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I started a fairly senior role at a UK government department in December and I am still on my probation period.

I have come to the conclusion that this is 100% not for me (reasons probably not relevant) and I want to return to contracting. My current notice period in my contract is 5 weeks in the first 4 years (and then 3 months thereafter).

As I want to go back to contracting, it would be helpful if I could be more easily available than 5 weeks otherwise it's going to be very difficult securing a contract with that much wait time prior.

Does anyone know if there is an 'easy exit' option if I'm not happy with the role, or if it is considered the 'done thing'? Does any one have experience of doing the same and leaving very swiftly?

Bearing in mind I am still on probation (which I guess goes both ways), and they can get rid of me at very short notice, then I assume I could probably do the same, but have found no evidence/examples of such and obviously my contract only covers their end of the deal (under the presumptuous notion that no one in their right minds would ever consider leaving early!).

I can't find any information elsewhere, and obviously asking HR department is not wise.

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  • Are you willing to be sacked? I assume that this job is not going on your CV, so it might be an option? Commented yesterday
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    Am I understanding something wrong? It sounds like you're implying your only two options are 1.) Find a way out of your contract immediately or 2.) start contracting now while still employed, telling your prospects you won't be able to work for 5 weeks. Why can't you turn in your notice and then start searching once you get closer to the end of the 5? If you're prepared for a more immediate end to your current contract without any prospects, you should be comfortable with a 5 week taper. Commented yesterday
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    "it's going to be very difficult securing a contract with that much wait time prior" I'm unclear why you can't just wait to go looking for contracts, if 5 weeks is too long. Unless this is all because you have a potential client and contract but they don't want to wait the 5 weeks.... Commented yesterday
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    Ignoring the notice period, are you sure you are free to move directly into consulting? The UK civil service likes to pretend that it owns you for a substantial period of time after your employment and may seek to restrict what kind of work you can do. There are good reasons for this, like preventing corruption, but they aren't always very good at being up front about this expectation (in my case they only told me about the expectation after I had resigned). Commented yesterday
  • Can you talk with HR and/or your direct manager ? It may be the environment and culture doesn't encourage that, but conforming to the culture isn't really necessary since you want to leave. Commented yesterday

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Bearing in mind I am still on probation (which I guess goes both ways)

Your guess is incorrect: unless the contract explicitly says the notice period is less than 5 weeks during probation, 5 weeks applies. This could in theory be asymmetrical between the employer and the employee, and while not illegal, that's generally considered to be bad practice.

Does anyone know if there is an 'easy exit' option if I'm not happy with the role

As above: unless specified in your contract, no.

if it is considered the 'done thing'

It really doesn't matter if it is "the done thing" or not. You should do what's right for you.

Unless your reason for leaving is a conflict with your manager so bad you cannot have a grown up conversation with them, just go and talk to your manager. No employer actually wants someone hanging around in a role they're not happy in; it's in everyone's best interest to come to some sort of agreement.

If your reason for leaving is a conflict with your manager, your two choices are either to talk to HR (what is actually the worst that could happen here?) or eat the 5 weeks notice.

Pedantic note: IANAL but my understanding is while in the past civil servants were to some extent outside UK employment law as employees of the Crown, those exceptions have been removed in recent years.

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You have 3 options here

  1. Serve the notice period as specified in your contract & local law. It might be helpful to have to contract looked over by a lawyer so they parse out how the specific wording applies to probation.
  2. Negotiate a notice period of your liking. Most employers are amenable to that as there is little use of someone just sitting around and running down the clock (although with governments you never know)
  3. Break the notice period. Again, it would helpful to consult with a lawyer about the potential consequences. You probably end up on the do not hire list, but that's mostly it. Technically they can sue you, but in most legislations that would require them proving "damages" which would be hard to do for someone who is still in probation.
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  • Depending upon the terms of the contract in #1 they may pay you until the end of the contract and ask you not to come in, for #2 they may also force a shorter term if the contract allows it, so they could just say don't come in tomorrow. Commented 9 hours ago
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Until recently I spent about 20 years contacting in IT in the UK (City / Central London) and I always budgeted about a month from starting to look for a new contract to my first day on the job, so 5 weeks shouldn’t be a problem for most companies.

I’ve been told that the current contracting market (IT, London, Jan 2026) is much harder than in the past, so you might even appreciate 5 weeks salary while you search…

If you really want to exit earlier, just talk to your current line manager once you’ve been offered a contract and tell them the role isn’t for you and you’re giving your notice of resignation (send a copy to HR for the record), then tell them you want to leave earlier than 5 weeks if they’ll agree to it. Chances are that because you’ve only been there a couple of months they might just let you go as soon as you want - you’re not really a critical part of the machine just yet.

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