Find answers for some of the most frequently asked questions about the Pathways to Planning programme.
If your question is not answered below, or you need any further information or assistance, please contact our support team at [email protected].
Eligibility to apply
Unfortunately, Pathways to Planning does not have the authority to sponsor visas. Our partner councils will not sponsor visas as part of this scheme. In order to apply, graduates must have the right to work in the UK for the duration of the programme (three years from 1 September 2024)
Pathways to Planning requires applicants to have a minimum 2.1 undergraduate degree by summer 2024. If you have any additional qualifications, including a master’s degree, this is completely fine.
We only consider education to meet the minimum entry criteria: we will not consider your university of study, degree of study or level of achievement once we have established candidates’ eligibility for the programme. The one exception is that this programme is not suitable for graduates who are currently completing a master’s degree in planning, as a fully funded part-time master's / Level 7 apprenticeship in planning will be provided as part of the Pathways to Planning programme. Graduates who hold educational qualifications in planning would be advised to seek support from the RTPI and/or employment opportunities directly with local councils.
Assessment process
Yes, all stages of the application process are required to ensure that all candidates are fairly and equally assessed against the same criteria, our competencies. We will make adaptations to the delivery of assessments where needed to support candidates with additional requirements, but each candidate will be measured against the same criteria at each stage.
If you have a disability, have received reasonable adjustments for a test/exam process in the past or believe that you are in need of reasonable adjustments in future, please get in touch with our team as far in advance as possible. We will have an individual conversation about how we can support you and make adaptations as needed so you have fair and equal access to the Pathways to Planning application process.
While we are a new graduate programme, we are building on the best practice of our sister programme, the National Graduate Development Programme for Local Government, and best practice from other public sector graduate programmes to ensure that our systems and processes provide the best possible experience to graduates who apply. Our experience of our pilot programme, Cohort 1, has shown excellent outcomes for candidates with protected characteristics. You can read more about the processes we have been through in designing and delivering our assessments on our EDI page.
Yes, once you have started the situational judgement test or the video interview, you can pause the assessment after you have answered a question or filmed your response to a question. You cannot pause either assessment with a question open on the screen. The situational judgement test is not timed, so we would encourage you to start the assessment when you know you have at least an hour of uninterrupted time so that you don’t put artificial time pressure on your assessment.
The video interview is a timed assessment and you cannot pause a question once you have begun. You will have the opportunity to re-record your answer to each question one time, and if you want to pause the assessment, you can do this after you have submitted an answer to one question before opening the next question.
If you have any additional requirements, which may require extra time to complete tests and exams, please get in touch with our team before you start the video interview so we can discuss reasonable adjustments. We provide 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 100 per cent extra time to candidates who require reasonable adjustments on the basis of their evidence and needs, along with other measures as needed.
You should be able to complete each assessment using a mobile phone with a camera and internet connection, a laptop with a camera and an internet connection, or a desktop computer with an internet connection and a camera.
If you have concerns about your access to the right technology, please get in touch with our team in advance of the closing date and we will find a solution for you.
The councils who are participating in Cohort 1 of Pathways to Planning are listed on our website, and your initial application asked you to express which region you would like to work within and more specifically, which of the partner councils you would like to work for. Prior to arranging the interviews in late January 2024, to take place in February 2024, we will check if your circumstances have changed.
Our aim is to give you at least one interview with one of your top three preferred councils. If you have extenuating circumstances, such as caring responsibilities, a mortgage, etc, then we will take these into account when arranging interviews.
Candidates applying to Cohort 2 will see some councils listed on the application form: these are councils with a particular interest in connecting with candidates who have a connection to their local area. Councils will be signing up to Cohort 2 up to the end of March 2024, so candidates will be able to see a final list of which authorities are taking part ahead of their assessment centre. Candidates who pass the assessment centre will be able to rank the council they would prefer to interview with, and our team will consider this alongside your availability and the availability of interview spaces with the council. We expect most candidates should receive up to three interviews with a participating council.
Assessment centre
Candidates in Cohort 1 should be able to book on to an assessment centre by logging in to your candidate profile. There’s a link in the email we sent you about assessment centres if you are unsure, or you can contact [email protected] for help.
Candidates applying to Cohort 2 will be invited to book on to an assessment centre at the end of April 2024 or start of May 2024 if they pass the video interview stage. Further support will be provided closer to this time.
Unfortunately, we are only running assessment centres on the dates listed and we cannot offer other dates or times due to the nature of assessments.
Group exercise: The group discussion will comprise of a maximum of 6 candidates per session. You will each be provided with a scenario and be asked to prepare to engage in discussions with your peers regarding that scenario. In the virtual room, there will be an administrator who will instruct you on what is expected.
Presentation exercise: The presentation will be an individual assessment. You will have a briefing pack and time to prepare your presentation. There will be an assessor present for this exercise who will ask you questions about your presentation.
Written exercise: For the written task, you will be in a virtual room where you will be given an exercise and will have 45 minutes to complete a piece of written work according to the requirements clearly outlined in the task.
The virtual assessment centre has been planned to last a maximum of 4 hours and will consist of a written exercise, a group exercise and an individual presentation/briefing exercise. We recommend you allow four hours of your day for the assessments. You will not be able to leave the assessments early but you will be given an opportunity to break between assessments.
We strongly recommend that candidates eat before signing on to the virtual centre as there may not be an opportunity to eat your own snacks between assessments. We ask all candidates not to eat during live assessments unless they have informed the Pathways to Planning support team of any medical implications.
You should arrive online at least 15 minutes before the assessment begins to ensure that your device is charged/a charger is available nearby, check your internet connection and ensure that you have all relevant information to hand. Please check that you have a good connection and a device with a working camera and audio to complete the assessments online.
Qualification
Pathways to Planning councils will provide their graduate planners with either a part-time master’s degree or a Level 7 apprenticeship. Both routes are fully accredited by the Royal Town Planner’s Institute (RTPI) and both provide the same qualification at the end of the programme: a master’s degree in planning.
Some councils prefer to use a part-time master’s course as they are located near to an accredited course provider, or they like the flexibility that this qualification provides. Other councils prefer to use the more structured Level 7 apprenticeship, which comes at a lower cost to the council but also provides learners with additional support through their studies and after they have finished the master’s component, in achieving their individual RTPI accreditation.
All councils taking part in Cohort 1 are providing a part-time master’s degree to provide consistency for the pilot of our graduate scheme, but councils in Cohort 2 are free to choose which qualification route will be most effective for their graduate planners.
Graduates will receive information about the qualification prior to interviewing with councils, and they will be supported by the council and the Pathways to Planning team in their application to the correct course once they have been offered a place by a participating council. For Cohort 1, this will occur by March 2024. For Cohort 2, this will occur by July 2024. Both cohorts will start their qualification in September 2024.
No, there is no cost for graduates taking part in the Pathways to Planning programme. Councils will receive a bursary from the Pathways team to help cover expenses relating to the qualification, and they have agreed to cover any remaining costs outside of this bursary. This includes course fees, travel to the university of study and any further expenses required by the course provider.
No, studying on an RTPI-accredited master’s course is an essential component of the Pathways to Planning programme as this qualification is essential for your career to progress as a Planner in local government. You will receive time off work to attend university classes, and support from your line manager in balancing work and study.
Councils
Yes, any council in England is welcome to sign up for the Pathways to Planning programme. Councils are responsible for paying the salary of graduate planners, providing a range of work experience, providing mentoring and support, and covering any expenses relating to graduates’ RTPI-accredited master’s study outside of the bursary provided. Not all councils have additional budget for these aspects of the programme, and some councils do not have any space within their planning teams. For these reasons, not all councils will take part in the programme.
All candidates who applied to Cohort 1 indicated which councils they were interested in interviewing with on their application form. Candidates applying to Cohort 2 will receive a full list of councils taking part as they approach the assessment centre stage. A list of participating councils can also be found on our website and will be updated as councils sign up. We anticipate councils will sign up until the end of March 2024, which is the end of the local government financial year and therefore a natural time for councils to plan their staffing expenditure for the following year.
Councils outside of England are not covered by the Government grant that funds the Pathways to Planning programme. As such, councils in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have to pay a fee to take part in the programme and are not eligible to receive the bursary funds. It is far less likely that councils within these regions will take part in the programme on this basis.
Candidates who have passed through our assessment process will be able to indicate which councils they would prefer to interview with, and they can declare any connection they have to these councils. This helps us to accommodate candidates with additional needs to remain in/move to a local area (such as caring responsibilities, mortgages and long term rental agreements). Councils’ availability to interview candidates (in terms of days/times for interviews and also the maximum number of candidates they can accommodate) will also dictate the chances that a candidate will be able to access an interview with their preferred council.
Councils taking part each choose how many candidates to hire, and the Pathways programme does have an overall cap which limits places across participating councils. Following the interview process, councils will make job offer(s) to candidates via the Pathways to Planning team. Candidates can choose to accept if/which offer they would like to accept, or turn down. If any spaces remain after the first round of interviews, the Pathways to Planning team will organise a second round of interviews where councils and candidates can accommodate this process.
No, Pathways to Planning involves a separate recruitment process to anything you would have been through to secure your current role. All candidates who apply to the programme will complete the same assessments and will have equal access to interview with participating councils. If you are already working for a council, you can apply to the Pathways to Planning programme but we cannot guarantee that you will pass the assessments and/or that you would gain an interview with your current employer, if they are taking part in the Pathways to Planning programme.
If you are already working in a planning team but are looking for support in funding your master’s studies, we would strongly encourage you to explore the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Future Planners Bursary if this programme is restarted for the 2024-25 academic year.