Public services are those provided by or financially supported by the government. The main public service areas are police, fire, rescue and the Armed Forces.

As well as the obvious job roles, like police officer or fire fighter, there are plenty of support roles in each area too, working in planning for example, IT support or administration. The public services include the Armed Forces, which consists of the Navy, Royal Marines, the Army and the Royal Air Force.

Not going to uni offer lots of live opportunities and jobs on their website - if you are wanting to work as a fire fighter then you should definitely check the fire services applications page to see what they expect and what the process is like.

You can study for a vocational qualification in public services full time and there are a wealth of apprenticeships in the health, public services and care sector, including interesting frameworks like courts, tribunal and prosecution administration; emergency fire service operatives, policing and witness care. The sector is large and employs over 100,000 people, so there’s plenty of work to be had. There are also Foundation degrees available in public services, which can be topped up and full honours degrees.

Working as a paramedic

Paramedics are part of the rapid response team and they provide emergency treatment. In order to work as a paramedic you need to do a degree in paramedic science or you need to get onto a student paramedics course through the ambulance service. If you wanted to be part of the emergency response team without getting a degree or becoming a paramedic - you could consider the role of emergency care assistant. An emergency care assistant drives ambulances and other related vehicles and responds to emergency calls. Whilst on a call, emergency care assistants assist the paramedics as they work and use medical / life support equipment as well as collecting information at the scene and providing information both to people at the scene and as part of the handover of patients at the hospital. Part of an emergency care assistant’s role is to ensure that the emergency vehicle and all medical equipment on board is in good working order.