Welcome to our Spring Newsletter!

Not even the disappointment of Wales losing the Grand Slam can stop the feeling of positivity and optimism in the air, surrounding all things “Graduate Programme” related.

It’s hard to believe that our Financial Services graduates are in their last 6 months of the Programme, focussing on major work-related research projects and starting to look for permanent roles in their chosen field. Our collective ambition is to ensure that all find employment, ensuring that we retain this fantastic pool of talented graduates within the Consortium. We encourage employers to share forthcoming and relevant job opportunities for circulation with the cohort.

The next 2-year Financial Services Programme starts in September and the hunt is on to attract 45 new, high calibre graduates, to follow in the footsteps of the 165 strong graduate alumni, and further build a talent pool in financial services skills in the region.

We will shortly announce a new University partner, supporting the 2021 programme, who will be delivering the Applied MSc in Financial Services.

This University strongly impressed our industry panel, with their innovative delivery approach, customer service and flexibility. With the inclusion of 3 new modules in Data, Business Transformation and Fintech – the qualification promises to provide a valuable grounding in current and future financial services skills, helping to tackle the business transformation challenges facing the industry.

A new and unique aspect of the upcoming programme will involve a coaching scheme as a way of providing additional support to the Msc and graduate learners. We will be reaching out to the alumni and new managers for paid coaches, who will offer work related and academic advice and mentoring for our new cohort. Details coming soon – however early expressions of interest are welcome!

The findings from our recent evaluation of the new Fast Track Data-Ai Programme, have been excellent from graduates & employers alike. Having completed an intensive bootcamp in data analytics and programming, our 14 Data graduates have hit the ground running in their placements, already working on data projects and demonstrating real value to their employers. Read Georgia’s experience below.

We are excited to start recruitment, early Summer for 15 graduates to join the next Data-AI Fast-Track Programme, due to start in January 2022. Please contact us if you are interested in offering a data placement.

Lastly, a huge thanks to all who contributed to this newsletter – we love Lucy and Saif’s video chat at Atradius and Prince’s overview of a very unique approach to wellbeing at Vauxhall Finance!

Read on and enjoy!

Rowena Morgan, Programme Manager