What you’ll be doing

Get involved in business, partnering with finance and non-finance teams, as well as learning the main principles of finance including management accounting, project accounting, business planning, reporting, analysis, and helping to produce business cases. Learn about business policy and regulations, the accounting processes, finance systems, finance reporting and accounts payable and receivable.

Year one – Milton Keynes and Manchester placements

The first 4 months will be based at Milton Keynes, completing mini placements in specialist finance teams. The following 3 months will be spent in Manchester with the Accounting Services and the Shared Services teams, where you’ll learn about transactional accounting, before returning to Milton Keynes to complete a six-month corporate placement. You’ll also complete your certificate level of the CIMA qualification and start studying for the CIMA professional level.

Year Two – Supporting our Regions.

For the remainder of the scheme, you’ll spend time in one of our regional offices this could be in Glasgow, Manchester, York, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, and Milton Keynes.  You’ll use the experience you’ve gained from projects, the understanding of transactional accounting and the knowledge of policies and procedures to add real value to the business areas you’ll be working in, with the aim of securing a finance position in the region that you are supporting.

What you’ll get out of it

Due to the experience you’ll get on the scheme, graduates are often in demand to complete high-profile projects for senior leaders. There could be opportunities to develop your knowledge through external secondments. Your first salary increase will take place upon completion of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) certificate modules in December 2025. At the end of your 2-year scheme, you would be eligible for Finance Business Partner roles, earning a salary in the range of £43,588 – £51,719.

Once qualified, you’ll be designated as Associate Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Our scheme has been recognised by CIMA for outstanding exam performance with graduates often securing top ten positions in the world. Past graduates have gone on to become members of the Industry Finance Talent Development programmes to further their own professional development, with some of them now in senior leadership roles in the rail industry.