The civil service has been named as the UK’s best employer for graduates, based on research conducted among more than 15,000 final-year university students.
The findings mean the government – and its Fast Stream programme for future high fliers in particular – has returned to the top spot in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers ranking for the first time in three years.
Blue-chip accountancy and professional-services firm PwC headed the Top 100 listing in last year’s research, with the civil service in second place and the National Health Service third. The 2025-26 findings see PwC drop to second place, while the NHS’s position is unchanged.
This year’s results mark the sixth time the civil service has been named No.1 in the 27-year history of the Top 100 ranking for UK graduate employers. PwC, by contrast, has topped the table 17 times.
No employer other than the civil service and PwC has taken first place in the ranking since 2002.
According to The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2025-26, 6.7% of this year’s sample group of final-year undergraduates voted for the civil service as the UK’s leading post-university employer as part of the research process.
The top-place ranking was based on answers to the question: "Which employer do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?" Students were not provided with a list of options to choose from, and more than 1,500 different organisations were named as a result.
Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office and civil service chief operating officer, said the government’s 2025-26 ranking among the UK’s graduate employers was a resounding show of confidence.
“We are so proud that the Civil Service Fast Stream has returned to the top spot,” she said. “This award shows graduates recognise the real opportunities the Fast Stream provides.
“The programme develops participants’ skills, knowledge and networks so they become confident, inspiring leaders who help the government deliver its priorities and make a real difference to communities.”
Cabinet Office minister and chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones said he was “delighted” that the Civil Service Fast Stream had been recognised by graduates as a great place to kick-start a fulfilling career in public service.
“Creating more opportunities for people across the country is a priority for this government,” he said. “We now need to go further and faster in reforming the way the state delivers, which is why we are placing more fast streamers in roles outside of London, so that brilliant minds from every corner of the country can help build the modern, effective civil service that Britain needs.”
In May, the government announced an “ambition” to have 50% of Fast Stream placements offered outside of London by 2030, making it easier for future leaders and managers to progress in their careers without needing to move to the capital.
Last month, then-Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden controversially announced that a summer internship programme for undergraduates that acts as a stepping stone to the Fast Stream would only be available to applicants from “lower socioeconomic backgrounds” from next year.
Elsewhere in the latest Top 100 list, the Environment Agency was the highest new entry, in 64th place; HM Revenue and Customs was also a new entry at 83. Network Rail returned to the ranking – in the 81st spot – after a five year absence.
Councils – categorised as “local government” in the ranking – increased in popularity this year, rising to 42nd from 60th in 2024-25. Nevertheless, budget supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl scored higher at 27th and 41st respectively.
Graduate employers exiting the ranking in 2025-26 included secret services MI5 and MI6.
Applications for the 2025-26 intake of the Civil Service Fast Stream open at midday on 9 October.