Are you eligible?
To become a member and register for Connect, our member-only platform, you must meet all three requirements:
1. Work in an eligible organisation
Your organisation must follow the Government Communication Functional Standard (GovS011), which sets the expectations for the management and practice of government communications.
Eligible organisations include:
- Central government departments
- Devolved governments (Northern Ireland Executive, Scottish Government, Welsh Government)
- Arm’s length bodies (ALBs) – including non-ministerial departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies
Not sure if your organisation qualifies? Check the Cabinet Office ALB Data Landscape Tool. If you can’t find your organisation, contact your sponsoring department.
We also welcome communicators from:
- UK, Welsh, Scottish Parliaments and Northern Ireland Assembly
- Royal Households
- Crown Dependencies: Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey
These organisations have a unique constitutional relationship with central government, established through legislation or royal prerogative, with a public service mission and non-commercial status.
2. Be a professional communicator
You must be in a role that requires specialist communications skills, working in either:
- A core communications team under a Director or Head of Communication
- An embedded communications role recognised by your Director or Head of Communication as part of the communications profession
- Your role should align with the seven professional areas of Government Communications: Data and insight, Digital communication, External affairs, Internal communication, Marketing, Media, and Strategic communication.
3. Spend at least 50% of your time on communications activities
Professional communications activities are those that require specialist communications expertise. These include:
- Strategic communications: Developing communication strategies, campaigns and narrative frameworks
- Media relations: Managing media relationships, preparing briefings, handling press enquiries
- Marketing and campaigns: Planning and executing public-facing campaigns using behavioural insights
- Digital communications: Managing official digital channels and content strategies
- External affairs: Managing stakeholder relationships and parliamentary/ministerial communications
- Internal communications: Developing organisation-wide communication strategies and change communications
- Data and insight: Communications research, evaluation and audience analysis
Verifying your eligibility
All applicants must have their communications role recognised by their organisation’s Director or Head of Communication. During registration, you may be asked to provide:
- Confirmation from your Director or Head of Communication that your role involves professional communications work
- Details of which professional areas your role encompasses
- Evidence that your communications activities require specialist skills
We reserve the right to verify your eligibility with your Director or Head of Communication. Providing false information during registration may result in access being revoked.
How to register
If you meet our eligibility requirements, you can now complete our registration process to gain access to Connect.
To register, you must use a qualifying gov.uk or equivalent email address. Personal email addresses are not accepted. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an email to verify your email address.
Get help
Contact gcs.connect@cabinetoffice.gov.uk if you need help with checking your eligibility or registering.
To find out what you’ll gain as a member visit our membership page.