Student secures place on prestigious Flying Start Programme at Newcastle University

Year 13 student, Goncalo, has secured a place on the highly sought-after Flying Start programme between Newcastle University, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) and Institute of Chartered Accountants, starting in September.

The offer comes after a rigorous recruitment process, accepting only a small number of the hundreds of students that apply every year to this competitive degree.

The Newcastle Flying Start Programme offers study towards a BA Honours in Business Accounting and Finance, paid work placements at PWC and accelerated progress towards the ICAEW Chartered Accountant qualification.

Goncalo who studies A-level maths, further maths, physics and an extended project in taxation, will need to achieve grades A, B, B in his upcoming exams.

Goncalo said: “I received university offers from Newcastle, Bristol, Birmingham and Nottingham. At first my top two choices were Bristol and Birmingham, however, once I had an interview with PWC and found out what the degree programme had to offer, it was no-brainer.”

“It has been a very long process, starting at the beginning of year 13, and it was three or four months until I had heard back from them. Initially, I sent off my application, and was flown up to Newcastle for a couple of days to take part in the assessment centre, with other applicants.”

“One of the sections was focused around teamwork. We were given a problem and each member of the group was told to argue a different solution to the problem. The key was listening to others’ ideas, and exploring how it could work, whilst making our own valid points. They then changed some big details, to see how we adapted to this.”

“Then came the interview. We had to prepare a case study based on business acumen, as well as a competency test. All of the examples I used in this where based off the employer-led projects we do at the UTC. I had prepared a list of competencies and linked each of these to experience I had gained at school.”

“I received a lot of support on my application from Sue, our Head of Sixth Form, and really, she is the reason I even got past the first stage.”

“I joined UTC Oxfordshire back in year 10, as one of the pioneer students. I saw it as an investment into my future. The best thing is the environment, you are learning with people that actually want to learn and do well.”

“I could see how many opportunities were available to us, and I went for it. It turned out to be a great investment.”

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