Strand 4: Specialist skills

Government professions develop the capability of a group of people with particular skills, knowledge or expertise. They work across government on behalf of departments, agencies and functions. An individual can belong to more than one government profession.

A function is a grouping aligned across government, embedded into departments and arm’s length bodies. A function supports improved outcomes across government, defining what needs to be done, and why, for the effective undertaking of work within its scope.

Professions develop specialist skills and knowledge in people, and functions conduct the specialist work.

The Government Campus works with professions to offer high-quality training to improve specialist skills across the Civil Service. Strand 4 includes training by the professions for the professions, bringing coherence and alignment across government.

Professions also provide training for non-professionals to develop a broad base of knowledge and skills in the wider Civil Service. Much of this broader awareness level training can be accessed through Strand 2 of the Government Campus.

Explore the specialist skills strand

Professions provide training for their members through accredited routes as well as wider contentious development, deepening expertise to meet relevant professional standards.

The vast majority of professions have defined career frameworks and work with relevant professional bodies to offer clear development routes from working level through to practitioner and expert levels. This training can be accessed through the professions’ curriculums.

In addition, there are professions that defer directly to their professional bodies and their training offer: