University of Leeds, Grant Thornton Launch Talent Track

A new four-year accounting degree pairs study with paid placements and a route to chartered status, aimed at widening access to the profession

The University of Leeds has teamed up with advisory firm Grant Thornton on a new degree designed to open up careers in accountancy. Called Talent Track, the four-year BSc in Accounting and Finance combines study with paid work placements and a route towards chartered status, with the first students starting in September. It is a notable tie-up between a major national firm and the University of Leeds in one of the city’s core sectors, professional services, and it leans hard on widening access to a profession that can be difficult to break into.

Why This Matters For Leeds

Professional services are a mainstay of the Leeds economy and the talent pipeline into them matters to employers across the city. A structured, paid route into accountancy, with a bursary and placements attached not only helps firms recruit, it helps students who could not otherwise afford an unpaid path into the profession. It also strengthens the link between the city’s universities and its employers, a connection Leeds increasingly sells to investors. If the model works, expect other firms and faculties to follow it.

What the University of Leeds Programme Offers

Talent Track is a four-year BSc in Accounting and Finance, delivered jointly by Leeds University Business School and Grant Thornton. Students take multiple paid work placements in their first, second and fourth years, and a full-year placement with the firm in their third. On graduating, they will be considered for permanent roles, including a potential Associate Chartered Accountant training agreement and a fast-track route to qualification. The programme also offers a bursary for eligible students, along with mentoring, guest speakers and professional insight sessions. Applications are handled jointly, through the university’s admissions process and Grant Thornton’s own assessment and selection. Grant Thornton frames it as part of a wider push to tackle the structural barriers that can keep people out of higher education and professional careers.

“We’re creating a clear, accelerated route to chartered status for ambitious students, and breaking down traditional barriers to opportunity.”

— Abigail Fisher, Chief People Officer, Grant Thornton UK

A Skills Play in a Core Leeds Sector

The partnership sits within a broader trend of Leeds employers building their own talent pipelines rather than waiting for ready-made recruits, echoing schemes such as the construction-focused work run by Caddick and Ahead Partnership. For Grant Thornton, which runs one of its 23 UK offices in Leeds and already offers funded trainee routes in the city, it is a way to secure a pipeline of qualified accountants. For the university, it deepens the employer links that make its degrees more attractive. Professor Julia Bennell, Executive Dean of Leeds University Business School, said the programme brought together the school’s academic rigour with meaningful, paid professional experience. The first cohort starts in September, with graduates emerging four years later into a profession that has struggled to broaden who enters it.