Under the scheme, first announced in January, students will enter onto a six year programme in which they will gain work experience at KPMG, take a relevant honours degree and gain a professional accountancy qualification, whilst also receiving a salary of around £20,000 (in London) and having all of their tuition fees and university accommodation costs paid.
Exeter University will join Durham University in taking students onto the programme from this September. It is anticipated that around 40 students will join the degree course at Exeter this year.
The University of Birmingham will join the scheme with a similar number of places next year, September 2012. Students who successfully apply to do their degree at Exeter or Birmingham will then study for the ICAS (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) chartered accountancy qualification. KPMG hopes in due course its school leaver programme may account for the majority (in excess of 400) of its annual trainee chartered accountant intake.
The news comes as KPMG reveals that over 5,000 young people have already registered their interest in the scheme. KPMG's application process is due to go live on Thursday 10th March. Oliver Tant, head of audit at KPMG, said: "We believe that our proposition offers a truly innovative model that will help to broaden access to the accountancy profession. We want to increase the diversity of the intake into the profession and this scheme is central to our plans to make that happen.
At a time when the affordability of higher education is uppermost in many people's minds, this scheme clearly offers an alternative route that should see students emerge not only with first class qualifications but also a positive bank balance. We very much look forward to working with Exeter and Birmingham to make the scheme a success."
David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science, added: "I welcome the expansion of this innovative scheme, which has already proved very popular among prospective students. Improving social mobility is at the heart of the Government's agenda, and providing new routes to the professions is an excellent way of helping people reach their full potential. So I congratulate KPMG on the expansion of this exciting initiative."
