Information on Working in the Public Sector

The public sector is large, diverse and includes a wide range of services and activities at both local and national level. There is a range of careers available in the public sector, from police officers, to teachers, to council workers working in areas covering crime, education and skills, employment, welfare, health, environment and transport.

The public sector is financed from the public purse through national and local taxation, supplemented in some cases by charges made to users, e.g. for entry to leisure centres and museums, fees for parking, passports, driving tests or prescriptions.

It is big, employing over 5 million people at all levels from manual to senior management. Local government alone employs over 2 million and there are more than half a million civil servants.

Local authorities employ teachers, social workers, environmental health specialists, waste managers, librarians, accountants, personnel officers, town planners, housing managers, museum curators and many more. Some occupations are practised mainly, or in some cases exclusively, in the public sector – eg teaching, nursing, firefighting, police and social work.

The common perception that pay is much lower in the public sector compared to the private sector is increasingly out-of-date. The salary and benefits package for all levels of staff is comparable, if not higher than the private sector and the range of career opportunities is immense. Equal opportunities are taken seriously in the public sector and diversity is actively encouraged.

Public sector employers are generally keen to promote training opportunities, both in-house and external. This applies to both graduate and non-graduate roles.

At a national level, the Civil Service means having an opportunity to make a difference on issues that face an entire country: healthcare, education, democracy, unemployment, pensions, food safety, transport. It's the kind of list you won't find in any private company. Whatever career path you're considering, the public sector has something to offer you.