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Pathways to Planning provides local planning authorities with a pipeline of talented, supported new planners who can make a difference.
Pathways to Planning is a graduate recruitment programme run by the Local Government Association which delivered more than 80 new planners to almost 60 local planning authorities in its first year.
The next cohort of Pathways to Planning offers English councils:
- specialist marketing and recruitment services to shortlist a diverse pool of candidates for a September 2025 start
- a bursary of at least £5,000 to enable every Pathways graduate’s postgraduate study and MRTPI accreditation
- development opportunities and a community of support for your graduate to support retention
- no fee to take part: councils pay each graduate planner they employ a minimum of £24,000/pa.
With over 2,150 applications this year, the Pathways to Planning programme has a large pool of talented candidates who will be divided into two rounds of interviews. The first round will take place in May 2025 for councils already registered with the programme, but a second round will be held in July 2025. All graduates will start work in September 2025.
We are now accepting council sign-ups for Cohort 3 via a second round of interviews to be held in early July 2025 for graduate places starting in September 2025.
If your council will have a vacant graduate planner post for September 2025, or can create a new graduate planner post, sign up now to secure your place. Each Pathways to Planning place comes with access to our high-achieving talent pool at no cost, and an educational bursary of £5,000 or £10,000 to fund the graduate’s RTPI-accredited study. Additional bursary funding can be allocated to councils in a training freeze who require assistance with full tuition fee costs.
Please read our guidance document to ensure that the programme will work for your council before signing up. This programme aims to expand the talent pipeline of graduates entering a career in planning and is therefore not suitable as an upskilling programme for existing council staff.
For more information, please contact the Pathways to Planning team at [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
Information for applicants
If you are a graduate and are interested in applying for the programme, visit the dedicated website for applicants at pathwaystoplanning.org.