AAT Accountancy Trainee - School & College Leaver - August 2026

Overview

Join us as a trainee accountant and work towards your AAT qualification. You\’ll earn while you learn, gaining hands-on experience alongside your studies. We pay for all your training and qualifications and support you every step of the way. We\’re proud to be certified as a Great Place to Work for the third year running, making this an excellent place to launch your accountancy career.

What you\’ll be doing

As a trainee accountant, you\’ll learn to become a trusted advisor to clients. You will:

• Help clients prepare year-end accounts, management accounts, forecasts, and projections
• Get involved with company and business taxation, company secretarial matters and VAT returns
• Gain a breadth of commercial, tax and general accountancy experience

You’ll have the opportunity to join a specialist team; each focused on distinct areas of client work. Our Business Advisory team works with a range of clients including sole traders, family-owned businesses, partnerships, LLPs and private individuals. They are known as the general practice team and offer an extensive range of client services. Our Agriculture and Landed Estates team works with a variety of clients from historic country estates to modern farming businesses. These clients care for the countryside and are also leading the way in rural innovation. As well as the general day to day work, you’ll get a chance to network at county shows, farm walks or local cattle markets. Our Professional Practices team supports law firms and a range of other professionals with all the financial information and advice they need to successfully manage their business. You’ll gain a great range of experience, including accounting, tax (partnership, company and personal), audit and preparing analysis, forecasts, and projections. Please indicate on your application form if you have a particular preference for any of the above departments.

We offer a fast-track programme suitable for ambitious individuals. This intensive programme gives you the opportunity to study for your AAT & ACA qualification over 5 years, making it a quicker route to becoming chartered. Individuals suitable for this pathway will be identified at one of our assessment centres and our early careers team will guide you every step of the way.

Your development

We recognise that personal development training is essential in helping you to become an accountant, so alongside your AAT (and ACA for our fast-track programme), you\’ll receive personal development training to help you grow the skills and behaviours needed to become a successful accountant. You\’ll be supported every step of the way:

• A buddy before you start, to help you settle in
• A line manager and student counsellor will help you stay on track with your professional qualification and career goals
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities beyond qualifications, helping you progress into manager roles and beyond

Starting your career straight from school can feel daunting, but at PKF Francis Clark, you\’ll never be on your own. From day one, you\’ll be supported by a strong network of colleagues, from fellow trainees to managers and partners. Everyone is treated with respect and made to feel valued. Plus, you\’ll be joining alongside lots of other trainees, so you\’ll be learning and growing together.

• Taking initiative and achieving goals
• Communicating effectively, both verbally and in writing
• Building strong relationships and working collaboratively
• Working with numbers and solving problems
• Being analytical and methodical in your approach

Studying alongside working is demanding. As an AAT trainee, you\’ll need to do regular independent study and revision for your professional exams. It typically takes around three years to complete an AAT qualification. Bright, motivated school and college leavers who want to build a meaningful career in accountancy. This programme offers structured development, early responsibility, and long-term progression.

Entry requirements

• Minimum of 112 UCAS points (from three A Levels or equivalent, excluding general studies and EPQ)
• GCSE Maths and English at grade 4 (C) or above

As the largest firm of independent chartered accountants and business advisers in South West England, PKF Francis Clark offers a breadth of opportunities to develop your career in the way that\’s right for you.

Established in 1919, we\’ve grown to a team of nearly 1,000 people, based across our offices in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Poole, Salisbury, Southampton, Taunton, Torquay and Truro. We\’re big enough to do challenging work for exciting clients, but small enough to maintain our friendly and supportive culture. This includes a flexible approach to hybrid working and a focus on wellbeing and learning and development. We\’ve been recognised nationally as a Great Place to Work for the past three years and ranked among the UK\’s Best Workplaces. In 2025, we climbed four places to 20 out of 100 large organisations on this list. We are also recognised among the UK\’s Best Workplaces for Women, Wellbeing, Development, and for Consulting and Professional Services. Our rankings reflect feedback from our people in a confidential, independent annual survey. The success rates of our trainees also place us 33rd in The Sunday Times Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2025. PKF Francis Clark is part of the PKF Global family of firms, the 12th largest provider of accountancy services in the UK. Being part of this international network provides opportunities to connect with like-minded accountants and business advisers in 150 countries.

• Pension
• Group life assurance – up to four times your core salary
• Group income protection
• Health cash plan to help cover the costs of everyday healthcare
• Option to buy 5 extra days holiday
• Counselling and support for you and your immediate family
• Virtual GP for you and your immediate family
• Cycle to work
• Medicash Extras providing you with shopping and gym discounts
• Gifts for career and family milestones
• One volunteering day per year to support local organisations
• Emergency funding from the Francis Clark Charitable Foundation