Senior Research Economist

Job summary

IMPORTANT - This vacancy is using the Civil Service Verbal test. The deadline for completing the test will be 2 working days before the advert closing date. Further information is available in the 'selection process details' section of this advert.

We are recruiting for two experienced Economists to join the Department for Education’s Central Economics Team.

This well-established and award-winning team is part of the Central Economics & Evaluation Division in DfE, led by our Chief Economist, and plays a pivotal role in the wider economist and analytical community.

This post will be responsible for supporting the development and delivery of the economic strategy for the department, improving DfE’s analytical approach to Spending Reviews and fiscal events, and working across government to provide economic advice.

Job description

The posts offer an exceptional opportunity to join a high-performing, strategic, and central unit delivering a high-impact programme of cross-cutting economic priorities. The successful candidates will draw upon their expertise of economic methods and wider knowledge of the education literature to ensure analysis and advice is high quality and credible.

The postholders will be responsible for:

• Supporting the development of the department’s approach to value-for-money and appraisal.
• Identifying areas for improvement in our evidence base and working with other central teams to deliver high-priority economic analysis.
• Working with the Chief Economist and senior policymakers to develop our analytical approach to Spending Reviews.
• Providing technical economic advice across the department and wider government on education economics.
• Building economic capability across the department via upskilling to both economists and non-economists.

You may also undertake your own research. This would involve independently scoping and delivering new economic research, regularly drawing on DfE’s broad and rich administrative datasets to inform policy development across all areas of DfE policy. These projects will be varied and provide the opportunity to work on high-profile projects across a diverse range of DfE areas and enable the postholder to develop and apply a wide range of analytical and policy skills. Some analysis will need to be produced at pace to short timescales while other projects will be delivered over a longer period. For these projects you would be:

• Working independently with strategy and policy colleagues to scope analytical projects, identifying priority research questions to add most value and maximise impact.
• Producing novel econometric analysis to support ministerial priorities, utilising large datasets in a new and innovative way.
• Delivering projects at pace from the start to a defined end point in an agile way, to agreed timescales.
• Liaising with and influencing senior policy colleagues, and confidently representing the analytical perspective amongst a range of stakeholders.
• Engaging with analysts across the Department to understand the existing evidence base and assure new analysis.

Please see the attached Candidate Pack for further details

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Economic expertise: An experienced economist, confident with technical economic analysis with experience of policy appraisal and value for money analysis. Some experience of econometrics and quant analysis. A badged (or eligible to be badged) member of the Government Economic Service (GES).
• Leadership and collaboration: Ability to lead a project working effectively with a large number of analytical colleagues across team boundaries.
• Delivery: Experience of delivering complex analytical projects and technical work with a breadth of content.
• Communication: The ability to build effective relationships and communicate complicated concepts persuasively. Experience of communicating effectively with people from a policy or strategy background.

Desirable Criteria (if required):

• Experience of or expertise in education economics.
• Experience of or expertise in applied econometrics.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.

Technical Skills

You need to either be a badged member of the Government Economic Service, or eligible to join. In your application, please clearly state if you are already badged, or eligible to be badged. Please also complete the 250-word Technical Statement outlining the breadth of your economic expertise.

For the GES the eligibility criteria are:

• Have a first or upper second-class honours degree in economics (or international equivalent), or a postgraduate degree in economics. If it is a joint degree, at least 50% of the course modules must be in economics.

• Have studied both macroeconomics and microeconomics.

More details on eligibility for the Government Economic service can be found here.

Candidates who are already badged members of the GES will not need to undertake badging as part of the interview process (for more information see below).

Qualifications

As per the GES eligibility requirements

Memberships

Badged member or eligible to be badged of the GES

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Please indicate if you are an existing GES member.If your response to the above question is no, using the links to the frameworks provided in the advert, please confirm you are eligible to become a member.
• Government Economic Service Technical Framework at SEO-level

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,999, Department for Education contributes £14,195 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

To apply for this role, please select 'Apply Now' at the top or bottom of this advert. CV details need to be included in the template within the application form; attached or emailed CVs will not be considered.

Please be advised there are four stages to the recruitment process for this role, these are outlined below.

Stage 1: Civil Service Verbal Test (CSVT)

When you have completed your personal information, you will be asked to complete the CSVT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage. Achieving the minimum pass mark does not guarantee progression to Stage 3, the written application.

Stage 2: Test score evaluation

At this stage, candidates who score below the 36th percentile in the verbal test will be withdrawn from the process. The only exceptions are candidates applying under the DCS, RIS, and VET schemes.

Please note: The tests will close two working days before the advert closing date. Tests will need to be completed before the test deadline to proceed to stage 3.

Stage 3: Application: CV, Statement of Suitability and Technical Statement

Your CV – Set out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.

Your Statement of Suitability – In no more than 1000 words, provide examples of how your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria. This is not intended to be a cover letter, instead work through each essential criteria in turn. You may wish to follow the STAR technique to help focus your examples. The key things we are looking for are what you did, how you did it and what the outcome was.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 1000 words. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be taken into account.

Please ensure you include in your CV or Statement of Suitability whether you are currently badged or eligible for GES membership.

A Technical Statement outlining your technical suitability for the role. You may use an example to support your statement, please complete the 500-word technical statement with an overview of your skills against the GES Competency Framework (maximum 250 words).

At sift stage, you will be assessed on your Experience & Technical Ability in line with the essential and technical skills listed in the person specification section of the job advert.

Please note in the event of a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift against the CV and Technical Statement.

Stage 4: Interview

The interview will be a 3-part process:

Part 1: Prepare and deliver a short presentation (maximum 10 minutes) to the panel. Please be prepared to answer follow up questions on the presentation. Presentation details will be provided at least 1 week prior to interview.

Part 2 - The interview will last approximately 60 minutes. You will be asked questions on the essential criteria listed above to determine your level of experience in these areas. Questions will typically ask for a brief and broad overview of your experience relevant to a criteria (e.g. tell us about your experience delivering policy projects) and/or a specific example (e.g. tell us about a time when you….). We may also ask you some follow-up questions.

Part 3 - There will also be a technical assessment against the GES competencies:

For existing civil servants who are already badged members of the GES, this will be an assessment against the GES outlined in the above technical framework

For anyone who is looking to be badged as part of this recruitment process (external applicants or existing civil servants looking to join the GES), you will be assessed against the GES competencies outlined in the technical framework, and there will also be an additional, more detailed assessment against these technical competencies as part of the recruitment process.

Any candidates invited to interview will also need to provide their university transcripts to support assessment against the eligibility criteria.

Interviews will take place at the beginning of April. Please note these dates are subject to change. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Interviews will be held over video conferencing using MS Teams. If you are invited to interview, please ensure that you have access to this software and that you have your video turned on. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We receive many applications, and unfortunately we’re not able to provide feedback for candidates who aren’t shortlisted. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

All communications will be electronic therefore it is vitally important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder.

Important Information

If you fail to complete the test before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn. Guidance will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are untimed, administered via Civil Service Jobs, and applicant guidance is available during the test and online on GOV.UK Online Tests guidance.

Applicants must complete the test on their own, without help, and Departments reserve the right to retest applicants under supervised conditions at later stages of the selection process. Doing this can provide reassurance to recruiters who are concerned about the authenticity of one or more test results.

Please ensure you allow yourself sufficient time to complete the assessment and submit your application before the advertised deadline.

Reasonable adjustments & test accessibility:

See our reasonable adjustments guide for candidates (online tests), or some example case studies, to act as a guide. You can use these to help you decide whether to ask for help or take the test without help.

More information about online tests can be found here: Preparing for the Civil Service Verbal and Numerical tests - GOV.UK. You will also find practice tests on this page if you would find them helpful prior to completing the live test.

Other Information - IMPORTANT

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : team.centraleconomics@education.gov.uk
• Email : team.centraleconomics@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)Candidate Pack - 452685 Senior Research Economist Opens in new window (pdf, 1855kB)