Ernst & Young, one of the UK's biggest graduate recruiters, has
announced it will be removing the degree classification from its entry
criteria, saying there is "no evidence" success at university correlates
with achievement in later life.
In an unprecendented move, the
accountancy firm is scrapping its policy of requiring a 2:1 and the
equivalent of three B grades at A-level in order to open opportunities
for talented individuals "regardless of their background".
Maggie
Stilwell, EY’s managing partner for talent, said the company would use
online assessments to judge the potential of applicants.
"Academic
qualifications will still be taken into account and indeed remain an
important consideration when assessing candidates as a whole, but will
no longer act as a barrier to getting a foot in the door," she said.
"Our
own internal research of over 400 graduates found that screening
students based on academic performance alone was too blunt an approach
to recruitment.
"It found no evidence to conclude that previous
success in higher education correlated with future success in subsequent
professional qualifications undertaken."
The company offers 200
graduate-level jobs each year, making it the fifth largest recruiter of
graduates in the UK. The changes will come into force in 2016.
Earlier
this year, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) scrapped using UCAS points as
entry criteria for its graduate scheme. The audit firm believes placing
too much emphasis on the scores will mean employers may miss out on key
talent from disadvantaged backgrounds, who can perform less well at
school.
A report published last week revealed wealthy kids are
35% more likely to become high earners than clever, disadvantaged young
people, even if they are not academically gifted.
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