Flying start degree programme - FS1 Cambridge Office Review

I was involved within the whole audit process, this started right from the get go. We had a week of training before going straight into audit engagements, which involved a lot of varied tasks. Dependent on the client, the work I was performing also varied, but I was getting included in real audit work everyday, increasing in complexity as my time went on.

I have learnt many new skills on this placement. The main one being professional communication to clients and members of my team. In a fast paced environment such as audit, efficient communication is vital to enable the whole team to complete the work needed. I felt from the start of my placement to the end, my communication skills increased a lot which helped out over placement dramatically.

I enjoyed my programme a lot, compared to what I thought it would be beforehand (just a boring job). I was surprised about how welcoming everyone in the office was and how positive everyone was, which made my time on this programme a lot more enjoyable. Also, I completed a lot more areas of audit work than I thought I would, which definitely made my experience more enjoyable as I was involved a lot more.

This is a very well structured programme as it has been running for many years now, increasing in popularity opening up within new universities across the country. We had a very helpful training week before starting, as well as some admin days to get everything in place. The programme also adapted extremely well to my needs, and external influences also.

On my time this placement, I was given many lines of support. These included: my people manager who was my main contact over placement, who was extremely helpful with any of my concerns, work or not work related, then I also had University contacts, and various other PwC contacts within the office that I could go to and who were extremely accessible.

I receive all necessary support from my training providers, who is mainly the University of Reading but also the ICAEW. As the placement is mid way through the academic year, we receive all necessary knowledge and help before we go, and the university also helps during our time on placement too.

The training I receive through the university gets me a very strong baseline of understanding which allows me to apply it to the work based training. It gives me a solid base mark to work off of, so that I am more confident in my work when the time comes.

There were a vast amount of social activities within the office, they varied a lot so there would definitely be one for everyone at least. These would include things such as game nights to escape room days to even morning yoga classes. So I would said the variation should definitely be good for everyone.

Yes

The programme has been operating efficiently for many years now, and it only getting more popular. The fact you can earn a degree whilst working towards a professional qualification simultaneously is unrivalled. It really gives you a headstart on any other degree programme in the country. Also I could not have asked for a better support network and work environment than that of PwC.

Research the programme well, and reach out to any open office days or ambassadors to learn more about the programme. But I would definitely recommend this programme for anyone who wants a career in accounting, or anything business related. It gives you a very fast-tracked course, which allows you to be flexible and expand into any line of service later on.