Flying Start Degree Programme-Year 2 London Review

I have been part of an audit team and have been working on a client we have performed tests on different balances on there financial statements and the trial balance to ensure that they give a true and fair view. For example cash balances, bank statements, bank reconciliations, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

I have learnt many new skills over the course of my placement both personal and professional such as use of many new systems such as Aura, connect and I have developed my existing skills with excel and functions of google. I have learnt an extensive amount about Audit and in particular about the specific FSLI's that I have been working on.

I really enjoy the programme. It has a great balance of university study and work which is great for practical application when applying what you have learnt at university to placement. Placement aids the understanding of the university modules. The team during placement are very supportive with coaching which really helps to aid your progression during placement.

The programme is very well organised/ structured. We have a training week before we go on to placement run by PwC which is very helpful teaching us the basics before we go onto placement. The course is very well organised the first year we are a university all year. Then for the second and third year we are out on placement from January to April (busy season). Then in the summer term we return for our exams. In the fourth year we go out on placement in November and return to university for exams in the summer term.

We receive a vast amount of support from the employer. During placement we have support from the team on the client such as managers and other team members. We also have Flying start champions which are ex- flying starts, buddies which are also fairly new joiners in the firm, people managers and programme managers as well as university contacts who are all there to support us should we need anything.

We receive a large amount of support from our lecturers from drop in sessions to quick responses to emails. The support is very accessible both at university and on placement and people are very happy to help. It is easy to get guidance with problems through many different sources both at university and during placement.

What we are learning at university is fully put into practice on a day-to-day basis. Putting theory into practice really helps to understand how the theory is applied in a practical situation. I feel like I definitely know more about the industry from completing the modules/ studying for the modules at university.

At work there are plenty of extra-curricular activities to get involved in such as social groups which you are allocated to when you come onto placement, each social group has different social activities on. However there are not as many activities whilst being on placement during busy season. There are also team sports that you can join and many professional events that we receive regular updates about through email. Most extra- curricular activities are a short distance from the main office.

Yes

The course is a fantastic course which is very interesting to study at university and placement is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The course is interesting because you can apply what we are are learning at university to placement which really aids understanding. There are also many opportunities when choosing your placement locations.

If you are interested in accountancy this is definitely a great great course for you. If you are applying for the course ensure that you are fully prepared for the assessment days from the one-to-one interview through to the group activity. Make sure that you know about PwC as a business and there core competencies.