FAQs – School Leavers Programme

There are two school leaver programmes on offer: 

1. Trainee Programme 
2. Apprenticeship Programme 

Trainee Programme: part of the Investment20/20 programme

• 1 year fixed term contract
• Accredited Industry qualification – Investment Foundation Certificate (IFC)

Apprenticeship: part of the Investment20/20 programme

• 2 year permanent contract, with 20% of time dedicated towards studying a government approved accredited qualification (Level 3 or 4)

We do not currently offer higher or degree level apprenticeships.

Applications open in January each year. The majority of roles will close by end of February. We recruit on a rolling basis so you are advised to apply sooner rather than later. Check the job descriptions on the website for full details and we advise saving a copy of the job description to refer back to later in the recruitment process.

Both programmes start on the same day, in early September.

Our trainee and apprenticeship programmes are open to school leavers who have chosen not to go to University.You must be 18 years old by the start date of the programme.

No. All of our trainee and apprentice roles are open to everyone regardless of what you’ve studied at school and there are no UCAS point requirements.

Our trainee and apprentice programmes provide an entry point for anyone wanting to explore a career in the investment management industry, so we don’t expect you to be experts.

All we need from you is a can-do attitude, a willingness to get stuck in and a flexible attitude to work. We have five core values which underpin our business – passion, innovation, integrity, teamwork and excellence, and we look for these in the people we recruit. We’re looking for you to be open-minded with a willingness to use the programme as an opportunity to learn all you can about our industry and our business.

Trainee: unlike the apprenticeship, the trainee programme doesn't offer a guaranteed permanent contract of employment after the 12 month programme. However, where possible, trainees with the right attitude and aptitude often receive permanent job offers at the end of their training.

Apprenticeship: as long as the accredited qualification is completed and feedback from the business is satisfactory, apprentices are hired into the business on a permanent basis at the end of the two-year programme

We can only accept one application per apprenticeship or trainee programme. You may be asked to confirm which programme you’d like to progress with at a later stage, or put forward for a role which we feel you are better suited to. If you are set on a particular role you’ve seen advertised, we’d recommend you only apply for that role.

Roles vary year on year depending on where the business needs you most. We typically open roles across a wide range of areas including Technology, Operations, Client Services, Business Development, Marketing and Communications, HR, Compliance, Audit, Tax, Finance, Investment and Wealth Management.

Assessment centre for both programmes take place between March – May.

Trainee: all trainees complete the Investment Foundation Certificate, an industry recognised qualification.

Apprentice: the training you receive will be specific to the apprenticeship programme and business area you choose to apply for. You will receive an accredited apprenticeship qualification at the end of two years.

On either programme you will take part in training courses and programmes throughout your time with us. These will include opportunities to develop your competencies and skills, as well as taking part in industry-wide training events and technical training.

Yes. We would encourage you to re-apply for another role in line with your skills and aspirations in the following recruitment phase.

At Schroders, our vision is for our workforce to represent the diversity of the communities in which we operate globally. We ask you to complete a diversity questionnaire as part of our recruitment process to help us understand the diversity of our applicants and whether there are any representational gaps. While it is voluntary to disclose this information, we strongly encourage our applicants and employees to complete the diversity questionnaire. This allows us to continually monitor and improve our process, ensuring it is inclusive to everyone regardless of background.

This data is not used to make decisions on who we progress through the recruitment process and the recruitment team has no access to your diversity data. Your data will be used for statistical and monitoring purposes only, informing our Inclusion and Diversity strategy.

Your answers will be treated in the strictest confidence, and all data is held in line with legal data privacy requirements, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our Job Applicant Privacy Policy can be found here: https://www.schroders.com/en/working-here/applicant-privacy-notice/

1. Online application form 
   Tell us a bit about yourself, your key skills and why you are interested in the role you’ve applied to.
2. Online assessments
   An opportunity for you to showcase your skills. You’ll be asked to complete three assessments; Gamified Situational Judgment Test (chatAssess, Deductive-logical Thinking (switchChallenge) and a Personality questionnaire (ADEPT-15® Workstyles).
   
   Take a look here to learn more from Aon (our online assessments provider) about the online assessments and how you can best prepare.
3. Video interview 
   If successful in completing the online tests, you'll be invited to complete a short competency-based video interview so that we can get to know you better.
4. Assessment centre 
   If you've made it to this stage, you'll be invited along to an assessment centre. This is your time to shine in front of some of our employees and meet our current apprentices/ trainees.
5. Offer
   If successful following the final round interview, you will be offered a role on our intern/ placement year programme here at Schroders

You can  withdraw your application at any time with the account details that you used to apply for the role. If you have any difficulties in doing so, please email earlycareers@schroders.com.

General enquiries

We receive large volumes of applications each year and work hard to process all applications as quickly as possible. We we aim to provide you with the outcome of each stage as quickly as we can via email:

Online assessments: you’ll receive an automated email if your application is progressed to the online assessment stage with an invite to complete the online assessments. Once this is complete, you’ll receive an automated feedback report with your strengths and areas for development. Upon completion, the early careers recruitment team will follow up with you, this could be up to three weeks, while we continue to screen all applications. If you haven’t received communication from us, your application is still under consideration at this time.

Video interviews: we value the time and effort you’ve put in to your application so far. We review all completed video interviews nearer to the time of the assessment centre for the role to ensure that all candidates have an opportunity to complete a video interview. This may mean you could wait some time before receiving an outcome as we  provide hiring managers with a shortlist before inviting individuals to the next stage. If you haven’t received communication from us, your application is still under consideration at this time.

Interviews and assessment days: we aim to give you at least one weeks’ notice ahead of the assessment centre. We aim to be flexible and will try to work around your availability if you have exams.

If the application window is open (Jan-Feb) please apply here:

Outside of the application window, we are not currently taking new applications at this time, however you can find out more about our school leaver programmes here

If you are having any technical issues please email earlycareers@schroders.com.

Work Experience enquiries

Unfortunately, we do not offer a formal work experience programme at this time.