A&C - Risk Consulting Public & Social Sector School Leaver Apprentice - Manchester - 1 Sept 2026

Forvis Mazars is a leading global professional services network providing audit & assurance, tax, and advisory services. Forvis Mazars in the UK spans 14 offices across the UK and has over 3,400 professionals, with 190 partners. We have a clear purpose and a shared commitment to shape a better future. You will join a collaborative and inclusive team where you are supported to grow your skills, explore new opportunities, and contribute from day one. You will work with a diverse client base, develop meaningful connections, and gain experience that extends beyond your local team. Together, we grow, belong and impact.

About the Advisory & Consulting Team: At Forvis Mazars, our Advisory and Consulting service line is an award-winning, global group of successful, entrepreneurial teams. The scope of roles across our service line is broad and varied which is great for our team and clients. The diversity of our service offering enables us to make the time we spend with our clients count by helping them take meaningful, key decisions with confidence and meet their goals. In Advisory & Consulting, collaboration is at the core of all we do. We have over 800 experts across our teams who operate as subject matter experts across our 6 business units: Deals and Financing, Financial Services Consulting, Consulting, Infrastructure Finance, Forensics and Completion and Restructuring & Insolvency with the aim of adding value to clients by finding solutions to a range of financial issues as one collaborative team.

About the Risk Consulting Public & Social Sector Team: The Public and Social Sector Risk Consulting team offers internal audit, advisory and other assurance services across multiple organisations within the public & social sector. We provide our clients with clarity over the performance of their risk management processes and raise recommendations for improvement where required. Working in the public and social sector will enable you to meet and support like-minded individuals at your clients who really want to make a difference in society. You can directly contribute to supporting local communities and be involved with some of the biggest issues in society. Public and social sector organisations are extremely important, unique and interesting. At Forvis Mazars, we work with a wide variety of organisations across the range of sub-sectors set out later in this section. As we act independently to our clients, we play an important role in supporting public scrutiny, helping to hold organisations to account, support continual improvement and striving to make society a better place.

You will have the opportunity to work across a wide range of clients within the public and social sector Risk Consulting team. Our team provides distinctive audit and advisory services across the following six sectors:

• Local government: We are among the top 4 firms providing internal, IT and contract audits as well as anti-fraud and corruption services to local government.
• Education: Education organisations we work with include universities, sixth form colleges, academies and schools.
• Central government: We work with a range of Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs) of government, who deliver and manage public services.
• Housing: Forvis Mazars is the #1 provider of Internal Audit services to the social housing sector.
• Police: We provide a range of internal audits to the Office of Police & Crime Commissioners and the associated Police Force.
• Charities: We provide internal audit and advisory services to a range of household name charities.

About the role: As a school leaver apprentice, here’s what will await you during your four-year training contract:

Responsibilities: In this role, you will conduct internal audit reviews of our clients' operations in specific areas. You will be responsible for undertaking internal audits into individual areas of the client's business, providing recommendations that are proportionate and in line with public sector best practice. You will undertake all aspects of the internal audit from opening meeting to report writing/audit closure. The audits that you will undertake will be varied and diverse and will have a direct meaningful impact on our clients and the communities they serve.

During your first two years you will:

• Perform internal audits by testing and reviewing documentation to establish a client’s exposure to risk and the effectiveness of the processes in place to mitigate risks;
• Obtain relevant information from clients whilst building an effective rapport with client staff;
• Undertake internal audit testing using a range of tools and methods in order to review and provide recommendations on the client’s business operations;
• Develop a thorough understanding of the nature of the client’s business, best practice, and applicable regulations;
• Take ownership for an internal audit project within the first two months, including providing feedback to clients verbally and through written internal audit reports;
• Develop personal and professional skills through regular training, with the support of your team and your line manager.

During your third year you will:

• Start to be involved in supporting client managers in the planning stages of work;
• Start to specialise in particular sub-sectors or types of audits where you have developed an interest;
• Increase your confidence in providing your own solutions and ideas to complex client scenarios;
• Perform more challenging technical audits under the guidance of the relevant Forvis Mazars manager;
• Gain proficiency in report writing, and begin to review the work of more junior team members;
• Be able to aid junior team members by providing support and feedback.

In your final year you will:

• Be able to complete complex audit reviews with minimal supervision from Mazars managers;
• Act as a point of contact for both internal Forvis Mazars management, junior members of the team, and clients;
• Begin managing the operational delivery of client internal audit plans;
• Develop client portfolio and contract management skills;
• Gain exposure to Board-level client meetings;
• Provide on the job advice, training, and supervision of junior staff.

You’re joining us as a permanent employee, so the 4 years is only the beginning of your exceptional career journey at Forvis Mazars.

Who we’re looking for: On track or have A-level or equivalent qualifications. Strong academic performance is important; however, we understand that things don’t always go to plan. Deep curiosity to learn new things and is naturally inquisitive; The ability to think critically solve problems and share knowledge with others; A commitment to self-development and learning; Strong sense of ownership of duties and high levels of responsibility to deliver on promises; Enjoys meeting and engaging with new people with an underlying respect for individuals, diversity, and integrity; Works well under pressure and have a positive ‘can-do' attitude if faced with challenging situations; Excellent time management skills; A willingness to travel and adhere to our flexible working environment.

Learning and development: Fully funded professional qualification for this role: ACA followed by CIA. Our supportive culture includes coaching, mentorship, and one-on-one guidance to help you grow, belong and make an impact.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: At Forvis Mazars diversity, equity and inclusion are central to our values. We value our people's unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experience, and know this diversity creates better outcomes for our clients.

Next steps: Roles will be closed as soon as we find the right people, so to avoid disappointment we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible. Please note the start date is 1 September 2026.