Britain’s next generation of financial civil servants needn’t prove they can do math.

Freedom of Information requests I submitted reveal that applicants to the Civil Service Finance Fast Stream — a four-year program intended to train people who will help Whitehall “deliver value for money” — face no mathematical assessment of any kind. Instead, their initial selection process consists of two untimed online exercises.

A practice question for the first exercise, a “work-based scenario”, asks applicants how they would negotiate with another manager over a vital matter of state: the use of shared office IT equipment. The correct answer is recommended because it “holds open dialog” and offers “constructive alternatives”.

The second test, the “Case Study assessment”, resembles a game of Civil Service Sims. Candidates assume an “imaginary role” and work through 24 dynamic workplace situations, complete with video and audio from fictional colleagues. Those who pass attend a virtual half-day assessment center consisting of a written exercise, a stakeholder role-play and a “Personal Development Conversation” where they are encouraged to express their “true self”. The final hurdle they must overcome is a 30-minute interview on Microsoft Teams.

Graduate Finance candidates need a 2:1, but it can be in any subject. There’s nothing stopping an alumnus of Bath Spa’s Contemporary Circus and Physical Theatre course throwing their hat into the ring. On a serious note, there is a perfectly credible case for keeping professional careers open to people without conventional credentials. But that makes the need for aptitude testing all the greater. The private sector seems to agree: Big Four accounting firms KPMG and EY do not require graduates to have studied a numerical subject, but both require applicants to pass a math test.

After the Fast Stream scrapped numerical reasoning assessments in 2016 on the grounds they “disadvantage[d] those from a lower socio-economic background”, the Finance scheme retained a math test for at least two years. By 2023, however, a general numerical test had reappeared across the Fast Stream. The Cabinet Office said it was removed again for the 2026 intake because essential skills are now tested more effectively at later stages.

Recruits are expected to acquire professional accountancy qualifications and pass as many as 16 exams. The state pays for their membership fees, tuition, learning materials, exam entries and study leave — with costs running into thousands of pounds per recruit. One qualification provider, CIMA, has published results showing pass rates of below 50% for some papers, while resits can cost almost £400. Every time, the taxpayer picks up the bill.

FOI data also shows that at least half of those recommended for appointment to the Finance Fast Stream in 2021 did not go on to complete it. Some will have left for other jobs rather than failing their exams, but for a taxpayer-funded program this is a remarkably high attrition rate. The irony is that the competition for Fast Stream places means the Civil Service could afford to be ruthlessly selective. More than 4,400 people selected the Finance scheme as their first-choice Fast Stream in 2025; just 42 were recommended for appointment.

Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo has ordered a rapid review of the Fast Stream and promised to build a recruitment model that emphasizes “skills and expertise”. Making sure her accountants can add up would be a good place to start.

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Arthur Reynolds is a journalist, and was formerly a civil servant and Government speechwriter.

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