Undergraduate Partnership Programme launches

Warwick Business School, Cardiff Business School and Manchester Business School - all top tier university-based business schools - have signed up to work collaboratively on the Undergraduate Partnership Programme (UPP), developed by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The UPP is designed to offer undergraduate students of accounting and finance the opportunity to gain work experience in a professional accountancy firm or similar business environment as part of their degree.

How the UPP works

Each university will offer students the opportunity to apply for a work placement, to be awarded through a competitive interview process. The placement will be taken in the third year of what will be a four-year degree programme. This may be within an accountancy firm, business or public services. Employment after graduation will normally be available for the life of the training contract.

The third year placement will also be classed as the first year of a training contract. The experience will give students the opportunity to commence the ACA, the premier professional accountancy qualification, while studying for a high-quality degree. UPP will launch at WBS in October 2009 and will apply to placements from BSc Accounting & Finance in the Summer of 2011. This degree is currently ranked top in the UK in the Times Good University Guide.

Professor Paul Edwards, Associate Dean for the Undergraduate Programme at WBS, explains the benefits for students, "As the UPP is an integrative programme of study, aligning university learning with on-the-job development and professional education, it will encourage the application of learning in the workplace at the same time as providing the opportunity to progress towards a premier professional qualification alongside a top-tier academic degree. During their studies, students will have access to guidance and support from both an academic supervisor and a mentor of the participating company, and can look forward to employment with a high-calibre organisation and employers who actively encourage rapid advancement of talented junior staff."

Dr Raymond Madden, Executive Director of Learning & Professional Development at ICAEW, commented, "As we have seen so starkly, nobody is immune from the current economic climate and this initiative will help provide students with invaluable support to help them gain employment or further their education."