Department for Work and Pensions(DWP) 

Degree apprentices contribute across many different areas in DWP, for example briefing Ministers on the labour market, assessing the value for money of bids for the Spending Review, contributing to policy costings to support the Chancellor’s budget, assessing pension adequacy in retirement, poverty analysis and modelling Universal Credit.   

Working alongside their studies, apprentices help to bring in a fresh perspective to the work we do, help challenge pre-existing assumptions across all areas of the Department and improve the decision-making process.   

DWP supports people from all backgrounds at different stages of their life, and we want the economists we employ to better reflect the communities we serve. This means we want to recruit people from a range of different backgrounds and in different parts of the country, and to offer varied routes into DWP as an economist. The GES Apprenticeship Programme helps with exactly that and we are glad to be part of this scheme.  

As a DWP economist, you will be part of a thriving community of around 250 economists with a huge array of economic activities regularly taking place. This ranges from economist debates, economic events exploring the theoretical economics behind our policies, seminars on the latest econometric thinking, annual economist conferences, socials/networking opportunities across all our locations, regular presentation/seminar series and loads more!   

As of September 2024, there are 29 degree economics apprentices across 4 cohorts in DWP. Existing DWP apprentices have settled well into our analytical community. In addition to our usual induction process in the analytical community, apprentices joining DWP are supported by the grade managers and the current cohorts of apprentices who already have experience in the Department. Upon allocation to DWP, new apprentices are allocated one of the existing apprentices as a ‘buddy’ who can answer questions, offer advice, and help them settle in.  

You will have the opportunity to take part in software training and will have technical/professional skill support as you progress in your role. With the biggest analytical community and as one of the largest government departments, there are a huge range of opportunities to work with other analytical professions (including Statisticians, Social Researchers and Operational Researchers), policymakers, and operational colleagues to enhance your development.  

This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work 

If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office.  

If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert. 

For further information on working as a degree apprentice in DWP, please contact Erin Watkins, erin.watkins@dwp.go.uk