Insights

We have moved up the ranks in the RateMyApprenticeship Top 50 Training Providers list, making it to 4th place for 2023 - 2024.

On 20th July 2023, a virtual event was held to celebrate the best employers and training providers that are leading the way in offering world-class apprenticeships to school and college leavers in the UK.

Last year, we achieved 5th place, so we were excited to discover that we ranked 4th on the list of Top 50 Training Providers. The ratings are determined by reviews and feedback from our Apprentices, so we’re absolutely thrilled that they see the value we add every day throughout their journeys.

We are extremely proud to share that we have moved up in the rankings, and we will be looking forward to another year of providing exceptional training services to our learners.

What do our learners think?

We received excellent feedback from the RateMyApprenticeship results directly from apprentices studying with us. Take a look at what some of them had to say…

“I have really enjoyed my apprenticeship so far as I have gotten to learn a lot about the world of audit. My company has really helped me gain great exposure into what I have wanted to do for a while, and my tutor is very helpful anytime I need to speak to her.”

“Through Kaplan, we have access to a Talent Coach. The Talent Coach is our dedicated contact who is responsible for working with us to work towards completing our apprenticeship. We have regular sessions to discuss our progress and what needs to be completed to ensure we are on track to finish on time.

Coventry Building Society celebrates the success apprenticeships have had on their workforce

I have a monthly call with my Talent Coach and then a longer six weekly call - during these sessions we discuss the qualification and progress. The Talent Coach is also contactable outside of these catch ups to discuss any questions I may have, and do sometimes arrange additional sessions to discuss these questions. They provide a swift response to any queries and usually are solved at the first point of contact.”

“Kaplan arranges a catch up meeting every six weeks to see how I’m progressing. If you have any questions, you can contact Kaplan where they will be happy to support you.

Interested in an apprenticeship?

If you are interested in starting your apprenticeship, browse through our current vacancies online now, or read our blog  How to talk to your employer about doing an apprenticeship.

If you are an employer and interested in enrolling your colleagues on an apprenticeship, get in touch with our business team today.

Back in April, we were very honoured to attend the PQ Awards 2023 with nominations in several categories. The evening was held at Proud Embankment in London, where several attendees from across the country in the accounting industry gathered to celebrate and recognise each other’s success.

This year, we are honoured to say that Kaplan is home to an award-winning tutor, Matt Dean. After being nominated for the Lecturer of the Year award, Matt Dean took home the trophy, making himself, his learners, and all of his colleagues at Kaplan very proud.

Kaplan’s nominations

We were very happy to be shortlisted for six awards from learners and tutors to individual projects. This year's nominees were:

Lecturer of the Year

Matt Dean
Penelope Merison

Innovation in Accountancy

CIMA FLP Skills Premium project

Accountancy personality

Neil Da Costa

Podcast of the Year

Kaplan Learn Better Podcast

Distance Learning Student of the Year

Daniel Salas

And we give a huge congratulations to Matt Dean who won the Lecturer of the Year award.

Matt Dean - Lecturer of the Year

After the ceremony, we caught up with Matt to hear his thoughts after receiving such a commendable award:

"We had the most incredible evening. Every time I step into a classroom my main goal is simply not to embarrass myself too much, so I felt shocked and humbled to even be nominated. Thank you to Andrew Mower and Jenny Pelling for the nomination and helping to make me a better tutor."

Proof that Kaplan learners are the best in the world: meet our March 2023 ACCA prizewinners

To add to his success, quotes from some of Matt’s learners were highlighted, showing their appreciation of him as a tutor:

“An absolutely fantastic tutor. Interesting, funny, approachable. He made me enjoy tax.”

“I really enjoyed the course and thought the tutor was outstanding. Matthew genuinely made the course 1000 times more enjoyable and interesting than I ever thought possible based on the textbook alone. I want him to tutor me for all my courses please!”

“As he has studied ACA relatively recently, he is able to give good advice and understand what areas we may struggle with.”

“Matthew is a great tutor who is approachable, knowledgeable, and who always conveys the information of his teaching in a thorough, complete but also concise manner.”

Going above and beyond

Not only was Matt recognised for his exceptional teaching skills, but he is a Wellbeing Champion at Kaplan and has supported our mental health initiatives with dedication and empathy.

In 2022, he co-chaired a session on suicide prevention awareness with the charity, Papyrus, and also hosted a session to mark International Men’s Day in November 2021 on mental health with Andy’s Man Club.

Kaplan’s Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity, Jenny Pelling, said:

“Matt’s involvement in Kaplan’s wellbeing initiatives has been a game changer. He is one of my ‘go-to’ tutors for any additional videos we might create to reassure apprentices, or talks we provide on mental health.

He has a tremendous impact on so many learners, but is never self-aggrandising. Quite simply, he makes the workplace a better place and enriches the lives of those who get to work alongside him or be taught by him.”

Congratulations, Matt

We are very proud to offer accountancy and tax courses led by tutors as exceptional as Matt, and we would love to congratulate him for this incredible award.

If you are interested in starting your studies and working towards an exciting career in accountancy and tax, browse our courses, or get in touch with our team at studentservices@kaplan.co.uk or on 0161 259 7400.

This year we will be hosting our first ever Kaplan apprenticeship awards. The aim is to celebrate and recognise the success and achievements of apprentices and line managers across our accountancy and tax, banking and financial services, and data and technology programmes.

We know that working towards your career aspirations can be challenging and difficult at times, so we want to give you the opportunity to celebrate your incredible achievements, while your employers can also show their appreciation and acknowledgement of all your hard work.

Here is everything that you need to know so far.

Where will the awards be held?

Attendees will be acknowledging their successes at The Shard in London where they will enjoy a relaxed afternoon tea and celebratory drinks.

When will the awards be?

The awards ceremony will take place on 12th December 2023.

What are the categories?

We have 11 categories. This is to ensure that all of the nominators will find a suitable category for their nominees and all of our apprentices have an equal chance of being recognised by Kaplan at our first ever award ceremony.

We also have ensured that all nominees have an equal chance to be nominated whether they are training in accounting and tax, banking and financial services, or data and technology.

The award categories are:

Accountancy and Tax

The Accountancy and Tax award is awarded to apprentices for using technical knowledge, skills, and experience to guide businesses and people in making ethical and sustainable financial decisions.

Banking and Financial Services

The Banking and Financial Services award is awarded to apprentices who have developed into proficient banking and financial services professionals, applying technical expertise and what they have learned to their current role.

Data and Technology

The Data and Technology award is for apprentices in data and technology who work efficiently to improve judgements, find new sources of income, and implement tech-enabled business change initiatives.

Apprenticeship Advocate Award

The Apprenticeship Advocate Award is awarded to apprentices who have had a positive impact on their community through their advocacy work. The winner of this award must have positively impacted organisations or apprentices.

Personal Development Award

The Personal Development Award is for an apprentice who has put in a lot of effort to become the best version of themselves, and is constantly seeking ways to do so.

Mentoring and Support Award

The Mentoring and Support Award is awarded to an apprentice who has distinguished themselves as a mentor by helping others achieve their professional goals by providing moral, social, and intellectual support.

Resilience Award

The Resilience Award will be awarded to an apprentice who has excelled both professionally and personally while overcoming difficult challenges throughout their apprenticeship, refusing to give up.

Citizenship Award

The Citizenship Award will be awarded to an apprentice contributing to the communities that they live in, making our society and community a special place to live.

Line Manager Award

And it’s not all just about the apprentices. The Line Manager Award will be awarded to a line manager and the company that they work for, for continuously supporting their apprentice and ensuring their success.

How do I nominate?

Anyone can nominate and you can nominate as many people as you’d like to through the online nomination form. All you need to do is fill in your details, your nominee’s details, and reasons why you believe that they should win an apprenticeship award. To boost the potential of your nominees' success, try to include as many details as possible.

When do the nominations close?

Nominations are open now, until 22 September 2023

Who are the judges?

We have a panel of five judges waiting to read your nominations.

The 2023 apprenticeship awards judges are:

Elizabeth Hess, Director of Communications, Kaplan

Elizabeth is Director of Communications for Kaplan’s UK based businesses. Previously, she has worked in public relations and public affairs in the Netherlands and the USA in the telecom and satellite communications sector.

Elizabeth is also a trustee for the North East Derbyshire Support Centre and the Helena Kennedy Foundation. She holds a BA degree from UCLA and an MA from McGill University.

Jenny Pelling, Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity, Kaplan

Jenny is the Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity at Kaplan. She is a member of the Apprenticeship Leadership Team at Kaplan Financial and a Governor of Kaplan Pathways. She leads on the Brighter Futures initiative, and is dedicated to broadening access to apprenticeships and the professions through her work. Jenny is a patron and judge for the Multicultural Apprenticeship Alliance and Awards, RISE, which provides skills insights to schools and the social mobility charity, Career Ready.

Jenny also represents Kaplan as an organising partner of the World Skills Accounting and Tax competition. Before Kaplan, Jenny was the Director of Business and Apprenticeships at CILEx Law School.

Jagdeep Soor, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Pathway Group

Jagdeep has over 25 years’ experience in the employment support and skills sectors, working on the majority of mainstream back to work programmes, both in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is a strategist with extensive senior operational experience.

Currently, Jagdeep is the Head of Strategic Partnerships for the Multicultural Apprenticeship Alliance and The Apprenticeship Diversity and Social Mobility Forum. The aim of these two initiatives is to promote social mobility, diversity, inclusion, and equity in apprenticeships and employability. Jagdeep is a Fellow of the Institute of Employability Professionals, and has a passion for equality, diversity, inclusion, and equity, to support those that are most at risk of missing out on opportunity.

Derek Cockfield, Head of Corporate Partnerships, WorldSkills UK

Derek is an experienced fundraising manager, having worked in the charity sector for over 15 years. He is responsible for identifying and delivering strategic partnerships which help to drive increased representation and engagement with underrepresented groups at WorldSkills UK. He oversees delivery of their equity, diversity, and inclusion programmes.

David Barker, Chief Technology Officer and Head Of Partnerships, Association of Apprentices

David started his career as an apprentice in an education technology company at sixteen years old. Seven years after successfully moving into full-time employment from his apprenticeship, David became one of the UK’s first digital marketing entrepreneurs in the early 1990’s, scaling an agency working with global brands such as Intel, Microsoft, and Unilever.

Today, David works on the Executive Team of the Association of Apprentices, leading on the technology innovations and partnerships that are helping UK apprentices receive additional support during their apprenticeship. As a past apprentice himself, David is passionate about ensuring all apprentices have everything they need to move beyond their apprenticeship into successful careers.

Nominations are now closed

The CIMA® (Chartered Institute of Management Accounting) Professional Qualification is now called the CGMA® (Chartered Global Management Accountant) Professional Qualification.

Although the name has changed, there have been no changes to the syllabus, CIMA membership, or the reputation of CGMA designation holders. But instead, it helps to align the terminology to create one globally recognised standard for management accounting. Crucially, the CGMA designation remains a CIMA qualification.

What is CGMA?

Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) is the most widely held management accounting designation in the world*, and is awarded to CIMA members upon completion of the Professional Qualification, this remains unchanged. By adding CGMA to the name of the Professional Qualification, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants® intend to reinforce its significance with employers and the management accountant community. In the Association’s own words, “the CGMA designation deserves to be seen, not just heard.”

How do I obtain the CGMA designation?

If you’re studying for your CIMA Professional Qualification, the good news is that you don’t need to do anything extra! Other than, of course, studying for your Professional qualification and working hard. Once you have completed this, including completing the practical experience requirements (PER) and becoming a CIMA member, you’ll automatically be entitled to the CGMA designation.

What does this mean for me?

As the only change to the Professional Qualification is the name, CIMA members will continue to have all the same opportunities as before, with the added benefit of increased global recognition. As this recognition builds, your opportunities as a CGMA designation holder will only expand, it should make you excited for an extremely bright future ahead.

The world is your oyster

To begin with, CGMA designation holders can treat the entire world as their job market offering you a wide range of international opportunities and job prospects.

The Association states: “Having these designatory letters tells the world you’re a trusted business strategist with the ability to connect all aspects of business to drive sustainable success. It says you have a commitment to professional ethics and a code of conduct.

Backed by a powerful array of benefits, your CGMA designation will let you stay connected to the pulse of your profession and become a champion for the business.” **

Progress your career further

It’s no secret that you may aim to progress more and more throughout your career in accounting and finance. You would usually do this by specialising in specific areas or by seeking promotions within your current workplace.

The CGMA competency framework provides the foundations for the Professional Qualification, so as a learner, you’ll be developing the right mix of skills and knowledge that employers will be looking for. The Framework is made up of four skill areas which can significantly develop your technical, business, leadership and people skills, which gives you the foundations to progress your career and stand out from the competition.

Ready to start your CGMA journey?

Take the first step towards earning the CGMA designation and browse our courses online.

*AICPA & CIMA, Your journey to the CGMA® designation
** AICPA & CIMA, Earning CIMA’s CGMA® Professional Qualification

We are excited to announce that from April, we are becoming advisory panel members for the Association of Apprentices. This will provide a community for our apprentices to join, and events to attend, as well as having a corporate voice in the Association of Apprentices.

Find out more about the Association of Apprentices and how this may benefit you.

The skills crisis

Taking a look at the issues that employers are facing today, we find that there are currently over 35,000 data scientist jobs being advertised on LinkedIn. And yet, the government estimates that only 10,000 new data scientists will graduate from university each year. In short - there are not enough skilled professionals to fill this increasing demand. At Kaplan, we are looking to fill these skills gap by providing tailored in-house training programmes, alongside the apprenticeship offering.

Jenny Pelling, Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity, adds:

“Being part of a wider community can bring myriad benefits to our learners. We know our apprentices are keen to have opportunities to connect with others socially and learn from those at different stages and in different areas of work. The Association of Apprentice’s online and in-person events will enhance the personal and professional development of many of our apprentices. We’re especially pleased to involve those who are working for smaller organisations, where there may be less infrastructure to assist in the creation of networks."

I strongly believe that apprenticeships develop the whole person: the possibilities for connecting with others through the Association of Apprentices will have much to offer in this regard. I’m delighted that Kaplan is partnering with the Association of Apprentices and to be joining their advisory panel.”

Emily Austin, CEO Association of Apprenticeships, commented:

“I’ve worked with Kaplan previously and always admired their commitment to both their apprentices’ and their employers’ experience. I’m so pleased that we are able to support their apprentices with professional networking and development, and I’m thrilled that we get to work with Kaplan as they join our Advisory Board to help shape the Association’s offer as we grow and reach more apprentices in the UK.”

We are very excited to work closely with the Association of Apprentices.

Get in touch with us if you are an employer who is interested in our apprenticeship programmes

The Worldskills UK Accounting Technician results are in. Find out which team took home the gold.

This year’s final saw teams from BAE Systems, Lloyds Banking Group, GLLM Bangor, Moore East Midlands, New City College and Riverside College compete to become the Wordskills UK Accounting Technician 2022 champions.

Ahead of the final, a presentation skills development session was held to give the teams knowledge and tools to help them succeed on the day.

Read about our WorldSkills UK finalists

The finals themselves took place over two days, starting with teamwork and collaboration skills activities. The main tasks focused on one full and one mini case study to complete over the two days, including presenting to the judges on strategic analysis of a fictional business.

The tasks didn't just focus on 'number crunching' and core principles like the previous stages of the competition, but were more about the skills of consulting, communication, critical analysis, adaptability, planning, organising and commercial acumen.

Every one of our finalists can be extremely proud to have made it to the final, as well as the work that was presented on the day.

The results were revealed at 4pm on 25th November during a special live programme from Channel 4’s Packed Lunch studios, presented by Steph McGovern.

The results

1st place - Lloyds Banking Group

2nd - BAE Systems

3rd - Riverside College

Highly commended - Grwp Llandrillo Menai Pwllheli

All of the teams put in a lot of effort, and it was fantastic to see so much talent shine through in the tasks.

A very big congratulations again to the winners Lloyds Banking Group: Chloe Milligan, Daniel Whittaker and Natalie Cooper.

You can watch the virtual results ceremony now, or to find out more about the competition check out the Worldskills UK website.

We’re now in the second year of our ten-year project: Apprentice of Our Time. Back in 2020, we launched this project expecting to gather insight into the careers of our Apprentices at a steady pace. Initially inspired by Michael Apted’s Seven Up on BBC2, and Robert Winston’s Child of Our Time, we never would have expected the rapid changes in the working world.

These insights are sought to provide guidance to us at Kaplan as their provider, involving interviews with twenty apprentices across a variety of industries, job roles and standards. The pandemic contributed to the quick development of our apprentices, thus giving us the opportunity to gain a greater understanding and insight into the resilience of our apprentices.

Our methods

Apprentice of Our Time involves telephone or video interviews with twenty apprentices who we identified to form the study back in 2020. We continued to interview them throughout their apprenticeship journey, where we would ask them about their development, career progression, five-year plan, and their views on the value and recommendations of apprenticeships.

Which skills can be improved while on an apprenticeship?

The video call or telephone interviews last 45 minutes, every six months. Upon completion of the apprenticeship programme, we will interview these candidates every year.

We are grateful to our clients who support us with this project, and to the Apprentices of Our Time who have agreed to participate.

Where are they now?

The initial group that we spoke to back in 2020 have each developed their careers in different ways. Let’s have a look at the summary of our Apprentices’ progression…

• Eleven from the 2020 interviews are still on their current apprenticeship programme, working for a range of employers of different sizes from industry, practice, financial services and charity.
• Five have completed their current apprenticeship and are still working in the accounting and financial services sectors.
• One has completed their apprenticeship at an insurance business and is now taking a gap year. They will be returning to the next level of apprenticeship to continue with their career development.
• Three have left their apprenticeship and the sector. Of these three, two completed their apprenticeship and one left the sector without completing the apprenticeship. Of these three, one agreed to continue to be interviewed.

As we held the 2021 interviews, restrictions were starting to lift. This meant something different for each of our Apprentices while we were also able to allow them to reflect on their year and how the unprecedented previous year had impacted their careers.

What we’ve learnt from our Apprentices

Our report summarises the findings from interviews conducted throughout 2021, showing the significant progress made against recommendations from our first report in 2020.

Read the 2021 report - Apprentices of Our Time

If you’re interested in apprenticeships you can find out more on our pages for learners and employers.

This summer, the new 10,000 Black Interns programme offered work placements to those seeking experience in various sectors. At Kaplan, we were excited to work with the initiative, welcoming several interns looking for work experience in the education industry.

10,000 Black Interns was founded in 2020 by Wol Kolade, Dawid Konotey-Ahulu, Michael Barrington-Hibbert and Jonathan Sorrel in response to the underrepresentation of Black talent in their industries. Initially, they planned to place 100 Black students and graduates in internship positions within Investment Management.

However, their goals became a huge success, thus leading to the new 10,000 Black Interns mission: offering 2,000 paid internships each year for five years, across over 25 sectors. Kaplan was one of over 600 companies that participated in the programme, aiming to help provide opportunities and open doors for young talent.

Intern experiences at Kaplan

We spoke to two interns, Courtney and Mary, who worked in different departments across Kaplan.

Courtney Brown, who is now in her third year studying History at the University of Manchester, worked within the Applications Administration department, and shared her experience:

“I think it helped me to improve a lot of my teamwork and professionalism skills, especially because my team was remote. I was working in a professional space, so when overseeing information and interacting with people online, I now know how to make sure that I’m friendly but also productive.”

Helping Courtney to understand an office environment

Courtney’s internship with Kaplan helped her understand the daily tasks of an office working environment and opened her eyes to the opportunities that await her after university. With a passion for history, she hopes to pursue a career in teaching, allowing her the opportunity to teach history topics that are usually absent in today’s school classes.

She continued: “I think that the 10,000 Black Interns is a great programme. It would be better if it was extended to different companies, as education didn’t have as many companies available as other sectors. I do think it would be better if they were more known because it does help.

If it wasn’t for 10,000 Black Interns I don’t know what other route I would’ve gone down. I wouldn’t know how to get in touch with other schemes as a lot of interns that I met had come into the company through family members. So if you don’t know anyone, you struggle to get into an internship.”

Mary discovered new directions to consider

Mary Dontoh, who originally has a background in chemistry, found a placement within the Student and Client Services department here at Kaplan. She grew interested in finding placement with Kaplan after hearing positive feedback and how passionate everyone was about their work.

“With the education sector, it's always been targeted as: ‘Do you want to be a teacher?’ Whereas Kaplan shows that there are so many avenues that you could go towards in education, whether it's in HR, management, or even IT or Tech. There's so much that goes on in the background,” Mary discussed.

Particularly highlighting “the community and family” that she found while working at Kaplan, the internship programme helped her to set her standards high for what company she would want to work at in the future. Although she thoroughly enjoyed her work experience, Mary is interested in finding an opportunity which would help her follow a career in science. She agrees with Courtney’s earlier observation that there should be more industries and sectors involved with the initiative.

She continued by speaking about the importance of the 10,000 Black Interns programme: “I think a lot of the time, from a minority perspective, you have to be twice as good as anybody else to get into the field that you're expecting to get into, but the 10,000 Black Interns initiative shows that companies are actively searching. And I think that is the whole purpose.”

Interested in an internship?

At Kaplan, we are happy to take part in this initiative which can help young talent find career opportunities and experience the working world.

The quest to open doors for 10,000 Black students and graduates is still ongoing. If you’re interested in this initiative, and the industries that you can go into, you can find more information via the 10,000 Black Interns website.

We’re very pleased to confirm the details of the WorldSkills UK Accounting Technician competition finals. WorldSkills supports young people across the world via training based on competitions.

This competition has been designed by Kaplan to ‘reflect the role of an accountant and the standards that are expected within the financial sector’.

The finals competition will take the format of a set business case study with accompanying tasks and assessments to be undertaken in the given time period. This year, it’s being held on 17 and 18 November at Barking and Dagenham College.

It’s a team competition and this year’s finalists are from:

BAE Systems
Lloyds Banking Group
GLLM Bangor
Moore East Midlands
New City College
Riverside College

The teams will have to demonstrate a range of skills including teamwork, commercial acumen, critical thinking, and problem solving, to name a few!

The winners will be announced at 4pm on 25th November by ex-apprentice and current TV presenter Steph McGovern, on her show, Steph’s Packed Lunch, on Channel 4.

Congratulations and thanks to all of the teams who entered the competition. It’s been wonderful to see everyone take part and make the competition a huge success.

If you’d like more information about WorldSkills UK, visit their website for details.

Created in response to increased demand to deliver remote learning and flexible self-paced online learning, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA and CIMA, has officially launched the CGMA Finance Leadership Program (FLP) in the UK.

Combined with the technical, business, people and leadership skills covered in the CGMA Syllabus at case study level, the FLP allows learners to attain a world-renowned qualification, demonstrating to employers that they are outstanding professionals with the skills and competencies needed to drive long-term business success.

As the official partner of FLP Skills Premium, Kaplan will be offering an enhanced version of the FLP.

The FLP Skills Premium pathway offers the opportunity to study the same syllabus, sit the same case study exams with self-paced e-learning with continuous summative assessments. In addition to this, individuals can also access expert-led live online classes and tutor support from Kaplan to top up their knowledge learnt on the platform. The latter stages of the course will also prepare them for the case study. On top of this students will have access to tutors who can give additional support on difficult topics.

Designed with working professionals in mind, entry requirements are based on individual career experience to date. The learning outcomes ensure the skills individuals develop align to the expectations of the world’s leading organisations. Many candidates will already be juggling important jobs and personal commitments, so we believe this approach will combine ultimate flexibility and support when required.

The Association’s UK and Ireland Regional Vice President, Paul Turner, said:

“The world is changing, and the CGMA Finance Leadership Program has been launched to meet the growing demand for self-paced e-learning in the U.K. Whilst traditional learning and examinations in test centres still have their place, it is right in the digital age that we offer alternative pathways to learn, understand and apply finance skills and knowledge.”

CIMA Programme Leader at Kaplan, Katie Collins, said:

“We have a great track record of working in partnership with CIMA to create routes to qualification in response to the needs of individuals and employers. Our latest programme, FLP Skills Premium, combines ultimate flexibility for working professionals to achieve their qualifications and build knowledge, supported by Kaplan’s industry-leading Live course delivery and expert support.”

Get in touch

If you would like to hear more about the CGMA Finance Leadership Program, please contact us to speak to a dedicated member of our team.

Kaplan has been shortlisted again and increased by 3 places in the RateMyApprenticeship Top Training Providers Table 2022-2023.

Based on 6,000 learner-written reviews, the virtual award ceremony took place on the 20th July. And we are delighted that our own apprentices have allowed us to move up the ranks for the second year in a row.

Last year we achieved 8th place, so it’s very rewarding to know that our learners are seeing the benefit of all the hard work and continual improvements we strive to make at Kaplan.

We're honoured that our learners have voted Kaplan higher again this year, and are seeing the benefits of our wider apprenticeship curriculum offer. We have plans in place for even more improvements in the year ahead.

- Jenny Pelling, Director of Apprenticeship Development and Diversity

Often, other people dictate what our potential is or how far we can go. We explore what ‘entrepreneurship’ truly is and how you can exceed expectations through work ethic and self belief.

In this week's episode of our Learn Better Podcast host, Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, takes a look at entrepreneurship and how to succeed in your career.

Our guest is Paul Cheetham, founder of Sedulo Group, an award winning advisory firm and investment house. He is also the author of Taking Care of Business and host of the namesake podcast.

He speaks about his journey from growing up on a council estate, and being told what he could achieve, to taking control of his own destiny and flourishing in his career.

Paul shares the details of how he got into the financial services industry, the pressures of investment and failure, as well as how he went about shaping clients to create a career he is passionate about.

Find your limitations, see what your glass ceiling is and let you be the determining factor behind your own opportunities, not a system or a person or an organisation. Make sure it's you

- Paul Cheetham

Key topics

Fighting stereotypical expectations

Paul found that coming from a working class family and area led to automatic expectations being put upon him. It was the norm to leave school without decent grades and instead your success was determined by “Can you get a job?”.

Paul wanted more. He didn’t see any limitations based on his background, and continued to progress his education through A-levels and a sports science degree. However, even at these stages of his life he was continually told what he was now capable of.

Everytime I seemed to get somewhere, there was something coming in that kind of said ‘this is what you can do now’ or ‘this is the level of opportunity’ and I’ve spent the last 20 odd years fighting back against that

Human optimisation

Paul’s passion lies with sport and sporting professionals. One thing he has learnt from this is the discipline it takes to reach your potential. He suggests you should live life like an athlete.

Think about your goals and figure out what you need to do to get there. Discipline is needed in the pursuit of your goals so you can perform at your optimum level.

Experience from a non-traditional career path

Although Paul didn’t take the traditional route in his accountancy career, starting off in a business before moving to a practice, his experience gave him additional knowledge. He had already learnt about commercialism, and had an understanding of what an entrepreneur needed, which was gold dust when working in practice.

During his time in practice he learnt more about compliance, tax and audit. Putting both experiences together gave him such a strong structure for the rest of his career.

Experiencing both environments also made him understand what he wanted. Ultimately it led him to discover what he wanted from a working environment, so he created Sedulo.

Don’t confuse doing something you love, with doing something everyday that you love. Because that’s not how it works, but never forget what your passion is.

Interested in learning more?

Tune in now to listen to the full conversation (episode 16) and learn more about Entrepreneurship and how to optimise your career.

To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, we issued a survey to find out more about our students’ current mental health. Here’s a summary of the results and the options we have if you’re struggling.

The survey covered: current mental health, Kaplan’s role in supporting our students, and our mental fitness seminars.

The 2022 survey

The survey went out to 3401 students and had a 13% response rate.

Why good mental health is so important

433 students responded to the six questions that we put to them. We also used this opportunity to remind learners about our popular mental fitness seminars which we run each month with our expert trainer Mindset Pro.

Compared to our 2021 pulse survey, the student well-being of those surveyed appears to have improved. 62% of those surveyed said that their mental health was ‘good’ or ‘very good’ (51% in May 2021). However 15% of learners still stated that their mental health was ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ (22%, May 2021).

35% of the learners expected Kaplan to play a part in supporting their mental health if they needed it (40% May 2021). An additional 11% of these expected Kaplan to take a proactive approach to their well-being (10% May 2021).

Support platforms

The most commonly used sources of support were Talent Coaches, the student well-being site and Tutors. Those that had responded were generally positive, with over 70% of learners rating Talent Coach, Tutor and Progression Advisor support as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

57% of respondents were interested in the well-being seminars and we received over 95 suggestions for additional topic areas that we could consider for future sessions.

We also received some excellent suggestions of ways in which Kaplan could improve in this area. One key theme that came across was about ‘providing more visibility of the help and support that you can offer’. So we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you of where you can access support:

• Talent Coach (apprentices only)
• Tutor (classroom and live online learners)
• Progression Advisor (OnDemand learners/ AAT distance learners)
• Kaplan student well-being page (All learners)
• Well-being microsite (Apprentices only - please ask your Talent Coach for access)
• Safeguarding - email safeguarding@kaplan.co.uk (All learners)

We hope this piece gives you an awareness of what other students are going through right now, plus the range of resources and ways you can receive help if you are struggling.

This piece was written by Kaplan’s Well-being lead, Sarah Powell (Mental Health First Aider).

Specialist tax knowledge is essential to every business.

With lots of changes to legislation, the economic climate is ripe for new tax professionals.

In this week's episode of our Learn Better Podcast, host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, discusses careers in tax, and the routes you can take towards this area of finance.

Our guest is Neil Da Costa, Senior Tax Tutor at Kaplan, well known for the advice and resources he provides his students. Neil explains his personal journey into a career in tax, what makes tax professionals so important to businesses, and how the specialised knowledge can help to futureproof your earning potential.

With there being so many different routes into tax, Neil details how each qualification can help you become a tax professional. Relevant to those who are either starting out in finance or already working through a qualification.

The current economic climate is ripe for additional tax specialists.

- Neil Da Costa

Key topics

What drew Neil towards a career in tax?

Neil originally wanted to be a doctor, but after reassessing his options after A Levels he decided a career in Finance would be more productive.

Whilst training as an accountant he was exposed to many different areas of finance but tax computations specifically appealed to him. He enjoyed that every computation was different and that you really needed to understand the clients needs as well as their history.

During his training he requested more work in tax to further develop his knowledge in this area. After qualifying Neil decided he wanted to become a tutor, but specifically in tax.

I could see what tangible benefits proper tax advice can offer.

- Neil Da Costa

Is now a good time to get into tax?

With many new regulations coming into play businesses are having to clearly segment the different parts of their operations, drawing more need for tax specialists.

It is important for companies to have tax advisors who can stay on top of the legislation changes and provide them with the relevant advice for their needs.

With more digital and AI developments, many people are questioning whether computers will replace them in the workplace. Due to the specialised knowledge that is needed from tax professionals, this path can help you to future proof your career.

Attributes of a tax professional

• Attention to detail - You need to be able to focus and pick up all aspects of a client's circumstances.


• Good communication - You need to be able to communicate clearly with both the client and HMRC.


• Open to learning new ways of doing things - Every tax advisor knows that they don’t know everything, and so it's important to be humble and open to consistently learning new things.


• Desire to be challenged - Legislation can be very technical and it is important to take the time to understand it.

Practicalities of learning about tax

Whether you are starting out on your journey in finance, midway through or finishing a finance qualification, there are multiple pathways into tax.

Neil explains how each qualification can help you towards your career in tax including: AAT, ATT, ACCA, ACA, CIMA and CTA (the gold standard for tax professionals). Recommending that if you are planning on doing the CTA following one of the other qualifications that you should already be working in tax.

These are academic qualifications on one level…but there is already an implication that they sit alongside the practical work experience.

- Stuart Pedley Smith

Interested in learning more?

Tune in now to listen to the full conversation (episode 15) and learn more about careers in tax and which routes you can take to develop your knowledge.

As a business, preserving the environment and looking after our planet is very important to us. And to help celebrate World Environment Day, we’re launching a competition to help encourage a more greener lifestyle.

For some time we’ve focussed on being a much more sustainable company. Right now we have the following in place…

• Our centres/offices have light sensors installed, and LED lights have replaced fluorescent tubes.


• We use energy saving IT and printing equipment.


• We have office plants in our locations up and down the country, to improve air quality.


• We recycle - extensively. Focusing on paper, envelopes, IT equipment (donated to charity), office furniture, kitchen waste, and sanitary waste.


• We work with contractors who all have an Environmental Policy.

Also, with our staff we offer a cycle to work initiative to reduce driving or using public transport, have flexible working which reduces office footprint and emissions, remote meetings to reduce physical meet-ups, and we don’t don't print unless absolutely necessary.

Get involved with our World Environment Day competition!

We want you to tell us (on social) what things you are doing to live a greener life. You might be doing things to reduce your carbon footprint, you might be more selective with your diet, or you might be doing things that make you less reliant on single used plastic.

How mindfulness can help - now more than ever

Whatever it is, head to our Twitter page and add your comment to our pinned post.

Our favourite 50 responses will each receive a World Environment Day Starter Pack, which will give you the tools to create even more sustainable habits.

The starter pack includes - a notebook with seeds, a bamboo pen, a sustainable coffee cup and more.

To discover more about our CSR policies in general please visit our CSR page.

We often see resilience as pushing through adversity, but it is important for us to discover how it can help us learn to become more adaptable, flexible and not fear failure.

This week our Learn Better Podcast host, Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, explores the connection between resilience, compassion and overcoming failure.

Our guest, Kirsty Lilly, is a Mental Health expert who specialises in helping people develop their compassionate self. Kirsty talks about the importance of resilience when it comes to failure and how self compassion is integral to this.

With many people often using a harsh inner critic to motivate themselves, Kirsty explains that this can often lead to increased stress levels. However, when you utilise self compassion in times of failure, you can coach yourself through it, learn from it and be comfortable in trying again.

Most people who do well at things that have had several stages of failure, but had the resourcefulness and the resilience to persevere.

- Kirsty Lilly

Key topics

Resilience and compassion

When we talk about resilience, in general we mean the ability to be adaptable, flexible, and understanding. Taking away what you can learn through difficulty.

Often, it is seen as pushing through adversity, but this can become quite unhelpful as we can find it very difficult to acknowledge when we have reached our personal capacity.

Looking at compassion from a human evolutionary perspective, we see this as sensitivity to our own, or others, distress and the commitment to alleviate or prevent that distress.

A compassionate identity is one that is helpful not harmful. There are three underlying qualities of compassion: courage, wisdom and a sense of comfort with your own body and mind.

Self compassion in failure

It is important to think about how you are going to treat yourself when disappointed and look at what is really going to help you get through it and move on. A harsh inner critic can actually make you more stressed about the situation and discourage you from trying again or even taking risks in the future.

Whereas an inner compassionate self is an ally and can coach you through the difficult times and help you learn from your mistakes and failures. This can then help you be more confident in trying again and tackling future challenges, not being frightened of failure.

Stress and compassion

There are three main emotional regulation systems: threat (designed to protect us), drive (gives us motivation and energy) and soothing (a place of groundedness). A lot of people are stuck oscillating between drive and threat and don’t take a lot of time to grow the soothing side of things.

This soothing centre is where compassion plays a role, helping us to down regulate the threat, not get rid of it all together. Making sure we take time to rest and help ourselves see clearly and become more balanced in these three areas. Rather than just staying in drive mode, where we know people experience burn out.

Micro practices

To help you discover what your balance looks like, Kirsty recommends implementing micro-practices throughout the day. Often when we are tackling problems we motivate ourselves by focusing on rewarding ourselves at the end of the day, whether that be a big walk, hot bath or watching your favourite show.

However, it can be more beneficial to implement small practices throughout the day rather than powering through one big activity. It can be very simple, practical things like getting up and away from your desk, doing some breathing exercises whilst you wait for the kettle to boil, going outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air.

Interested in hearing more?

Tune in now to listen to the full conversation (episode 13) and learn more about a career in accounting and how to put your best foot forward when applying for your next job.

Gaining a qualification in finance doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be an accountant for the rest of your life. Discover more about the opportunities in the finance sector and how you can get a job you really want.

In this episode of our Learn Better Podcast, host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, discusses careers in accounting and the current job market.

Our guest is Anthony Clarke, Business Development Manager at AAT. Anthony covers the versatility finance qualifications can give your career, the current hot jobs in the finance sector and how to approach your applications and interviews.

Anthony also talks about how the sector has made a commitment to drive diversity and social mobility and how this has changed the way businesses are recruiting. Instead of just looking at CVs, businesses are putting more emphasis on the individuals, their skills, behaviours and the value they can add to the business.

Firms are looking at the individual. Those skills that they bring to the business, not necessarily just from a technical perspective, but in terms of how well aligned they are and how their values are well aligned with the business they are working for.

- Anthony Clarke, AAT

Key topics:

Accountancy careers and qualifications

There are multiple levels to accounting qualifications and unlike what it may seem, the end objective doesn't have to be to qualify with one of the Level 7 Accountancy bodies. There are many job opportunities for you at each level. What you do along your journey is important, the skills you learn and the people you meet.

There are so many different areas to branch out into in the finance sector and so studying and pursuing a career in finance allows you to keep your options open, helping you to find a role you enjoy and gain a wide range of experience along the way.

The hot jobs in the sector

Anthony tells how the job market is really buoyant currently with businesses struggling to recruit at a senior level. However this means businesses have reacted by inventing more in organically developing their own talent for the future, particularly through apprenticeship.

Audit, for instance, is a very in demand area and there is a common need for companies to expand their teams as businesses are winning new clients almost daily. And with hybrid working, talent is being accessed from all over the country, opening new opportunities to people who previously may have been limited by commuting commitments.

Diversity

There has been a real commitment in the sector to drive diversity and social mobility, and businesses are delivering on this promise. Firms are focusing more on the individual rather than the details on their CV and looking at ways to support recruitment that isn't just from the traditional talent pool.

Anthony comments: “Because we do have such diverse communities within the UK, it’s really important that the talent that are working in [a business’s] Audit team can really reflect, understand and empathise with the client base.”

Important skills for getting the job

There are many skills that can help you in your career that can all be learnt through exposure to different environments. For example, a previous job in retail or hospitality can help you to learn how to communicate well with the public.

The key skills businesses look for in interviews and assessment centres are:

• The ability to communicate information clearly
• The ability to analyse information and draw conclusions
• The ability to present analysis in a palliative way
• The ability to use technology
• The ability to collaborate and work as part of a team

As well as demonstrating these skills it is important to do your research. Researching a business's mission statement and values is key to help you understand how these align to your own values and how you can in turn add value to the business.

Interested in hearing more?

Tune in now to listen to the full conversation (episode 13) and learn more about a career in accounting and how to put your best foot forward when applying for your next job.

Finding motivation can be difficult, but when you learn how to apply your strengths you can begin to tap into your intrinsic motivation.

This week on our Learn Better Podcast, host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, looks at motivation and how you can learn to lead a more engaged life.

Our guest is Ross Anderson, an expert in well being sciences and human optimisation, also known as The Motivational Dude. Ross shares details of his past involving drugs, crime, suicide and family struggles. Plus, how he found a more purposeful path through motivation.

Ross talks through the different types of motivation and influencing factors. He also outlines the reasons why and how to use your strengths to unlock your motivation. He explains how the key to understanding your strengths and in turn how to motivate yourself, is self-awareness.

Action beats distraction.

- Ross Anderson

Key topics

What is motivation?

Motivation is the reason or reasons for one acting in a particular way. There are 2 types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation comes from your inherent joy and satisfaction of doing something, and often when doing these things you will not be distracted from them easily. For example, playing football because you enjoy it.

Extrinsic motivation comes from influencing factors such as money, wealth, fame and beauty. For example, working hard to receive praise and recognition.

7 reasons why

As humans there tends to be seven key reasons why we do what we do, these are:

• The drive to learn
• To connect and bond with other individuals
• To defend and protect
• To acquire
• Meaning and purpose
• Self actualisation
• The drive to feel

How to tap into your intrinsic motivation

To tap into your intrinsic motivation you first will need to go on a bit of a self awareness journey. It is important to learn about your strengths, and you can begin to identify these through an online psychometric test.

Once you have established your strengths, you will need to live through these and see how they feel. Wrapping your strengths around your activities, goals and pursuits should help you feel energised and motivated.

Interested in finding out more?

Tune in now to listen to the full conversation (episode 12) and learn how to take control of your motivation and live a happier, more successful life.

We’ve exclusively partnered with SAS® to deliver a brand new apprenticeship. Creating a specialist pathway to provide SAS users with modern analytical and data visualisation skills.

We spoke to David Hanby, Insight Manager here at Kaplan, to find out more about SAS and how it can benefit both businesses and individuals. Find out what he had to say…

So, what is SAS?

Originally, SAS stood for Statistical Analysis System but as they now develop more than just statistical software, SAS (pronounced "sass") is more of a brand than an acronym. I liked the acronym at first because I felt like I could pretend I was part of the special air service.

You can use SAS for anything within the insights and analytics arena: database management, unstructured data, interrogate data, modelling, data interpretation.

There are different versions of SAS, some are easier to use than others. I currently use SAS Studio which is basically the base level version.

It’s its own software, and unlike other options, has its own language so doesn't rely on SQL.

SAS has a certain level of prestige surrounding it.

By aligning yourself to SAS, automatically you’re at the cutting edge of data analytics.

Thoughts on SAS’s Data manipulation and efficiency

It’s a programme I log into and I do all my work from within that. You bring data into the programme and manipulate how you want to use it. Then you can output the data however you want, and in whichever format you want, such as excel, word, powerpoint.

It’s really fast in terms of handling big data very quickly. You can clean up messy data really well and it has an amazing ability to talk to different platforms through API connectivity to enable live transactional data.

The user experience

SAS language is continually evolving. For instance something you wrote a couple of years ago which took 15 lines of code can now be done with a new function or procedure.This constant improvement helps optimise the user experience to make analytics easier.

The SAS community is also a great open forum. It’s there if you are struggling to do something. They provide a vast resource of advice and support through forums.

What do you use it for on a daily basis?

I use it to centralise all our different student data points to answer business questions. This could be based on student performance. For instance, when results are coming out, work will be required to compare those who failed versus those who succeeded.

SAS enables me to review what they did on our platforms to get the results they ended up with. And it helps me analyse the data and come to conclusions.

Once we have the conclusions, we talk to our Learning & Curriculum team with recommendations as to how to further optimise the learning experience. It helps us create an idea of what an ‘engaged’ student looks like, based on this data.

Essentially, SAS lets us get really detailed if needed, but then brings it back and informs a top level summary view of what the users need and helps us understand how to deliver this.

You know in the TV show 24, everyone wanted to be Jack Bauer, but I didn’t. I always thought the data nerd (Chloe) was the real hero.

How does it benefit the business?

As a business, SAS enables us to make data driven decisions. We can create bespoke reports in a timely manner to put in front of the right person. Whether that be the learning or commercial side of things.

Top 4 biggest myths about studying Data Analytics

In terms of our commercial reporting, we use it to give commercial managers a live view of which courses are selling well and which are at risk - by incorporating transactional data. It forms the basis of our marketing KPI reports, in terms of student numbers, and allows us to create commercial targets throughout the year.

Its power is applicable to any business. I worked for Shopdirect for 10 years and used it then. You don’t forget your first experience of SAS.

I was a report runner back then and didn’t know how to use it that much, so I had to play with it to learn how to use it. I used it to run and build web, affiliate and basic translation reports. The first report I ever ran was a ‘daily offers report’.

How could training benefit personal development?

Although I never had formal training on SAS, I can see the value in it because if I did I would be able to understand what it’s doing on a foundation level. Understanding everything from the ground up, the ins and outs and why you are doing it. You’d be less likely to make mistakes and make incorrect assumptions about how it’s manipulating the data.

Ultimately it would make you much more efficient.

It is a massive door opener being proficient in SAS. If the skill is on your CV, you have an advantage from an employability perspective. It shows that you can put the work in. It also shows that you are up to speed with the latest in data analytics as SAS is always evolving and improving.

By aligning yourself to SAS, automatically you’re at the cutting edge of data analytics. SAS’s slogan used to be ‘the power to know’ and that couldn’t be more true.

Any final thoughts on SAS?

I can’t overstate how accommodating it is. If I'm working with IT then I can translate and tailor the data to their ways of working. If a team uses SQL as their language then I can write in that language within SAS which makes the conversation much more fluid. So efficient.

Be a SAS hero - find out more

Support your decision-making by upskilling your employees or develop your own personal skills through our exclusive partnership with SAS. Check out our Data Analyst powered by SAS apprenticeship to learn more about this programme.

Everyone would love to have a job they enjoy, but with jobs continually evolving, career planning can be daunting. Find out how to identify your true skill set and plan your next steps.

Kicking off series 2 of our Learn Better Podcast, host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, explores career planning and how to find a job that you enjoy.

Our guest is Sarah Pritchard, Head of Banking, Finance and Management Design at Kaplan. She describes her own personal journey from studying Set Design at university to finding passion in education. Sharing what she discovered to be important in loving what you do, Sarah provides useful tips for assessing your personal skill set and in turn identifying if a job is right for you.

Together they talk through: recognising what you are good at, how that ability can be reflected in a job, how to prepare for interviews, the best way to express your ambitions to potential employers, and how to reflect on your journey to help establish next steps.

If you find a job you enjoy doing, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.

- Mark Twain

Key topics

Not having a traditionally linear career

Sarah shares her personal journey and how her passion changed from what she studied at university to what she wanted to do - career wise. It is important to understand that plans and passions can change over time and you should be flexible with your career plan and allow for reassessment.

If your plans do change, don’t worry that you have wasted time. Instead, it is important to look at your journey so far and identify your strengths and weaknesses and what you would like to develop. These can then help you find a job to help you progress and take your next steps.

Focusing on skill sets rather than job titles

A big part of the conversation focuses on looking at skill sets rather than jobs as often ambition and enjoyment lies within the skill set rather than the job role itself. Every job will have multiple different responsibilities, and it is key to learn what parts of a role you enjoy and make sure these are present when planning your next steps.

Interviewing

Stuart and Sarah explore how to articulate your skill sets and ambitions across to a potential employer. They warn against googling the best answers for common interview questions. Instead, they suggest how to open the interview into a professional discussion, and prepare by thinking about examples where you have demonstrated your skills within the workplace.

Career planning with exploration, prioritisation and action

Sarah details how exploration, prioritisation and action can help you solidify your career plan.

Exploration
Understand what is the question you are trying to answer. Is it based on skills you need, what your next step up the ladder or how you are going to get a promotion?

Prioritisation
Hone in on realistically what is possible and what you need to do next to develop your skills and take a step towards your goal.

Action
Make a positive step. Using SMART objectives create short term goals for you to work towards to help progress your career. Make sure they are timely, measurable and realistic.

Interested in finding out more?