# UK Civil Service Jobs Scraper (`govjobsdata/uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper`) Actor Scrape every UK Civil Service Jobs vacancy from civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk: title, department, grade, salary band, location, closing date, reference and apply link. No login, no official API needed. Export to JSON/CSV or call via MCP for AI agents. Pay per result. - **URL**: https://apify.com/govjobsdata/uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [GovJobs Data](https://apify.com/govjobsdata) (community) - **Categories:** Jobs - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 job results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## UK Civil Service Jobs Scraper Scrape **civil service jobs** and **UK government jobs** from [civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk](https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk) into clean, structured JSON — **no API key and no login required**. Get every live Civil Service vacancy with title, department, grade, salary band, location, closing date, reference number and a direct apply link. > There is no official Civil Service Jobs API, and the popular free GitHub scraper stopped working in February 2025. This Actor is the maintained, structured way to get the data — export to JSON/CSV/Excel or call it from an AI agent via MCP. ### What does UK Civil Service Jobs Scraper do? It scrapes live UK Civil Service vacancies straight from the official `civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk` recruitment site and returns each one as a structured record. Run it with no configuration to pull **every current vacancy**, or filter by keyword, department or location. The site sits behind an ALTCHA browser check and has no public API — this Actor handles that for you and gives you analysis-ready data. - ✅ Every live vacancy, refreshed on each run (no stale cache) - ✅ Structured fields: title, department, grade, salary (min/max + raw), location, contract type, working pattern, closing date, reference, apply URL - ✅ Export to **JSON, CSV, Excel, XML** or stream via API & webhooks - ✅ **MCP-ready** — callable by Claude, ChatGPT and other AI agents - ✅ Zero-config: just press **Start** ### What data can I extract? | Field | Type | Example | |---|---|---| | `title` | string | `Senior Data Scientist` | | `department` | string | `Department for Work and Pensions` | | `grade` | string | `Grade 7` | | `salaryMin` | number\|null | `54358` | | `salaryMax` | number\|null | `65000` | | `salaryText` | string | `£54,358 - £65,000` | | `location` | string | `Leeds, Manchester` | | `contractType` | string | `Permanent` | | `workingPattern` | string | `Full-time` | | `closingDate` | string (ISO) | `2026-07-04` | | `reference` | string | `388291` | | `applyUrl` | string | `https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=388291` | | `description` | string | full job summary, person spec, selection process… | | `scrapedAt` | string (ISO) | `2026-06-17T09:12:00Z` | ### Why scrape Civil Service Jobs? (use cases) - 📊 Track UK government hiring trends and headcount growth by department - 💷 Benchmark Civil Service salary bands and grades - 🔔 Monitor new vacancies daily and trigger alerts / Slack / email - 🤖 Feed structured gov-jobs data to an AI job-search or research agent via MCP - 🏛️ Fill the analytical gap — even the Institute for Government lacks vacancy-level data ### Is there an official Civil Service Jobs API? No. A Civil Service Jobs API existed around 2009 but was retired around 2012, and the `data.gov.uk` dataset was discontinued (last updated 2016). Today the data is only available as HTML on the live site, behind an ALTCHA browser check. **This Actor is the only maintained, structured way to access it** — it returns the same vacancies as the website, as JSON/CSV. ### Why did the free GitHub Civil Service jobs scraper stop working? The well-known open-source scraper (`heathd/civil_service_jobs`) **stopped collecting data on 19 February 2025**, when the site added a CAPTCHA its HTTP-only approach couldn't pass. This Actor is the maintained, ALTCHA-solved replacement: it runs a real browser, clears the check automatically, and keeps a stable, named output schema. ### How to use it (Quick Start) 1. Click **Start** with the default input to scrape all current vacancies (or set **Max results** to cap spend while testing). 2. Optionally add a **Search keyword**, **Department** or **Location** filter. 3. Wait for the run to finish (a capped test run returns in ~2–3 minutes). 4. Download results as **JSON / CSV / Excel**, or pull them via the API. ### Input ```json { "searchKeyword": "data", "departments": ["Department for Work and Pensions"], "location": "Manchester", "maxResults": 100, "includeFullDescription": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] } } ```` All fields are optional. An empty input `{}` scrapes every live vacancy. ### Output sample ```json { "title": "Senior Data Scientist", "department": "Department for Work and Pensions", "grade": "Grade 7", "salaryMin": 54358, "salaryMax": 65000, "salaryText": "£54,358 - £65,000", "location": "Leeds, Manchester", "contractType": "Permanent", "workingPattern": "Full-time", "closingDate": "2026-07-04", "closingText": "11:55 pm on Sunday 4th July 2026", "reference": "388291", "applyUrl": "https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=388291", "scrapedAt": "2026-06-17T09:12:00Z" } ``` Exports: JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, plus API access and webhooks. ### Pricing **$0.005 per result.** Failed runs are not charged, and the **first 25 results are free** so you can try it risk-free. A full scrape of every live vacancy (~2,000) costs roughly **$5–$20** — there is no other structured source for this data. ### How fresh is the data? Every run fetches **live data at execution time** — there is no cached copy. Schedule a daily run to keep a continuously fresh feed of UK government vacancies. ### Use it with AI agents (MCP) This Actor is exposed through Apify's MCP server at **`https://mcp.apify.com`**, so AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT, LangChain, custom agents) can call it per query — e.g. *"find current Grade 7 data roles in DEFRA closing this month."* ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer " } } } } ``` ### Is it legal to scrape Civil Service Jobs? This Actor collects **public job postings only** — no personal data. The vacancy content is Crown copyright, published under the **Open Government Licence v3.0**, and collection is supported by a documented Legitimate Interest Assessment. > **Disclaimer:** This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the UK Civil Service, the Cabinet Office, or any government department. ### Why GovJobs Data? - **Reliability is the product.** Government sites change layouts and add bot-checks — we maintain this scraper so it keeps working, including the CAPTCHA handling that breaks DIY scripts. - **Clean, predictable output.** Flat JSON, stable field names, ISO dates — ready for spreadsheets, databases, and AI agents, every time. - **Compliance-first.** Public, non-personal job postings only, under the Open Government Licence — and recruiter contact details are automatically redacted. - **We respond.** Need an extra field, a new filter, or hit a problem? Open an issue — we take requests and fix breakages fast. *Built and maintained by **GovJobs Data** — structured, reliable UK government & public-sector datasets.* ### FAQ
Do I need a paid Apify plan? No. You can run it on the free plan; pay-per-result charges only apply beyond the first 25 free results.
What happens if a run fails? Failed runs are not charged. The Actor retries and resumes, deduplicating by reference number.
Can I limit how much I spend? Yes — set maxResults, and/or set a maximum total charge on the run.
Can I call it from code or an AI agent? Yes — via the Apify API, scheduler, webhooks, or MCP (see above).
### Related Actors - UK Tool & Plant Hire Rates Scraper *(coming soon)* - Toolstation Price & Stock Scraper *(coming soon)* ### Changelog - **v1.0.0** — Initial release (2026-06). Full live-vacancy scrape, ALTCHA handling, structured schema, MCP support. *** *Maintained by **GovJobs Data**. Questions, a missing field, or a dataset request → open an issue on this Actor and we'll respond.* # Actor input Schema ## `searchKeyword` (type: `string`): Optional free-text keyword to filter vacancies by title/department (e.g. 'data', 'policy'). Leave empty to scrape ALL live postings. ## `departments` (type: `array`): Optional list of department names to filter by (matched as substrings). Empty = all departments. ## `location` (type: `string`): Optional city or region filter (e.g. 'Manchester', 'London'). Empty = all locations. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum vacancies to return. Caps your spend. 0 = no limit (scrape everything). ## `includeFullDescription` (type: `boolean`): Visit each vacancy detail page to extract the full description and side-panel fields (slower, more pages). Turn off for a fast listing-only scrape. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings. The default datacenter proxy works out of the box; UK residential (GB) is recommended for large or frequent runs. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchKeyword": "software", "departments": [], "maxResults": 100, "includeFullDescription": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "searchKeyword": "", "departments": [], "location": "", "maxResults": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("govjobsdata/uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "searchKeyword": "", "departments": [], "location": "", "maxResults": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("govjobsdata/uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "searchKeyword": "", "departments": [], "location": "", "maxResults": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call govjobsdata/uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=govjobsdata/uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "UK Civil Service Jobs Scraper", "description": "Scrape every UK Civil Service Jobs vacancy from civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk: title, department, grade, salary band, location, closing date, reference and apply link. No login, no official API needed. Export to JSON/CSV or call via MCP for AI agents. Pay per result.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "WQWkxb0nWwI4gv2KX" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/govjobsdata~uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-govjobsdata-uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/govjobsdata~uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-govjobsdata-uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/govjobsdata~uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-govjobsdata-uk-civil-service-jobs-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "searchKeyword": { "title": "Search keyword", "type": "string", "description": "Optional free-text keyword to filter vacancies by title/department (e.g. 'data', 'policy'). Leave empty to scrape ALL live postings." }, "departments": { "title": "Departments / agencies", "type": "array", "description": "Optional list of department names to filter by (matched as substrings). Empty = all departments.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "location": { "title": "Location / region", "type": "string", "description": "Optional city or region filter (e.g. 'Manchester', 'London'). Empty = all locations." }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max results", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum vacancies to return. Caps your spend. 0 = no limit (scrape everything).", "default": 0 }, "includeFullDescription": { "title": "Include full job description", "type": "boolean", "description": "Visit each vacancy detail page to extract the full description and side-panel fields (slower, more pages). Turn off for a fast listing-only scrape.", "default": true }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings. The default datacenter proxy works out of the box; UK residential (GB) is recommended for large or frequent runs.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```