As a foreigner living in the UK, I concur. All .gov.uk are _extremely_ functional. Applying for the pre-settled status (cos Brexit) was actually an enjoyable experience! I had no idea what was going to happen when I started the process, and it was all done in 30min top. It made me _scan my passport with my smartphone_ while flashing weird colors and it worked flowlessly, that absolutely blew my mind.

I've actually looked into getting a job there even though I'm from a start-up background

Yes that was some of their best work. I believe the flashing lights allow for some sort of 3D reconstruction of your face? And scanning the passport with NFC!

One of them is high-tech DYI solution, the other one is super simple yet not used at all by any other govt service I've interacted with.

Every single GDS project I’ve been on is 90% freelancers all via a small handful of companies — it’s not really “in-house” but at least it’s better than absolutely everything going to capgemini, Fujitsu, NTT, ATOS and the like, sure.

Did not know that, still the QC of their work and overall integration of services seems world-beating to me. I had never seen anything like it.

Their UX documents and implementation are for my money some of the finest in the industry.