Office for National Statistics |

We work on some of the country's most topical issues, from employment figures to migration statistics, and we are responsible for the ten-yearly census of every household in England and Wales.

Our 5000+ employees work in an exciting variety of roles and professions. We have colleagues who operate in the field nationwide engaging with the public, at ports, airports and in their homes, as well as colleagues who work from our sites across the UK.

As an organisation we hire throughout the year, and although we have graduate, year-in-industry and placement programmes, details on some of which are below, we also have a wide range of roles and opportunities across the organisation in multiple professions, a lot of them suitable for new or recent graduates.

Just because a role doesn't have "graduate" in the title doesn't mean it won't be suitable. Every ONS colleague has a learning and personal development plan, and opportunities for group and individual training is available on a range of topics.

Annual Programmes

• Data Science Graduate Programmes – run each year, the programme places data science graduates across the public sector, working on vital programmes whilst on a structured learning programme run by the ONS Data Science Campus. in 2021 we placed 40 people across the public sector as art of this programme, and in 2022 this grew to over 100.
• Software Engineer Year in Industry programmes –Our 2nd cohort years started in September 2022 on this 3 phase programme that takes placement students from Computer Science related courses, offering a year in industry 12 month placement, part time work whilst finishing your degree, and then a permanent role on graduation.
• Data Engineer Year in Industry programmes – following the same 3 phases through to a permanent role on graduation as the Software programme, our Data engineer programme began with our first cohort in 2022.
• Summer Diversity Internship Programme (SDIP) – This programme provides people from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to see what a career in the Civil Service is like. It puts undergraduates and graduates on a paid work placement over the summer months each year.

Our recruitment process follows the Success Profiles framework that is used across the Civil Service. We adopt a fair and open approach, recruiting on merit using approaches that are designed to effectively assess applicants, without being overburdening on the candidate experience.

For the majority of our roles, this means a 2 stage process, consisting of an initial online application, and then a panel interview, sometimes including a short presentation. You can find out more about our application and assessment process by visiting our careers page, or attending one of our weekly webinars.

Our people are our greatest asset and are at the heart of everything we do. We understand how important an inclusive environment is - one where you can bring your authentic self to work. We are proud to have a range of diversity networks that support our inclusion ambitions and enable us to thrive.

We are committed to supporting our people’s wellbeing by offering flexible ways of working that support a healthy work life balance. Our placing in the Working Families Top 30, and our recognition by Glassdoor as the top UK employer for work-life balance 2021 recognises this commitment.

There are a range of highlights and benefits to joining the Office for National statistics, focused on health & wellbeing, work-life balance and value for money, with a world class civil service pension. You can find out more about them in our benefits pack attached to any of our vacancies.

As an employer, we are actively building an inclusive workforce where colleagues build meaningful and authentic relationships, differences are celebrated for the value they bring, and colleagues can bring their whole selves to work. We recognise that inclusion underpins our ambitions to be truly diverse organisation where people do not only feel seen but heard and valued for who they are.

Our commitment, as outlined in our Inclusion and Diversity strategy, are as follows:

1) Build a coordinated approach to Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) across the organisation

2) Hardwire I&D into everything we do, ensuring accountability is shared across the organisation

3) Build representation of underrepresented groups and support their career progression within ONS, identifying and addressing barriers to success

4) Continue to build the ONS’s reputation as an inclusive and equal opportunities employer

5) Improve and develop our evidence base, using data to inform decision making

We continue to review the strategy to ensure it remains ambitious and relevant as our organisation develops and as we track and measure progress, and our Diversity Networks form an essential part of this ongoing work.

ONS has fourteen Diversity Networks whose role is both wide-ranging and influential, and all are sponsored by a senior leader at ONS. Their work ranges from using their experience and understanding to help shape ONS’s workforce aims, to informing ONS’s statistical work so it is representative of the country we serve, to organising awareness raising events, sharing best practice, and providing support for groups and individuals.

Our Diversity Networks:

All Beliefs | Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic | Carers Network Group | disABILITY Network | Health and Well-being Group | International Network | Job Share | New Starters Network | LGBTQ+ and Allies | Social Mobility | Women’s Network | Women in Economics Network | Working Parents | Work Life Balance

Some of our Networks also have sub-groups that focus on specific areas, such as our Mental Health Support Group and our Neurodiversity Support Group.