Pathways to Planning

Pathways to Planning Graduate Scheme

Pathways to Planning is a graduate scheme for the next generation of planners, fast-tracking the careers of talented individuals into an exciting, rewarding career. We recruit graduates from all backgrounds, universities, and degree disciplines; our aim is to reflect the diverse communities that councils serve.

What is Planning?

Behind every community lies built and natural environments which shape the way we live our lives. Who determines how our homes are built, our cities structured, our green spaces maintained, and our local areas linked together? Whether it’s our commute to work or our ability to cope with climate change, this is the mandate of a planner.

Planners shape communities and protect the environment, providing sustainable spaces for people today and in the future.

More about the Pathways to Planning scheme:

Salary/Benefits: Minimum three-year work contract with a council, £23,500-35,000 salary, generous package of annual leave, and flexible working is available at many councils.

Eligibility: To apply, candidates will need to have a 2.1 undergraduate degree in any subject by summer 2025 and will be required to provide evidence of their entitlement to work in the UK, as Pathways to Planning is unable to sponsor visas. If any applicants have the right to work in the UK but would be considered an international student for the purposes of postgraduate study, they may be liable for the additional cost of course fees (i.e., any cost above UK domestic student fees).

Structure of the programme: Once passing our assessment process, successful candidates will be employed on a three-year fixed-term contract at a council and gain varied work experience across different specialties within planning departments. They will be mentored by more senior members of staff within the planning department.

Learning and Development: Graduates will start by completing a short Introduction to Planning piece of e-learning to acquaint them with the sector. They will then undertake a fully-funded master’s in planning through a master’s course or level 7 apprenticeship, with the support of their employing council. Once trainees have finished their postgraduate study, they are on track to become fully accredited planners and then able to progress into more senior roles with higher pay. Council planning teams have excellent career progression routes, and a vested interest in seeing their Pathways graduates succeed.  

Council Partners: The scheme will work with local councils across England and Wales, who will hire graduates as part of the programme and support their career development as accredited planning professionals. As councils sign up, you can find the most up-to-date list of partner councils, here.

Graduate's Experiences

Jade, London Borough of Barnet

"Planning is really diverse and there are so many areas that you could branch into which is what makes it such an interesting career choice. A career in planning allows you the opportunity to make places and spaces better for people in the local community.

For me, my favourite speciality in planning is heritage and conservation. I think it’s fascinating to learn about our local historical buildings and establish how they can be sensitively and sympathetically developed. I would recommend planning as a career because there’s always something different to do and something new to learn. There is a great sense of achievement associated with being a town planner and it's always really rewarding and inspiring to see the projects you’ve worked on come to life."

Mark, from London Borough of Barnet was asked: Tell us about a project that you have worked on which has made a positive difference?

"I have worked on a number of projects for the Council’s social housing partners, a number of which have since been completed and occupied – resulting in the regeneration of poor-quality housing stock and the provision of new homes for a range of people who would otherwise be reliant on substandard accommodation, or forced to relocate."

Nyasha, from Norwich City Council, was asked: What advice would you give to anyone thinking of working as a planner in local government?

"I would say it is a great opportunity and you should take it. Working as a Planner in Local Government allows you to see the difference your work has in the local area and it is also a great way to get to know the area you live.

There is more to planning besides dealing with planning applications, you also have the opportunity to get involved in other things such as Policy, Enforcement and Conservation."

Simone, from Bristol City Council was asked: Can you tell us what makes Planning such an exciting career in local government?

"Working in Planning in local government means you’re working on the solutions of today’s big challenges: literally harnessing and channelling development so that it facilitates sustainable, healthy, and inclusive communities to flourish."

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We aim to recruit graduates who are representative of the communities they will serve, which is why equality, diversity and inclusion are important to us. Regardless of background, anyone with a passion to make a difference in their communities as a planner can apply. We are particularly keen to encourage those who identify as Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic to apply, alongside women, as typically underrepresented groups within planning.

What have we done about it?

The Pathways to Planning team believes that the best way to recruit a diverse group of graduates is to involve a diverse range of individuals within the design of its recruitment and assessment process. We strongly encourage applicants who require reasonable adjustments to please state this on their application form. A member of our support team will then get in touch to discuss how we can support you in the application process. Information about candidates is held confidentially and will not impact their application in any way outside of our team making reasonable adjustments.

We analyse the outcomes of each stage of our assessment process using anonymised equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) data to check for any adverse impact on anyone with a protected characteristic within the assessment.

Competencies

To embed diversity in the heart of Pathways to Planning, we’ve designed the core assessment criteria – our competencies – in collaboration with the Young Planners Network and the BAME Planners Network, with a good gender balance between representatives. We have also had input from professionals with disabilities and have encouraged participation from individuals with diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The finished competencies can be found on our website, with written descriptions for each. They are the only assessment tool that we use in our recruitment - we do not use candidates’ work experience, university of study, degree subject or any other measure to influence the application process.

Situational Judgement Test

The Young Planners Network, the BAME Planners Network and graduate trainees from Impact, the local government graduate scheme, have contributed examples of their lived experience on the job to form the backbone of our situational judgement test. The test is not timed, but if any candidates require it in a different format or have an accessibility concern about this assessment, our team are available to offer advice and provide any required alternatives.

Video Interview

Our video interview questions are drafted against our competencies and tested with a diverse group of graduates to ensure they are fair and clear. The interviews are assessed using a framework which has been designed by an occupational psychologist to ensure questions are marked in a fair and equal way regardless of a candidate's background. Video interviews are marked as audio files only, to help remove unconscious bias from the process.

The video interview is a timed assessment, so we strongly encourage candidates with reasonable adjustments to get in touch with us at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure they are given extra time to complete this assessment. We provide extra time to read the questions, extra time to respond to the questions, and an additional opportunity to re-record your answer for all candidates who require reasonable adjustments.

Assessment Centre

Our assessment centre materials are designed by an external company of occupational psychologists in collaboration with a diverse range of industry experts. The professionals leading this work conducted four reviews of their work, each with a different diverse group. Those consulted included graduate planners, senior planners, members of the BAME planners network, BAME assessors, and current university students with a range of protected characteristics.

For cohorts 1 and 2, we have been able to provide coaching to candidates from underrepresented backgrounds in advance of assessment centres. We aim to provide this again for Cohort 3.

Council Interviews

Councils are responsible for the format of their interviews, but we provide them with best practice guidance. Councils will provide feedback on request following the interview process. We will not automatically pass any information about additional requirements to councils as this is held confidentially. We strongly encourage candidates with additional requirements to share these with councils in advance of their interviews so they can receive appropriate support.

For cohorts 1 and 2, we provided coaching to candidates from underrepresented groups in advance of their council interviews. We aim to continue this for cohort 3.