The development scheme, which will start in March with the first group of 60 young people across the country, offers a fast-track management scheme with potential to progress to store manager level by the age of 23 - on a then expected salary of more than £50,000.
During the two-year scheme, recruits will gain three A-level equivalents by completing an NVQ level 3 and Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. In addition, the syllabus develops employees' wider skill base - with specific focus on team-building and leadership skills.
After successfully completing the two-year course, recruits will automatically enrol onto the wider Tesco trainee management scheme to continue their development programme.
David Potts, retail director at Tesco, said: "Mainstream education is not for everyone. We want to show that there is another way for young people to progress into well-paid jobs with prospects, which is why we have developed this alternative programme.
"The school-leaver course is a great option for those who would prefer to learn on the job and delivers not only on academic grounds but also provides young people with a skillset that is directly relevant to the workplace."
The school-leaver course is just one of many training and development initiatives that have been devised by Tesco to help offer alternative educational programmes and job opportunities to younger people. Almost a third (29%) of new positions created at Tesco last year were filled by 16-24 year-olds.
Some of the training schemes offered at Tesco for younger people include apprenticeships, a trainee management scheme, the retail foundation degree and graduate recruitment.
Potts added: "Training is key at Tesco and developing our leaders of the future is a fundamental part of our success. Although graduates are a vital source of our future leaders, we know there is a great talent pool of younger workers who can progress within Tesco from pre-university entry points too. These schemes help us to ensure that we are training our colleagues at every level of the business and helping them get on."
