Accountancy firm KPMG to sponsor Durham degree

Accountancy firm KPMG has become the latest sponsor of a university degree after announcing it will pay fees for trainees who study at Durham University from this autumn. The proposal covers 75 students at Durham who will start a six-year programme with the firm, leading to a BSc degree in accounting as well as a chartered accountancy qualification. While studying, undergraduates will divide their time between the university's business school and working for the firm. The firm said that one of its aims is to widen participation in the profession through increasing the diversity and range of its intake. KPMG said that in future school leaver schemes could account for a majority of its annual trainee intake. KPMG is the latest business to sponsor trainees through university. Supermarket chain Morrisons is funding 20 undergraduates on its three-year BSc in business and management, which started in January at Bradford university. The firm is paying fees but students must work for Morrisons for at least three years once they graduate. Last summer Harrods announced it will offer two-year degrees in sales with Anglia Ruskin University. GlaxoSmithKline is sponsoring a module on University of Nottingham chemistry degrees. Tesco sponsors a pre-degree foundation course in retail with Manchester Metropolitan University and University of the Arts London. Oliver Tant, head of audit for KPMG, said: "For us, one of the key things is to ensure fair access to the profession by ensuring the greatest number of young people possible go to university – and also have the potential to train as an accountant. We need an accountancy profession that is as diverse and as open as it can be. This scheme will address current concerns around how students can meet the costs of university, and make degrees and professional qualifications available to a broader socio-economic group." David Willetts, the universities minister, welcomed the scheme. "I hope other employers and universities will study the concept carefully. It's the kind of initiative that we hope will flourish as we reform higher education." Figures published today show an increase in the number of students obtaining foundation degrees last year, which combine academic study with workplace skills. Nearly 25,000 students were awarded foundation degrees compared with 18,850 the year before, an increase of 32%. The data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that of those getting a classified undergraduate degree last year, 14% got a first and 48% got a 2:1, the same proportion as the year before.