KPMG UK has revealed more details about
their six year education and work programme, tailored towards
creating the next generation of the firms accountants.
The programme for A-level students will
include paid tuition fees for a business degree at Durham
University, an accountancy qualification and a starting annual
salary of £20,000.
KPMG UK head of audit Oliver Tant said the
scheme is expected to cut its recruitment cost and tap into some of
the brightest talent at school level.
KPMG also said the programme will enable young
people to build a career and offers a new approach combining work
experience, a degree as well as an ACA accountancy qualification
gained at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and
Wales.
KPMG will take on 75 school leavers in
September 2011, who will have to meet the one A and two B grade
criteria at A-levels in order to qualify before undertaking a test
at an assessment centre followed by an interview at the firm.
KPMG said it will aim to expand the project
and would like to increase intake up to 400 students in the next
few years and work with several Universities around the
country.
Tant said the firm is hoping more firms in the
City will follow KPMG’s lead in creating programmes of this kind as
tuition fees are raising and school levers are fearful about future
job prospects.
The scheme will firstly target schools in
deprived areas but the programme is open to all school leavers
across the country.
