Students – Gap year opportunity

What do you want from your gap year? A trip of a lifetime? Or experience that will kick start a long-term career? The Deloitte Scholar Scheme provides a unique opportunity to combine the two, with a 30-week paid placement in one of our UK offices, starting in August or September. And money to go travelling after.

    

What does the Scholar Scheme involve?

A gap year experience that could shape the rest of your life. This is a chance to discover the professional services industry: what it offers, who works here, and the kind of exciting projects and progress you can expect if you go on to join us later.

From the very start, you’ll be involved in high-profile cases, working with all kinds of clients, and alongside experts in the industry. Because you’re the stand out leaders in your year group, we treat you the same as our new graduates, giving you the same induction and similar work and challenges.

Mid-placement you’ll also be trained in essential business skills. There’s no doubt the learning curve will be steep, but the rewards will be plenty. Most importantly, you’ll start your career streets ahead of your peers.

 

What kind of work would I be doing?

Your work will differ depending on the kind of role you’re placed in. We take Scholars in Audit & Finance, Tax Consulting and Strategy & Operations.

In Audit & Finance, for example, you’ll be working with a team that advises clients on their accounting systems and controls, ways to improve them and reduce risk. Whereas, in Strategy & Operations you’ll be helping to solve specific business problems, which could be anything from technology to process related. In Tax, we’re all about getting the best solutions for our clients, whether they’re A-list celebrities, plcs or SMEs. Let us know which area inspires you most and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

As a gap year scholar, you’ll be fully involved from the start, helping out on projects, and getting as much training in as possible while you’re here. We won’t hide you away with the filing, or limit you to tea-making duty, we’ll take you along to client meetings, ask your opinion, and help you understand the work we do and why.

We really want you to come back throughout your degree course and after you graduate. This is your head start on a career with us. And we want it to be a realistic glimpse into an exciting future.

 

What are the benefits?

As well as learning new skills and giving a significant boost to your career prospects, you’ll enjoy:

  • A 30-week paid placement in a UK office starting in August or September
  • A £1,500 bursary to go travelling after the placement and before university
  • A minimum of four weeks of additional paid placements each academic year
  • A £500 annual bursary each academic year
  • The opportunity to work alongside our marketing team at your university campus
  • Exemption from our first interview stage if you decide to apply to Deloitte as a graduate
  • Possible accelerated promotion if you join Deloitte as a graduate
  • Technical experience that may count towards the ICAEW ACA qualification

 

Where could I work?

We offer placements in ten offices across the UK:

  • London
  • Manchester
  • Birmingham
  • St Albans
  • Gatwick
  • Reading
  • Bristol
  • Jersey
  • Guernsey
  • Isle of Man

Please state your preferred location and role on your application form, bearing in mind that once allocated to an office it will be your base for your gap year and your university placements.

You may also need to work from client offices, depending on your department (particularly in Audit). On the whole, these are in the same region as your ‘home’ office, but we’ll pay for travel expenses and accommodation if it’s necessary.

 

Will I get paid?

Yes. And in three different ways.

  • You’ll receive a competitive salary for all the hard work you do in your gap year, and any placements at university. We fix an annual salary for your scholar group and you get a ‘pro rata’ sum. In other words, you get paid a proportional amount for the number of days you work. Salaries may vary by office location to account for local cost of living.
  • What really sets the Scholar Scheme apart from traditional work experience is our ongoing financial support. At the end of your gap year placement we give you a £1,500 travel bursary, which you can spend on seeing the world (or something equally productive) before going to university.
  • Throughout your course, you’ll also receive an annual bursary of £500, assuming you continue to perform to a high standard at university (2:1 each year) and in the workplace (based on feedback and appraisals).

 

What happens during university?

We give you a minimum of four weeks' paid experience each academic year, during university holidays. Within reason, you should get to choose when you do this, but it also depends on the needs of the department you’re working for.

As our best ambassador on campus, with insider knowledge of your university peers, we want your ideas on marketing too. How should we ‘sell’ Deloitte careers to your friends? And we encourage you to get involved in our recruitment events. Helping to organise and advertise these events is another chance to develop vital business and creative skills.

 

Where could the Scholar Scheme lead?

We hope all our Scholars choose to join us after graduation. But there’s no obligation. Neither is there a guarantee of a place on our Graduate Programme. You do, however, get the chance to skip the first interview stage if you do decide to apply. After all, we’ll know you pretty well by the end of your 30 weeks.

 

Who can join the Scholar Scheme?

Talented final year A-level (or equivalent) students with exceptional academic results, who are considering a gap year after school and before university.

You don’t need a guaranteed place, but you should be planning to go to a UK university. Our ideal Scholar is a creative thinker, who also knows how to engage and influence people, and has a genuine interest in joining us after graduation, as well as in business and your own career progression.

Due to the nature of the Scheme, we are only able to take on EU nationals who don’t require a work permit for the UK.