Apprenticeship with Pierce

I originally became affiliated with Pierce in 2018, at that time I was an Accounting and Finance Student at Lancaster University.

I embarked upon various placements at Pierce in the ‘business services sector’ during my breaks from University. Fortunately, this hard work and enthusiasm was rewarded by Pierce by way of a training contract.

I started as a trainee accountant in 2020 and my current role involves working in the accounts and audit sector whilst striving towards the ACA qualification to become a chartered accountant.

The training contract itself is three years in total and involves working full time at Pierce whilst undertaking a Level 7 apprenticeship; which is equivalent to a master’s degree. The apprenticeship route therefore enables me to obtain two qualifications firstly, a Level 7 qualification and secondly, an ACA qualification.

The apprenticeship itself is a balancing exercise whereby, you have study days at college in order to adequately develop your knowledge, skills and conduct. There are various workshops covering a variety of areas in order to make you a ‘well-rounded’ accountant.

At the time of writing, I am currently at the beginning of my apprenticeship and have completed six exams. Despite only being in the infancy of my apprenticeship I am relishing the challenge with both Pierce and ICAEW and continue to strive towards qualification.

I have found that the apprenticeship has been great for developing my knowledge and continues to ease my way into the accounting profession. In conjunction, Pierce have been very understanding and are well experienced to aid in my apprenticeship. Finding a balance between working full time and study part-time has been manageable and I feel both capable and confident I am heading in the right direction.