EY will provide work experience and up to £40,000 in financial support to students while they study for a degree in accounting, as part of a new assurance programme it has launched with three universities.

EY is one of four of ‘the big four firms’ (along with Deloitte LLP, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and KPMG) and has teamed up with the university of Bath, the University of Warwick and also Lancaster University to offer the scholarship to 60 students across the three universities.

Students studying for a degree in accounting, auditing and finance at Lancaster, and accounting and finance at Bath and Warwick will be eligible to apply, with £5,000 a year on offer to help with the upfront costs of attending university.

EY will also provide a paid summer work placement at one of its UK offices in their second year, and a year-long industrial placement in their third year of study.

The decision from EY shows both their economic power as a company and also the quality of staff it strives to employ, this is a heavy financial investment from the company, one that will be paid off over a long period of time; however this may be worth it due to the competitiveness of each placement with only 60 places offered for thousands who apply.

Hywel Ball, EY’s managing partner for assurance in the UK & Ireland, explained the reason for this decision: “Our Assurance Scholarship programme is designed for those who are focussed on starting a career in accountancy, but who don’t want to miss out on the university experience”.

The scholarship will provide students with up to £40,000 in financial support a huge expenditure considering they are yet to have joined the business yet, this is broken down into £15,000 over the three years of study, in addition to earning a salary during both the summer and industrial placements.

Additionally, a further £1,000 per year will be offered to a select number of students who meet the criteria for widening access to higher education.

EY is one of the top 50 companies in the world to work according to various surveys carried out in the USA and Europe, with schemes like this, there is further proof to show they are a firm that is very conscious of its employees needs. The firm was also recently named a Stonewall Star Performer on workplace equality.