KPMG to Double School Leaver Intake

KPMG plans to double the intake on its new school leaver programme in 2012, the firm has announced today. The first year’s intake of students has now joined the firm and will study for an accountancy degree at either Durham or Exeter Universities.

The programme has attracted a variety of applicants with two thirds from state schools, significantly above the 50% level of the traditional graduate entry route.

The Right Hon Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, called the scheme ‘a great example of industry investing in the talents of bright young Britons.’

‘This KPMG programme provides new opportunities to enter a rewarding profession for people from a wide range of backgrounds,’ he said.

KPMG’s scheme claims to be the only one of its kind in the accountancy sector, combining a job, salary and professional accountancy qualification with a university degree and fully-funded tuition fees.

Oliver Tant, head of audit at KPMG, said: ‘Employers have an important role to play in helping to meet the costs of higher education - as it is employers that benefit from the results of higher education, it seems only right that they should also contribute.

‘At a time when many young people, graduates included, are finding it difficult to gain employment, this programme represents a credible alternative to mainstream university education and provides an attractive route into employment for talented students.’