jobfacts

National government administrative occupations

SOC 2020 4111

National government administrative occupations undertake a variety of administrative and clerical duties in national government departments, and in local offices of national government departments.

Also calledGovernment officialCase workerInvestigation officerCollector of taxesGroup officerInvestigating officerand 199 more titles
Typical full-time pay£33,0002025 Provisional
People in the job229,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month501↓ 2.6%on last year · 266th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time national government administrative occupations earn between £29,000 and £41,600 a year.

What full-time national government administrative occupations earn, 2025
£33,000 typical£26,600lowest 10%£41,60075%£48,300top 10%
Middle half (£29,000–£41,600)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£26,600
Lowest 20% earn less than£28,100
25%£29,000
Median£33,000
75%£41,600
Top 20% earn more than£43,500
Top 10% earn more than£48,300
Typical pay by regionUK median £33,000
London£41,300
South East£38,100
South West£36,600
East of England!£33,400
Scotland!£32,500
North West£32,100
West Midlands£31,900
Wales£31,200
Yorkshire and The Humber£30,700
East Midlands£30,600
North East£28,700
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £33,000
London£41,300
South East£38,100
South West£36,600
East of England£33,400 (small sample)
Scotland£32,500 (small sample)
North West£32,100
West Midlands£31,900
Wales£31,200
Yorkshire and The Humber£30,700
East Midlands£30,600
North East£28,700
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £28,100
  • 2024 £30,900
  • 2025 Provisional£33,000
↑ 17% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 501 jobs for national government administrative occupations are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026529
Jul 2026523
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026536
Apr 2026499
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026457
Jan 2026477
Dec 2025390
Nov 2025510
Oct 2025573
Sept 2025518
Aug 2025552
Jul 2025518
Jun 2025541
May 2025501
Apr 2025431
Mar 2025476
Feb 2025578
Jan 2025513
Dec 2024372
Nov 2024505
Oct 2024648
Sept 2024526
Aug 2024612
Jul 2024554
Jun 2024511
May 2024838
Apr 2024573
Mar 2024581
Feb 2024506
Jan 2024596
Dec 2023504
Nov 2023541
Oct 2023578
Sept 2023605
Aug 2023549
Jul 2023602
Jun 2023744
May 2023779
Apr 2023624
Mar 2023957
Feb 2023969
Jan 20231,003
Dec 2022782
Nov 2022998
Oct 20221,028
Sept 2022992
Aug 2022949
Jul 20221,052
Jun 2022999
May 20221,133
Apr 2022874
Mar 20221,107
Feb 2022933
Jan 20221,149
Dec 2021845
Nov 2021977
Oct 20211,015
Sept 2021938
Aug 2021805
Jul 2021956
Jun 2021866
May 2021909
Apr 2021670
Mar 20211,059
Feb 2021625
Jan 2021541
Dec 2020511
Nov 2020550
Oct 2020661
Sept 2020612
Aug 2020463
Jul 2020484
Jun 2020411
May 2020329
Apr 2020377
Mar 2020620
Feb 2020791
Jan 2020779
Dec 2019706
Nov 2019812
Oct 2019739
Sept 2019716
Aug 2019621
Jul 2019838
Jun 2019848
May 2019762
Apr 2019623
Mar 2019635
Feb 2019598
Jan 2019775
Dec 2018443
Nov 2018721
Oct 2018747
Sept 2018812
Aug 2018547
Jul 2018684
Jun 2018713
May 2018641
Apr 2018625
Mar 2018711
Feb 2018651
Jan 2018756
Dec 2017425
Nov 2017597
Oct 2017759
Sept 2017594
Aug 2017634
Jul 2017629
Jun 2017683
May 2017752
Apr 2017767
Mar 2017829
Feb 2017683
Jan 2017698
Is there a shortage of national government administrative occupations?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthWell above usual
  • Pay against similar jobsAbove usual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertainty in online job advert density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
21%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for administrative occupations, which includes national government administrative occupations. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London322
Birmingham44
Manchester37
Windsor and Maidenhead31
Cotswold29
Leeds25
Bristol, City of22
Liverpool21
Newcastle upon Tyne20
West Northamptonshire20
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where national government administrative occupations are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 26 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Japan, Australia, United States, ranking it 168th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of national government administrative occupations
n/p
26%
20%
23%
21%
4.7%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3426%
35–4420%
45–5423%
55–6421%
65+4.7% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent41%
Higher education below degree6.7%
A levels or equivalent28%
GCSEs or equivalent20%
Other qualifications!2.5%
No qualifications!1.3%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent41%
Higher education below degree6.7%
A levels or equivalent28%
GCSEs or equivalent20%
Other qualifications2.5% (small sample)
No qualifications1.3% (small sample)

Main employers: general public administration activities (50%), defence activities (11%), compulsory social security activities (9.3%), justice and judicial activities (4.9%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
41%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
2
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
1 to 18 months
typically

Apprenticeships

2 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • assists senior government officers with policy work, external liaison or general administrative work
  • undertakes administrative duties specific to the operation of HM Revenue and Customs offices, Job Centres, Benefits Agency offices and other local offices of national government
  • maintains and updates correspondence, documents, data and other records for storage in files or on computer
  • classifies, sorts and files publications, correspondence etc. in offices and libraries
  • responds to telephone enquiries and other forms of correspondence
  • performs miscellaneous clerical tasks such as proof reading printed material, drafting letters, taking minutes etc

Skills

  • align content with form
  • apply grammar and spelling rules
  • communicate by telephone
  • communicate with customers
  • deliver correspondence
  • disseminate internal communications
  • disseminate messages to people
  • facilitate access to information
  • file documents
  • fill out forms
  • handle delivered packages
  • handle mail
  • maintain correspondence records
  • organise business documents

Knowledge

  • company policies
  • information confidentiality
  • accounting techniques

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Practical, hands-on work

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for administrative occupations, a group of 20 jobs that includes national government administrative occupations.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 12%about 381,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 20351 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

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