Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Education - further and higherGraduatesRecruitment & retention

PwC launches new graduate assessment route with less reliance on degrees

by Kat Baker 15 Feb 2010
by Kat Baker 15 Feb 2010

Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) has revamped the way it assesses candidates for its graduate scheme to widen its talent pool and reduce reliance on academic qualifications.

The professional services firm, which is the UK’s top graduate recruiter taking on more than 1,000 university leavers every year, has launched a new way of applying for a place on its graduate scheme, which focuses on the candidates’ capabilities “in the moment, rather than relying on historical academic performance”.

PwC’s new Inspired Talent access route will allow candidates who do not possess the required 2:1 degree or 300-340 Ucas points to still apply for a place on the graduate scheme through a new, broader assessment process. Those with the required academic qualifications will still apply through the traditional route.

Candidates using the Inspired Talent will have to complete online tests that assess their numeracy, judgement skills and ‘intellectual capability’, and then submit a business case to demonstrate their drive, resilience, entrepreneurialism and commercial acumen. If successful at this stage, the candidates will then join the main recruitment process.

Sonja Stockton, head of recruitment at PwC, told Personnel Today the boom in students leaving university with 2:1 degrees had pushed her to want to “actively select talent” based on more diverse criteria, providing graduates with a “foot in the door in a different way to the 2:1 entrance”.

She said: “With the proliferation of students gaining higher qualifications, you can’t just continue all the time to raise that bar as the test.

“I want to recognise diversity of talent and actively select talent rather than de-select because candidates haven’t met the academic benchmark.

“We wanted to create an opportunity and a window for exceptionally talented students who have demonstrated exceptional achievements beyond the academic. We think there are outstanding students out there who have done amazing things but have missed A-levels or GCSE grades because they were doing these amazing things.

“We still want intellectual rigour, but there could be reasons why some individuals just miss out [on the required academic qualifications] and so are doomed, but they may have done amazing things.”

Stockton said 75 of the 1,000-plus graduate places could be given to those candidates using this new route, but it was too early to predict how many students would opt to use the new access route as no firms were currently operating a similar scheme.

Successful candidates will join PwC’s graduate programme across its tax and assurance, and advisory businesses in April, September and October this year.

Earlier this month, a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters found the dramatic graduate job cuts feared last summer had failed to materialise as vacancies in 2009 actually fell by 8.9% – far less than the predicted 24.9%.

Avatar
Kat Baker

previous post
Part of the problem: management responsibility for absence
next post
Hairdresser stopped from advertising for ‘junior stylist’ because it is ageist

You may also like

July saw highest number of job adverts for...

12 Aug 2022

Economic outlook slows hiring despite skills shortfalls

5 Aug 2022

CIPD: Stop using degrees to screen candidates

3 Aug 2022

Two thirds say high attrition is damaging workplace...

2 Aug 2022

Summer internships: Steven Rothberg talks to Oven-Ready HR

29 Jul 2022

Could legacy tech be impacting workers’ health?

29 Jul 2022

NHS workforce faces ‘greatest crisis in history’

25 Jul 2022

Businesses missing out on ‘rebound’ employees

25 Jul 2022

Number of planned redundancies in UK falls by...

22 Jul 2022

Hire quality vs speed: Finding the perfect balance...

21 Jul 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+