reform, said that Whitehall needed to reflect the broader community.
“We need to get more working-class young people into the Civil Service so it harnesses the broadest range of talent and truly reflects the country,” Mr McFadden said.
“Government makes better decisions when it represents and understands the people we serve.”
The scheme will open for applications this October and the with the first tranche of placements expected in summer 2026.
The programme is open to students who are in their final two years at university.
The move comes after the government announced plans to move thousands more civil servants out of London as part of plans to “radically reform the state”.
In May, the government confirmed it would cut the number of civil servants working in London by 12,000 and shift jobs to a series of new regional “campuses” across the country.
Mr McFadden said at the time that the government would be relocating a “substantial number of roles”.
“The aim is to reduce the London count by about 12,000. That will save us £94 million in lease costs because the properties in London are very expensive.
“And we will move thousands, it’s difficult to put a precise number, thousands of those jobs to new themed campuses around the country,” he said at the time.
The changes will also see 11 Government office buildings in London close, including one of its largest Westminster sites, in a move expected to save £94 million a year by 2032.
The move will see two new major “campuses” created, one in Manchester focused on digital innovation and AI and another in Aberdeen on energy.
Manchester is already home to major offices of the science and culture departments, while Aberdeen houses the new Great British Energy headquarters.
Other roles will be created in Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Darlington, Newcastle and Tyneside, Sheffield, Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast and York, with the changes expected to bring £729 million to the local economy by 2030.
