Civil Service reserve lists explained

Being put on a Civil Service reserve list means you passed every stage of the campaign and met the standard, but other candidates scored higher and took the posts that were available. If the same or a similar job comes up while the list is open, the department can offer it to the next person in merit order without advertising again. The advert says how long the list will be kept, and an offer from it can come from a different team, office or, in some campaigns, a different department.

How the merit list works

Civil Service recruitment is on merit, through fair and open competition. At the end of a campaign every candidate who passed is ranked by their total score across the assessed Success Profiles elements. The posts on offer go to the top of that list, one by one. Everyone else who passed is held in rank order on the reserve list.

When a new vacancy arises, the recruiter goes back to the list and offers the post to the highest-ranked person who has not yet had an offer and who fits any location or other condition attached to it. You cannot be leapfrogged by someone with a lower score for the same post, though a candidate further down might get an offer before you if the post is in a location you did not choose.

How long a reserve list lasts

The reserve period is set by the department and stated in the advert or the candidate pack, often as a number of months from the end of the campaign. The wording usually looks something like “a reserve list will be held from which further appointments can be made”. If the advert says nothing, ask the vacancy contact.

Lists can end early if the department has no more vacancies or recruits in a fresh campaign. When the period ends, the list closes and you are not usually told. Your scores do not carry over to a new campaign, even one for an identical job, so you would need to apply again.

Offers from other teams, locations and departments

Large campaigns, such as bulk recruitment for administrative officers or executive officers, often fill posts in several offices and teams from one list. The advert normally says so, and you may have been asked to rank the locations you would accept. An offer could then be for a different team from the one in the original job title, at the same grade and in one of your chosen places.

Some campaigns go further and state that candidates on the reserve list may be offered similar roles in other government departments. That is set out in the advert, so read it before assuming a list belongs to one team only.

Turning down a reserve list offer is allowed. Whether you stay on the list afterwards varies. Some departments keep you on for other locations, others remove you after one refusal. Ask before you decline if it matters to you.

When an offer comes

An offer from a reserve list is a provisional offer, the same as one made at the end of the campaign. It is subject to pre-employment checks: identity, right to work, references, the Baseline Personnel Security Standard and, for some posts, a higher level of security clearance. The nationality rules that applied when you applied still apply. Conditional job offers explains what you can and cannot rely on at this stage.

Pay is set by each department within the pay range for the grade, and external candidates usually start at the minimum. Civil Service grades and pay sets out how the grades fit together, and negotiating starting salary covers the limited room there is to start higher.

If you already work in the Civil Service, check whether the offer is a promotion or a move on level transfer. Your HR team can tell you how pay will be worked out and whether your notice period runs from the date of the provisional or the final offer.

While you wait

Keep your Civil Service Jobs account details up to date, including your email and phone number, because reserve list offers can arrive months after the interview with a short deadline to reply. If your circumstances change, for example you move house and can no longer travel to a location you listed, tell the vacancy contact so they can update your record.

Carry on applying for other jobs. A place on a reserve list is a sign your application was at the standard for that grade, and the same examples, adjusted for each new advert, are likely to do well again. If you want to know what kept you off the top of the list, ask for your scores; our guide to asking for feedback after a rejection has wording that works for reserve list outcomes too.