Impact Graduate Scheme 2027: Application Process, Stages and Dates

The Impact application process has four stages. Stage 1 is an application form and an online situational judgement test, open from 7 October 2026 to 12:00 midday on 6 January 2027. Pass it and you record a three-question video interview from January 2027. Pass that and you attend a half-day virtual assessment centre in February or March 2027. Candidates who pass the assessment centre choose council preferences in April and have council interviews in May and June 2027. Successful graduates join councils in autumn 2027 as Cohort 29.

Impact: The Local Government Graduate Programme is the Local Government Association's two-year graduate scheme for councils. It was called the National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP) until June 2024; the LGA says the content and structure are the same under the new name. This guide sets out every stage, the dates, what each stage asks of you, the salary, who can apply, and how competitive it is, using only the LGA's own pages. The two-year length and the eligibility rules below describe the main programme; the Impact Finance Stream lasts four years.

Independent practice. Not affiliated with the Local Government Association. ProSyllabus is an independent study site; our practice is not made or endorsed by the LGA or by any council.

LGA Impact timeline, candidate home page, Cohort 29 application page, LGA page for councils signing up to Cohort 29, What is expected of my council? and 2026/27 council information pack, read 10 November 2026.

Sources: the LGA's Impact timeline, the Cohort 29 application page, the candidate FAQs and What is expected of my council?. The process is the same whether you apply as a national, local or internal candidate, and you can apply to Impact only once each year. Our Impact Graduate Scheme page gathers every Impact guide and the practice in one place.

The Cohort 29 application page calls the situational judgement test the only assessment at Stage 1 (Finance Stream applicants also take a numerical reasoning test, as the timeline and accessibility pages say). You must pass it to reach the video interview. Start a free scenario of our independent practice below: you rate every response, as the application page and the LGA's practice questions ask, then see the reason behind each rating.

You fill in an application form, confirm that you meet the eligibility rules and complete the situational judgement test (SJT). The application page says you must finish the SJT before you can submit the form. The timeline page says the scenarios come from the real experience of general management trainees working in local government.

The 8 key skills are working with others; effective communication; planning and organisation; results focused and adaptability; analysis and problem solving; motivation for learning and personal resilience; commitment to local government and the wider community; and leadership potential. What each one means, and what a strong and a weak response look like, is in our Impact key skills guide.

For the test itself, read our Impact situational judgement test guide (format, the four ratings and how to approach them). If you have practised from NGDP material, our NGDP situational judgement test guide sets the most-and-least format beside the rating format.

If you pass the SJT, the LGA invites you to record a video interview. You answer three questions, one at a time, each linked to the key skills. The LGA expects it to take 20 to 30 minutes and suggests leaving an hour so you can use the practice function and get used to the platform first.

The LGA's approach to AI page says it assesses your own expression of the key skills, not the output of an AI tool. Assessors mark the audio only, so our suggestion is to practise spoken answers with a clear structure and a real example.

Everyone who passes the video interview is invited to a half-day virtual assessment centre with three tasks: a written task, a group discussion and a presentation. The LGA says the exercises are specific to local government, are based on the experiences of graduate management trainees, and assess you against the key skills across all three.

You are emailed joining instructions beforehand. The LGA asks you to join at least 15 minutes early and check your sound and video. It does not publish how long each task lasts. Adjustments it lists include extra time, written materials in advance and a smaller group for the group exercise; the LGA asks you to get in touch before your assessment centre takes place, and says it cannot provide extra time or other adjustments retrospectively (timeline, accessibility page).

Every one of these later stages depends on the first. If you have not sat the SJT yet, this is the stage to practise now:

After the assessment centres, successful candidates get information on each participating council through an online information hub, and the LGA says some information sessions will be planned. You give preferences by region and by council. The LGA FAQs say you are then allocated a region, and your Stage 4 interviews will be in that region; the LGA tries to give you councils you preferred within it, but not everyone gets their first choice. Impact works with councils across England and Wales, usually about 70 a year (FAQs); the Cohort 29 application page speaks of 80+ partner councils. The FAQs say a full list of participating councils will be shared with successful candidates after the assessment centres.

Every successful candidate is offered at least one council interview, and it can be more than one. Councils interview online or in person; the council information hub tells you which. If a council offers you a job, the offer is conditional on pre-employment checks. If more than one council offers, you choose which to accept. Once you accept, you become part of Cohort 29 and the council arranges an autumn 2027 start.

The local route. Some partner organisations want graduates with a local connection to their area. If you meet a partner's extra criteria and pass the assessment centre, you are guaranteed an interview with that authority. The LGA's candidate page and application page list 19 of them, including Barnsley MBC, Liverpool City Council, Westminster City Council, Pembrokeshire County Council, Peterborough City Council and several London boroughs, each with its own apply link. You can apply for only one Impact programme a year.

The LGA's candidate page says every graduate hired through the national campaign is paid a minimum of £33,673, which may be higher in some areas and could rise after pay negotiations. Its page for councils ties this to the national local government pay spine: councils pay spinal column point 20, currently £33,673 excluding London weighting (What is expected of my council?). Some councils pay more, for example through inner or outer London weighting.

Two LGA pages give a lower figure, £32,597: the candidate FAQs, which still describe an autumn 2026 start, and the 2026/27 council information pack, written for the previous round (Cohort 28). The candidate page, the Cohort 29 application page and the LGA's What is expected of my council? page all give £33,673.

The contract is a fixed term of at least two years with one council. You rotate through at least three placements (the candidate page says three to four), usually across corporate, frontline and support services, and you study for a fully funded CMI Level 7 qualification in leadership and management.

Applications: the LGA's Cohort 29 page for councils reports over 8,000 last year. The LGA's 2026/27 council information pack, written for the previous round, says: "Last year, we received a record number of applications as over 8,000 candidates applied to Impact." Its page for councils signing up to the Cohort 29 round says the programme "attracted over 8000 applications last year". A third LGA page for councils, with no date on it, says Impact attracted applications "from over 4,500 graduates" last year (Why take part); it does not say which year it means.

Places and acceptance rate: not published. We found no number of places, pass mark or acceptance rate on any LGA page we read, so there is nothing official to calculate a rate from. The LGA FAQs say not all councils take part each year. The council information pack says only that "a very small proportion of applicants" secure a role with a council. Treat any precise acceptance rate you see elsewhere as unverified unless it links to an LGA source.

Impact is the national local government graduate scheme in England and Wales. The LGA runs or links two related routes:

Details: the LGA's Finance Stream page and the Impact candidate page, which links Pathways to Planning.