Academies on the march

There is no shortage of bright, young talent queuing to make big bucks on Wall Street. Quite a contrast, in fact, to the recruitment problems of an ageing UK adviser industry where recruiting and training the next generation of financial advisers is one of those headaches that just will not shift.

Perhaps our industry can learn a lesson from Sandy Weill, philanthropist and former Citigroup chief executive and chairman, who established career academies to give young New Yorkers a break on Wall Street.

Career Academies UK is a charity inspired by Mr Weill's idea. Their aim is to support employers in raising the prospects and aspirations of 16 to 19 year olds. They deliver a two-year programme of study which is equivalent to three A-levels.

What is special about the career academy model is that, unlike traditional extra-curricular education-business links, it puts employer support at the heart of the young people's existing coursework: through guest speakers in the classroom; visits to the workplace; one-to-one mentoring; and a six-week paid internship for each student in the summer. A national accredited career academy curriculum means young people gain university-recognised UCAS points and are encouraged to take their studies further.

The good news for adviser firms is that the first and most popular career academy pathway is in finance.

Over 90 UK schools and colleges offer the career academy programme and almost 2000 students have participated to date. Based on their GCSE grades at the start of the programme, 40 per cent of them were likely to progress to university. By the end of the programme, 72 per cent actually do – and they are often the first in their family. By 2012, the expectation is to offer the career academy in 200 schools and colleges, reaching 7000 students a year .

The summer internship is the jewel in the crown of the career academy model. It takes place in the summer between the two years of the course. Employers provide a six-week paid work placement in a real operating environment, aiming to use the skills and knowledge the student has learned in school or college.

Internships are neither the traditional work experience offered to 15 and 16 year olds, nor mini versions of undergraduate schemes. Career academy students may have had less opportunity to develop workplace skills than undergraduates and are likely to need more support and training. With a year's business study under their belt, however, they can make a real contribution to the organisation and host companies report that working with interns enhances staff development and approaches to employee diversity.

Internship supervisors are given support, including a toolkit to use throughout the six weeks. They are also visited twice during the internship by the student's teacher or tutor for a meeting to discuss progress.