Legal, Finance, and Accounting Apprenticeships

Accounting Apprenticeships Overview

Apprenticeships are an effective substitute to universities. If an individual opts for a degree apprenticeship, he/she can graduate with several years of work familiarity under their belt. An apprenticeship is an occupation with considerable training and expansion of transferable skills. It enables an individual to gain work experience along with real qualification, and the opportunity for higher earnings. The best part of the apprenticeship program is no university debts – an individual is earning all through the apprenticeship period and there is no coaching fee. In simpler words, an apprenticeship is a combination of study and work – apprentices are usually entitled for the same rights as other employees

Kind of Apprenticeships

An individual needs a fact-finding mind and the aptitude to comprehend large amounts of multifaceted data in many jobs in legal service area. If an individual has such skills, law might be a suitable field. Also, the financial services industry provides a selection of roles. An individual will be required to be good with numbers and have good business, organisational, and people skills in these jobs.

There are positions accessible in several sub-sectors of the accounting, legal, and finance sector:

• Accountancy
• Chartered legal executive
• Paralegal
• Insurance
• Solicitor

Apprenticeships have corresponding educational levels mentioned below:

In order to apply for accounting, finance, and legal apprenticeship, the eligibility criteria is as follows:

• An individual should be 16 years old or above
• An individual will be eligible to work in England
• An individual should not be in full-time education

Highest Paid Apprenticeships in the United Kingdom in 2017

• Financial services apprenticeships

  There are a range of apprenticeships existing in financial services, which cover a range of specialisations comprising: operations, investment, finance, and technology. Investment banking firms such as JP Morgan provide schemes that cover investment and finance, while Lloyds, Barclays, and Santander provide trainee roles in audit and management, digital technology, and finance. These schemes are comprehensive and often come with an assured job, based on successful accomplishment of the apprenticeship. Below mentioned are apprenticeships details:

  • Beginning pay prior to tax: Between £15,000 and £21,996
  • Qualifying pay prior to tax: More than £31,000
  • Eligibility criteria: Three C grades at Advanceed-Level or a similar level; Mathematics and English grade B or higher at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)

• Accountancy and business apprenticeships

  Prominent professional service multinationals’ such as Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC offered apprenticeships that empowered students to become fully-qualified professionals without even completing a degree. These jobs range from diverse sectors comprising: taxation, M&A, technology and management consultancy, assurance. The trainee programmes are city-based and normally can be completed in three to five years, dependent on the structure and certifications an individual undertakes

  • Beginning pay prior to tax: Between £17,000 and £20,000
  • Qualifying pay prior to tax: More than £25,000
  • Prerequisites: Five General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs), comprising English and Maths, at grade C or higher, and three Advanced Levels at grade C

  A profession in accountancy can encompass working in three diverse environments – could be in accountancy practice; working in various industries such as manufacturing or retail; public sector. In order to cater to the varied needs of clients, accountancy can be classified into a range of offering such as:

  • Tax accounting is governed by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which decides the rules to be followed by organisations and individuals while preparing tax returns
  • Financial accounting or financial reporting where financial statements are produced based on a set of principles referred to as GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)
  • Governmental accounting looks into the performance and financial position of organisations in the public sector
  • Forensic accountants reconstruct missing or duplicate data in circumstances of fraud and misrepresentation. Accountants in this field usually operate as consultants, as a small number of corporations are in need of a round-the-clock forensic accountant
  • Public accountants operate for a public organisation, and perform auditing, consulting, taxation for businesses and individuals
  • Internal auditing encompasses the examination of an establishment’s financial performance to categorise fraud, waste, or over-all errors within the establishment’s internal systems
  • Management accountants prepare material for an establishment’s management, for internal operational reporting

  Accountants have a tendency to dedicate themselves to one of these accounting types. Additional information can be sourced from United Kingdom’s main industry bodies:

  • Chartered Accountants Ireland (Northern Ireland and Ireland)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)

  Accounting apprenticeship salary

  Below mentioned are the rates for National Minimum Wage beginning 1st April 2018

  Age	Current Rate
  25 and above	£7.83
  Between 21 and 24	£7.38
  Between 18 and 20	£5.90
  Below 18	£4.20
  Apprentice	£3.70

  Considering apprentices are required to work for a minimum of 30 hours a week, the normal salary for the initial year apprentices is about £8,500 - £9,000

• Legal apprenticeships

  The United Kingdom government is working towards launching an apprenticeship structure that will enable school leavers to turn into fully-qualified legal representative despite completing a degree. The scheme allows apprentices to sign up for a five or six year programme, straight from school, which is more work-based education and assessment that provides them the prerequisites of legal representative. Additionally, there are numerous other legal apprenticeship programmes presently used by employers. Leading legal firms such as Fieldfisher and Gordons combine on-the-job preparation with courses from Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, which meet the requirements of a chartered legal executives. This offers them a comparable role to a legal representative, yet selected areas of their work must be administered. Apart from this, other apprenticeship programs include alliance with universities. For instance, a partnership was signed between Manchester Metropolitan University and Co-operative Legal Services to train personnel as paralegals, attorneys and administrators

  • Beginning pay prior to tax: circa £17,000
  • Qualifying pay prior to tax: More than £35,000
  • Prerequisites: Five General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs), comprising English and Maths, at grade C or higher, and three Advanced Levels at grade C

• Digital marketing or creative apprenticeships

  A number of social media and marketing firms provide apprenticeship arrangements intended for school leavers. These programs are provided in cities across the United Kingdom, and trainees take advantage from a well-planned development curriculum, which provides candidates the possibility to grow into future management leads and strategy heads

  • Beginning pay prior to tax: circa £18,000
  • Qualifying pay prior to tax: More than £25,000
  • Prerequisites: A noticeable interest in social media and marketing. Work experience in marketing/advertising, a blogger, or a creative curriculum vitae will all be considered favourably

• Computer hardware apprenticeships

  Advanced degree-level apprenticeships are offered across the information technology and data processing sector. From software engineers to computer manufacturers to electronic engineers, these programs are ideal for an individual who has technical skills and who has a keen interest in arriving to solutions in a logical manner. Apprenticeships in this sector have robust potential of developing into leaders of tomorrow and additional opportunities to focus on as an individual progresses

  • Beginning pay prior to tax: More than £15,000
  • Qualifying pay prior to tax: Once specialised, wages can extent above £40,000
  • Prerequisites: Five General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs), comprising English and Maths, at grade C or higher. Other applicable higher qualifications such as Advanced Levels, diplomas, National Vocational Qualifications are required for an advanced apprenticeship

Higher and Degree Apprenticeship Segments

• Accounting, Finance and Legal
• Administration and Business and Law
• Animal Care, Agriculture, and Environmental
• Childcare and Education
• Commercial and Retail Enterprise
• Communication and Information Technology
• Construction, and Planning
• Design and Creativity
• Digital
• Hospitality and Catering
• Manufacturing and Engineering
• Mathematics and Science
• Procurement, Marketing and Sales
• Public care and service, Health services
• Publishing, Arts, and Media
• Security and Protective Services
• Transport and Logistics

Examples of Employers Providing Apprenticeships

• WSP
• Willis Towers Watson
• Wessex Water
• Wates
• Vodafone
• Virgin Media
• Unilever
• TUI
• Troup Bywaters + Anders
• Transport for London
• Thales
• Tesco
• Staffordshire University
• Sky
• Skanska UK Plc
• Siemens
• Severn Trent
• Sellafield
• Santander
• Sainsbury's
• Royal Navy
• Royal Air Force
• Rolls-Royce
• Renishaw
• QA
• PwC
• OMG
• Network Rail
• Nestlé
• National College for High Speed Railway
• McCann Worldgroup
• Marks & Spencer
• Mace
• Lloyds Banking Group
• Laing O'Rourke
• KPMG LLP
• JCB
• Jaguar Land Rover
• P. Morgan
• IBM
• GSK
• Grant Thornton
• GE
• GCHQ
• Fujitsu
• EY
• EDF Energy
• Dyson
• Dentsu Aegis
• Deloitte
• Civil Service Fast Track
• Cisco
• CGI
• Capgemini
• BT
• Boots
• BDO
• BBC
• Barclays
• Balfour Beatty
• BAE Systems
• Babcock International Marine & Technology
• Atkins
• Army
• Arcadis
• Airbus
• AECOM
• Accenture

About the author

Sumit Agarwal
Sumit Agarwal (ACMA ACA India), the Managing partner of dns accountants is a highly respected accountant with expertise in helping owner-managed businesses.