Working class students divided on civil service summer internship reform

Some students say they are being left out of a major civil service internship scheme after ministers announced reforms aimed at encouraging more working class people to work for the government.

Applications to the summer programme will now be restricted to those from lower socio-economic backgroundswhich ministers say will help make the civil service more representative of society and help the government make better decisions.

BBC News spoke to four students who want to work in the civil service after they graduate to hear what they think of the changes.

Adam Allen, 20, is from Newark-on-Trent and studies sociology and criminology at the University of Warwick

The civil service was not something Adam was aware of until he went to university and attended some outreach events.

He considered applying to the summer internship programme – seen as a good stepping stone to a job in the civil service after university – last year but was put off by how exclusive it seemed.

“How was I going to stand a chance against everyone else that’s had a bit more of a leg up and a bit more of an advantage than me, in terms of personal networks and knowledge?”

Around 200 people are expected to be admitted to the revamped internship programme next year.

Last year there were about 450 interns, including 125 from lower socio-economic backgrounds, selected from 4,200 applicants, according to government figures.

Interns are paid and tasked with helping plan events, write briefings for ministers, shadow senior civil servants and carry out research for policy development.

Adam tells BBC News neither of his parents went to university and were not in stable employment for much of his childhood. They tended to work in factories and warehouses.

He says he experienced behavioural problems in school because of a difficult home life. He received free school meals but during sixth-form he began to see education as an opportunity to prove his worth.

This drove him to achieving three A*s at A-level and a place at Warwick.

Adam, who is part of social mobility organisation The 93% Club for state school students at British universities, says changes to the internship programme have prompted him to think again about the civil service.

“It feels like I will now be taken seriously and no longer just someone [applying] without a real shot.”

Nell Ashworth, 21, is from King’s Lynn and studies social policy at the University of York

As the daughter of a nurse, the virtues of public service were something Nell Ashworth grew up with.

“I basically chose to do my degree in social policy because I want to work for the civil service,” she tells us. “I’ve done all of this preparation for, I suppose, not very much reward.”

Nell is all too aware that those who perform well during the summer internship, which typically takes place between the second and third year of a university course, can be fast-tracked into a graduate job in the civil service.

The Fast Stream is the service’s flagship programme for recruiting graduates who are trained for leadership and management roles.

It is highly competitive and there were more than 44,000 applications last year, according to government figures, but only 986 were recommended for appointment. Of these, 211 were from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Overall, there were about 540,000 people working across the civil service as of March 2024.

Under the new rules, Nell would still be allowed to apply for the Fast Stream but not the summer internship programme. This is because eligibility is decided by the jobs an applicant’s parents did when they were 14. In Nell’s case her mother was a nurse and her father a town planner.

The criteria now being used for the internships are set out by the Social Mobility Commission, an independent body which advises the government.

They categorise jobs into five groups; the lowest two of which are considered working class and include occupations such as mechanic, electrician, shop assistant, labourer, cleaner and waiter.

However, jobs like clerical worker, roofer and taxi driver are considered above these working glass groups, as are public sector jobs like nurses and teachers.

“Mostly, I felt deflated,” Nell says of her reaction to seeing the changes, having planned to apply for next year’s programme. “If I’d have known then I could have changed my plans and applied for this summer’s internship instead.”

State school-educated Nell, whose parents were the first in their families to go to university, says she understands why the government is trying to encourage more people with working class backgrounds into the civil service.

Though she considers herself to be one of them and fears others like her will also be dissuaded from working in the public sector as they are not considered working class enough.

“There’s me in the middle, not rich or poor, so where do I go? And then that puts me off working in the civil service because now I have no idea who’s looking out for me.”

Hannah Begum, 20, is from Leeds and studies politics and international relations at the London School of Economics (LSE)

Improving society is central to what Hannah Begum would like to do for a career.

She grew up in Yorkshire where her father was a self-employed handyman and her mother a part-time community worker.

She says many of her fellow students at LSE have wealthy international backgrounds or grew up in the south-east of England.

“A lot of them don’t really know what it means to live in Leeds or live up north and how different it can be.”

Hannah thinks there are far more opportunities for high-quality work experience when you are based in London – never mind the savings on accommodation and travel costs – and that reforms to civil service internships will open doors for people like her.

“Most people in this country are not in high socio-economic classes. Most people in this country are affected by austerity, affected by the cost of living crisis, and we need people in government that are going reflect those exact people,” she says.

“We’re not going to get those people in government if we don’t create the stepping stones in order for them to enter.”

Hannah does understand why the reforms to internships are controversial for some, but she urges them to see things from her perspective.

“It needs to be taken into account that not everyone has the same privileges in terms of being able to get a job in government… [the reforms] are not going to mean less intelligent people getting in, it just means a bit more of an equal chance.”

Peter Murphy, 21, is from London and studies history at the University of Cambridge

Working in the civil service means more to Peter Murphy than a sensible career choice – to his mind it’s a chance to patriotically serve his country.

His father, who immigrated from Ireland, was the first in his family to go to university and Peter’s grandfather was a shop-fitter from Dublin.

Peter was in the Irish capital visiting relatives when he heard of the changes to the internship programme. “I got quite angry at that moment because it feels like the rug has been pulled [from under me].”

The state school-educated north Londoner tells us: “It just feels that the country that I care about – that I love and feel part of just as much as anyone else – doesn’t want me anymore.”

He says his desire to work in the civil service has only strengthened since starting his degree at Cambridge, where he feels too many students are focused on lucrative careers with little consideration for wider issues.

“I’m worried a lot of bright people are becoming very disconnected from civil society and we’re fracturing into a nation where people are content to be rich and live in their little ivory towers,” he says.

“[The reforms] are unfair and it’s it goes against what it means be British… It just smacks to me as socially destructive, that people feel that they’re not being taken on their merits.”