KPMG launches first ‘audit-only’ apprenticeships in Scotland

KPMG has unveiled an apprenticeship programme designed specifically for the next generation of auditors in Scotland.

Hugh Harvie: No two days will be the same for apprentices. Picture: Contributed

The professional services firm’s first “audit-only” scheme is offering a total of nine vacancies to school leavers across its offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The five-year programme will provide apprentices with the chance to work towards a masters’ degree-level chartered accountancy qualification, accrediting them as an auditor upon completion.

Its launch follows a successful pilot over the past year which has seen 70 apprentices join the firm across the UK.

Hugh Harvie, KPMG’s head of audit in Scotland, said: “Our apprentices will be learning every day through working with experienced auditors and our structured in-house learning and development programmes.

“No two days will be the same as they help us run the rule over a large variety of ­different organisations across global markets, from the ­biggest multinationals through to innovative start-ups.”

He ­added that advances in technology such as artificial intelligence and blockchain “are fundamentally changing how we work and the sort of skills we’re looking for”.

The new scheme follows the single biggest recruitment drive in KPMG’s audit practice to date, which saw the addition of 1,000 auditors and 1,000 graduates in 2019.