Digital Excellence Programme: Frequently Asked Questions

The Digital Excellence Programme [DEP] is delivered in partnership with Apolitical, the platform for government learning, the London School of Economics and Politics (LSE), and EY. This high-quality and high-impact programme has been co-designed with UK government departments on the basis of extensive user interviews.

The courses themselves are designed with:

1. The specific and practical needs of UK government leaders in mind;

2. The content of the DDaT essentials, which are critical to the government’s targets in digital and data.

Each DEP license gives a learner access to the four existing courses. They will also be able to access additional courses and developments of the programme. The courses can be taken on a cohort model, with rolling cohort dates 4x per year, or asynchronously.

Learners choosing to take the courses with a cohort will benefit from social learning within the courses as well as a series of live events, including Masterclasses from the LSE and within the UK government, and other experts; peer-to-peer workshops; and a closing event for each cohort.

The Digital Excellence Programme refers to ‘Digital’ in the broad sense of current and emerging digital technologies, and the way that government can harness these to provide more efficient services and better outcomes for the public.

The practitioner course Building a Digital Culture in Government, designed for SCS, focuses on the underlying processes, policies, and culture of an organisation that enable it to maximise digital technology, improve outcomes, and drive efficiency. Three key sections of the course focus on government in the digital age, delivering digital services, and digital culture (including agile methodologies).

Future DEP courses will, for example, expand the focus on digital to examine in more detail the design of digital services, the technologies underpinning digital products, digital risks and governance, considerations around legacy technologies, and change management.

The first four DEP courses are an initial offering designed to maximise coverage of the DDaT essentials and provide the most relevant, essential learning for SCS and other leaders in government.

The DEP partners, Apolitical, the London School of Economics and Politics (LSE), and EY, plan in the longer term to develop a full suite of DEP short courses, along with master’s-level learning delivered by the LSE.

While Master’s level learning is not yet available as a distinct part of the programme, the aim is to include this level in the longer term. The goal is to deliver master’s level modules which can be combined to achieve a postgraduate qualification awarded by the London School of Economics and Politics (the LSE).

The LSE contributes to all practitioner courses that are currently available, from the design stage to cohort delivery. This includes making experts available for live Masterclasses and Q&A.

The DEP courses are primarily designed for non-DDaT professionals, although the content can serve as a helpful refresher for those who already have this specialist knowledge.

The DEP is specifically tailored for SCS and future leaders, such as Grades 6 and 7 and Fast Stream. However, it is accessible to any grade.

The DEP courses are primarily designed for SCS, making them particularly relevant for SCS, Grades 6 and 7, and Fast Stream. These courses are consistent across all SCS roles and consider various roles and professions, such as policy and operational delivery. The content offers principles that learners can adapt to their specific contexts and comes with resources to aid in this application. As the programme evolves, some courses will cater more to different levels, including those in frontline roles.

The online courses have the following estimated durations and can be taken at a suggested pace of about 1 hour per week or at the learner's own pace:

• Building a Digital Culture in Government: 5 hours

• Building a Data Culture in Government: 5 hours

• Building a User-Centred Culture in Government: 3 hours

• Building AI-Confidence in Government: 4 hours

Additionally, cohort learners can attend optional live events and masterclasses. If learners participate in all events associated with each course, it would total 1–4 hours.

The courses are structured to fit into a busy schedule, with email reminders pacing the learning at about 1 hour per week. Learners are also informed well in advance about masterclasses and other live events.

To encourage completion, departments might offer rewards for course certificates or tie them to career advancement or demonstrating an understanding of the DDaT essentials. Our email workflow is most effective when paired with departmental communications, ensuring learners are aware of the Apolitical invitation and its significance.

The current courses are accessible until October 2026. Within this timeframe, the next cohort starts:

• 1st July 2025, with onboarding from 24th June 2025

Learners can opt to take any of the four courses in any sequence during this period.

The courses are paced (approx. 1 hour per week) to allow space for reflection. They include a focus on practical, downloadable resources and exercises that learners can take away for application in their own role, or in some cases to help cascade learning in their teams.

Live events, including peer learning events and masterclasses with experts are also designed to take the learning a step further. See, for example, the overview of a past peer learning event for the course Building a Digital Culture in Government:

Throughout the ‘Building a Digital Culture in Government’ course, you’ve learned about how to start shifting your organisation toward a more digital culture, starting with your own unit or team.

In Section 3.5, you were given the chance to think about how to convene the right stakeholders and lead productive conversations about cultivating a digital culture in your unit.

This interactive peer-to-peer learning event will give you the opportunity to prepare for these conversations in small groups. Through guided discussion questions, you’ll talk through your game plans for identifying stakeholders, and give feedback on one another’s interview plans.

The courses have undergone a comprehensive accessibility audit using the Government Campus ‘eLearning Quality Assurance checklist’. The learning is exclusively delivered via the Apolitical platform, which aims to adhere to levels A and AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Regular updates are made to enhance the platform's accessibility and user-friendliness.

Each Department DEP SPOC is responsible for both committing to a seat allocation and for assigning specific learners to the programme. The allocation process might involve individuals nominating themselves to the DEP SPOC, but learners can only enroll if the DEP SPOC adds them to the list.

The programme is accessed via Apolitical, the learning platform for public servants. Enrollment invitations are sent through Apolitical emails. To prevent Apolitical emails from being flagged as spam, consider the following steps:

1. Have your IT department whitelist the Apolitical IPs: 143.244.86.192 and 143.244.86.34.

2. Whitelist emails from Apolitical’s domains: @e.apolitical.co and @apolitical.co.

3. If Apolitical emails are found in the spam folder, contact the Customer Support team at concierge@apolitical.co.

4. Mark Apolitical emails as "not spam" whenever possible.

Each Department DEP SPOC is responsible for both committing to a seat allocation and for assigning specific learners to the programme. The CDDO will provide regular reports on learner progress to share with DEP SPOCs as needed. Apolitical also provides full Evaluation reports on a biannual basis to CDDO. Your participants may be contacted for user interviews as part of this process, if they have opted in to do so.

Yes, please contact CDDO for details at scs-upskilling@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk.

The current buying window is open until 31st October, 2025. Every license holder will have 12 full months of access to the programme (through 31st October, 2026).

Your EY Account Manager or the EY Ops Hub (ey.support.governmentcampus@uk.ey.com).

Please follow your standard internal processes to raise a purchase order.

The learning is designed to encourage cross-civil service cohorts and knowledge sharing. Department-specific cohorts may be available at scale. Please contact CDDO if you would like to discuss this option.