Fast streamers have accepted a pay award for 2025-26 which will see second year salaries rise by 6.41%.
The deal, which is for fast streamers on the central scheme, has for the first time been agreed under the Cabinet Office’s annual pay remit guidance process.
Before this year’s agreement, Civil Service Fast Stream pay increases were irregular and negotiated on an ad-hoc basis. The most recent award covered both 2023-24 and 2024-25 and was worth 6.75% over those two years.
An average increase of 3.75% was allowed under the 2025-26 remit guidance, which has been weighted towards second years.
Civil service leaders union the FDA said 93% of its members who are part of the Fast Stream programme voted to accept the 2025-26 offer.
The table below shows the increases agreed for each year group in the graduate scheme following negotiations between the FDA and Cabinet Office.
| Spot rate |
2024-25 |
2024-25 (with 8% London Living Allowance) |
2025-26
|
2025-26 (with 8% London Living Allowance)
|
| Year one |
£31,186
|
£33,681
|
£31,554
|
£34,078
|
| Year two |
£32,892
|
£35,523
|
£35,000
|
£37,800
|
| Year three |
£36,677
|
£39,611
|
£38,001
|
£41,041
|
| Year four |
£38,836
|
£41,943
|
£40,098
|
£43,306
|
In percentages, this is a 1.18% increase for year one, a 6.41% uptick for year two, a 3.61% increase for year three, and a 3.25% uplift for year four.
However, fast streamers will only progress to next year’s spot rate if they pass their assessments and are considered to be “on-trajectory” to successfully complete the Fast Stream.
Fast streamers who are “on trajectory” will also receive a one-off £350 bonus at the point of their autumn review this year.
The award also makes provision for "mark time" fast streamers – those who earn a higher salary than the Fast Stream rate as they joined from a civil service job that had a higher wage. They will get a one-off, non-consolidated and non-pensionable payment worth 3.25% of their salary.
The Cabinet Office's pay offer letter, seen by CSW, says the department is planning to pay fast streamers the award more quickly than in the past. Normally, fast streamers would expect to move onto the new spot rate in November after they rotate into the next year of the scheme, following verification of their performance rating.
This year, the plan is for all current fast streamers to automatically move to the new spot rates, with the pay award backdated to 1 August 2025. New starters joining this autumn will automatically move to the new spot rates from their join date.
In November, eligible fast streamers will move over to the spot rate relevant to their rotation year. Payments will be backdated to the anniversary of the fast streamer’s starting month on the programme (September or October).
The FDA said the Cabinet Office has also confirmed that pay will now be reviewed annually, in line with the wider civil service pay remit guidance.
Diplomatic and Development Economics and Diplomatic and Development fast streamers are exempt from the centralised Fast Stream pay award because they are directly employed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and come under its terms and conditions, including pay arrangements.
Non-centralised fast streamers are also exempt from the pay award as they are directly employed by departments and come under their terms and conditions including pay arrangements.
FDA national officer Robert Eagleton said the deal “builds on the historic two-year pay deal the FDA negotiated in 2023 and is another step to fixing long-standing issues with Fast Stream pay”.
“We negotiated a 6.41% increase in Fast Stream second year pay, following feedback from our members which highlighted that second year fast streamers were the most dissatisfied with pay and most likely to consider leaving the scheme,” he said.
“Additionally, while Fast Stream pay was historically negotiated on an ad hoc basis, as part of this deal fast streamers can now expect regular pay rises in line with the Cabinet Office’s pay remit guidance.”
Eagleton added: “However, fast streamer salaries still lag behind those of their HEO or SEO counterparts in the Cabinet Office. The lack of pay parity is a major barrier to improving the scheme’s socio-economic diversity and, ultimately, getting more people from diverse backgrounds into the senior civil service.”
Eagleton said the union welcomed a commitment from the Cabinet Office to “improve data collection on why people leave the Fast Stream”. He said it would enable the union to better understand how pay impacts retention.
In preparation for negotiations on the 2025-26 pay deal, the FDA ran a survey which almost half of all fast streamers filled in.
Some 64% of respondents told the union they were either "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with their pay – with dissatisfaction most concentrated amongst second year fast streamers.
Another key finding was that three-quarters of surveyed fast streamers (76%) said they primarily compare themselves to mainstream HEO and SEO civil service roles rather than other talent-development schemes in the public or private sector. Fast streamers earned £32,890 on average in 2024-25, compared to the £42,060 median in the civil service. The FDA said the comparison offered an inkling as to why many fast streamers are unhappy with pay.
More than half of respondents, meanwhile, said they were likely or highly likely to leave the scheme early, with only 8% very confident that they would remain on the scheme to complete their end of scheme assessment. Underpayment was the leading reason for considering leaving the scheme early.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We are focused on attracting and retaining the best candidates to deliver our Plan for Change that will secure our borders, give every child the best start in life and create economic growth to benefit working people.”