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Flying Start degree programmes

Entry level

Study for a degree and get your career off to a flying start.

These are right for you if

you want a blend of career development and academic achievement

You’ll gain

a degree and real-world work experience

Start date

Autumn 2026

Location

London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Reading

Our Flying Start degree programmes offer people of all ages and experience levels the opportunity to kickstart their careers and study for a degree at the same time. You’ll earn a salary and have a real role, working on live projects while balancing your time with university study.

So whether you are just leaving school or college, or are rethinking your career aspirations, this is an exciting opportunity to earn while you learn and gain valuable professional experience. 

At PwC, we want you to feel challenged, to grow and learn every day. So you’ll work on a range of projects in a culture that embraces difference and encourages you to think imaginatively. We bring together highly skilled people to deliver for our clients, so you’ll have access to some of the industry’s top professionals and the opportunity to make an impact to our teams and clients from day one.

You’ll collaborate with colleagues and clients

Our work is teamwork, so your understanding of how organisations work will always be expanding. You’ll learn how to build relationships and communicate effectively with colleagues and clients who have a whole range of skills and approaches. 

You’ll analyse information and solve problems 

Most of our work involves working with innovative technology to analyse data and using that insight to unlock complex problems. 

You’ll offer expertise and guidance

Clients come to PwC for our expertise, experience and unrivalled knowledge. So you’ll need the confidence to challenge and influence clients, making recommendations based on facts.

Where you could work

We offer Flying Start degree programmes in Accounting at universities in London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Reading.

Whichever programme you choose, you’ll have the support of PwC to power your progress. We’re one of the top employers for people starting or restarting their careers. We regularly win awards for our training and development programmes. And we work closely with leading universities to ensure you get the right mix and quality of education and experience to thrive at the start of your new career. 

For specifics on the development pathways and universities on offer, see the individual programmes below.

Accounting (London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Reading)

On our Accounting Flying Start programme, you’ll gain experience as part of one of our Audit teams.

This will give you a unique perspective on the business world. Every organisation is measured on its financial performance, whether it’s a tech giant, a high-street brand, a football club, a charity, or a local council. That performance data, and the insight you gain from it, tells the story of how an organisation is delivering on its goals.

By helping our clients to collect, manage and interpret financial data accurately, we help them make the right decisions to operate effectively and navigate a rapidly changing future. 

As an auditor, you’ll bring expertise and independent rigour to the process of verifying this critical data. You’ll also help to ensure that clients have the digital systems and processes in place to deliver this information accurately and effectively.

To do our work, we need to understand how a client’s business functions. So our people get an incredible grounding in all kinds of industries and sectors. You’ll work directly with clients, experiencing everything from the warehouse to the boardroom. You’ll see the way that the CEOs and CFOs at our clients work. And you’ll learn how different organisations do business. 

The Accounting Flying Start programme is much like a normal three-year degree course but with one clear difference. In each academic year, you’ll spend one of the terms on a full-time work placement with PwC. This means you’ll still have each summer off to enjoy. 

The programme will put you on track to qualify as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. In fact, by the end of your course, you will have completed 85% of your ICAEW exams. 

The vast majority of finalists on the programme receive a job offer from PwC after graduation. You’ll then join the final year of our graduate programme, which means you’ll have the opportunity to become a fully qualified ICAEW Chartered Accountant, with the salary to match, just over a year after graduation.

You’ll receive a competitive pro-rata salary for the terms you spend on work placement with us. We’ll also provide accommodation, if necessary, while you’re on placement at our offices. Some of our partner universities offer reduced tuition fees for your degree, many of your learning materials will be provided free of charge and we’ll pay your ICAEW registration fee.  

The Flying Start financial bursary looks to support students with the day-to-day costs of university life. At PwC, the development and wellbeing of our people is paramount and we’re delighted to be able to award a bursary to support our students to be the best they can be. If you meet the eligibility criteria, and join one of our Flying Start Accounting programmes in autumn 2026, you could be awarded a £10,000 bursary, split across the four years of the degree.

The bursary offers a unique opportunity for ten individuals to receive support in their educational journey. The criteria for the bursary is set out below which you can review to determine your own eligibility. You need to meet all five of the points as follows:

  • ‘Home Funding’ status, which means you’re living in the UK or Republic of Ireland, or an EU national with settled status in the UK​
  • Applied to study on the Flying Start undergraduate degree programme (and subsequently successfully start on the programme)​
  • Have a household income of <£35,000 per annum as assessed by Student Finance (this will be assessed once you are accepted onto the degree programme and apply to Student Finance)​
  • Demonstrate a commitment to a career in Audit at PwC during the assessment process​
  • Attended a non-fee paying school (unless you received a bursary or scholarship to attend in which case we’ll review on a case-by-case basis)​

Further details of how to apply for the bursary will be provided during the application process.

You apply for the Flying Start degree via UCAS. You can apply for multiple Flying Start programmes but each application to each university will count as one of your UCAS options.

Our Accounting Flying Start programme can be studied at: 

As each university is unique, they all have their own admissions policy to consider applications. For the specific admissions requirements, please visit the relevant university pages.

Our assessment and selection process

Apply online

The first thing you'll need to do is complete your application carefully, following all the instructions. For accounting, you’ll apply through UCAS.

Online assessment

A series of online assessments that measure your cognitive skills, behaviours, natural preferences and reasoning abilities.

Video interview

The next stage of our assessment process is an on-demand video interview, the questions will focus on how you typically approach your work, for example at school, university or in any prior work experience you may have.

Assessment centre

The last stage of our Flying Start recruitment process is a virtual immersive assessment centre.

Learn more about our

assessment and selection process