The civil service Fast Stream graduate programme is to undergo another update, with the cyber element to be split out of the technology segment and given its own specialist focus

The tech element of the civil service Fast Stream programme is being updated with the Digital, Data, Technology and Cyber scheme being split in two and a new pathway added to the mix for the upcoming year.

The DDTC scheme will split into a digital, data and technology pathway and a cybersecurity pathway, while a new scheme – risk management – will also be introduced. This will take the number of pathways in the graduate programme from 15 to 17, plus the Houses of Parliament scheme – which is not part of the Civil Service Fast Stream but can be chosen as a preference in applications to the Fast Stream.

A cyber security track previously existed but was removed in 2016.

The modifications to the scheme follow changes last year which transformed the generalist track into two distinct schemes: government policy; and operational delivery.

Full details for all 2025 schemes will be published on the Fast Stream website in early September, with applications opening at midday on 10 October.

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The Fast Stream offers a starting salary of £31,186; salary progression during the scheme; and earning potential on completion of £45-55,000. The Civil Service Fast Stream was ranked second in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list last year. 

Earlier this year, it was revealed that interest in the Civil Service Fast Stream had plummeted, with applications dropping for three years in a row and the 2023 scheme receiving less than half the number of applicants as in 2021.

In recent years the Fast Stream has been a key source of digital talent for government, with the programme’s dedicated technology segment – including the cyber element – often representing the largest specialist cohort among the intake of about 1,000 people per year. Earlier this year the government announced that the previous year’s programme had achieved its stated target 50% of participants being drawn from the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths.

Speaking at the PublicTechnology Live annual conference two years ago, the then leader of the graduate programme Sonia Pawson told attendees: “What we realise is that, in time you won’t be able to progress to be a senior civil servant without experience and expertise, for example, in using big data for policy or operational purposes, or in leading a digital project.”