The Datum Report

Occupation 3560 · Associate professional occupations

Public services associate professionals

Half of full-time public services associate professionals in the UK earn more than £39,537 a year, and half earn less.

Public services associate professionals supervise, manage and undertake general administrative work in national and local government departments, organise the activities of local offices of national government departments, and promote the image and understanding of an organisation and its products and services to consumers and other specified audiences.

How people enter it

Although there are no formal academic entry requirements, entrants typically possess A levels/H grades or an equivalent qualification, and many entrants possess a degree. Entry may be possible by promotion from clerical grades for those with suitable experience. Training is typically provided on-the-job, supplemented by specialised courses. Professional qualifications are available in some areas.

What the work involves

• manages the activities of government office staff, assigns tasks and responsibilities and makes changes in procedures to deal with variations in workload
• assists senior government officers with policy work, external liaison or general administrative work
• supervises a variety of administrative functions in government departments such as recruitment and training, the negotiation and arrangement of contracts, building and capital management, monitoring and authorising department expenditure etc.
• organises resources for the acceptance and recording of vacancy details, the selection of suitable applicants and other Job Centre activities
• authorises the payment of social security benefits, assesses the financial circumstances of claimants and investigates any state insurance contribution problems
• undertakes supervisory duties specific to the operation of Revenue and Customs offices, Job Centres, Benefits Agency offices and other local offices of national government
• advises the public or companies on general tax problems and arranges for the issue, receipt and examination of tax forms, assessment of PAYE codes and the computation of tax arrears and rebates
• discusses business strategy, products, services and target client base with management to identify public relations requirements
• writes, edits and arranges for the distribution of press releases and other public relations material, addresses target groups through meetings, presentations, the media and other events to enhance the public image of the organisation, and monitors and evaluates its effectiveness

Also called

Civil servant (HEO, SEO) · Higher executive officer (government) · Principle revenue officer (local government) · Senior executive officer (government) · Team leader (local government)

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for public services associate professionals, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 11 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions