CPD with Bank of England

Hi, I'm Anastasia - I'm a Recruiter at the Bank of England and I'll be participating in this session!

In the session with the Bank of England, you may wish to ask about some of the following topics:

- The Bank of England offering for school leavers
- The benefits of working at the Bank
- The recruitment process and timeline
- Opportunities for schools to engage with the Bank

Hi Anastasia,
Could you tell us grade requirements and any preferred subjects and whether you offer year 12 work experience?

What process do we need to follow to discuss opportunities to engage with the Bank?

Thanks for the questions, just to add to the above, perhaps you can tell us what different schemes are available at the same time and if they have different grade requirements or different processes to follow? Thanks

Hello, thank you for your question!
The grade requirements for our Future Capability Programme (formerly known as the School Leaver programme) is 72 UCAS points from any three A-Levels (or equivalent), and 5 GCSEs at grade C or above including maths and English. Unfortunately, at present we don't offer work experience for students in Year 12.

Hello, this depends on the kind of engagement you're looking for. You can request a speaker for your school via our Education programme, whereby we will provide a speaker from our members of staff to answer questions about what the Bank of England does, and how the economy works. There are four types of visits that can be provided, and you can also request career-focussed talks too. For more information, and for the process to apply for a speaker please do visit the dedicated website here: [link removed]
Alternatively, if you'd be interested in our attending your careers fair, you can email our team directly on [email removed]

Hi Anastasia,
Could you please briefly expand upon what the Future Capability Programme consists of and the qualifications gained from completion of this course?

At present, I assume that the programmes of most interest will be the Future Capability Programme (our school leaver programme), and the First Year Internship which students can start thinking about if they're certain that they'd like to go to university and from university pursue some work experience with the Bank.
The Future Capability Programme has three 'stream' options, which essentially mean groups of job roles. These are Data Science, Operations and Technology. Operations and Technology offer the opportunity of a Level 4 apprenticeship, whilst Data Science at the Bank is very unique so they have developed their own internal course. The eligibility requirements for these are 72 UCAS points and a minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, including maths and English.
The first year internship is a summer internship which students can apply to when they have started their first year at university - so it is one for Year 13 students to be aware of if they are certain they'd like to pursue a degree. This is a 6 week paid internship and they should be aiming for a 2:1 degree classification, and have 120 UCAS points from 3 A-Levels (or equivalent).
The recruitment process for all our programmes is broadly similar and is the following: Online application form > Online test > Video interview > Assessment Centre (including 2 group exercises and 1 interview).

In terms of the application process, do you have any specific advice for our students in terms of what characteristics and skills you're looking for in this programme? (Are you looking for high-flyers?)

Hi everyone,

One of our team will send a follow up email with how to contact the Bank of England after this event. With GDPR we've removed the ability to add emails on the forum. Thanks

Hello,
The Future Capability Programme (FCP) is an 18 month programme designed for students seeking an alternative to university.
Although the programme is 18 months, students are on a permanent contract so after the completion of the programme they will 'roll off' into a permanent role.
Throughout the 18 months student receive support and development opportunities to help them settle into working life. They also receive a buddy from the previous cohort of the same programme to support their transition.
There are opportunities for a Level 4 apprenticeship qualification for 2 of the 3 streams, Operations and Technology.
Our Data Science stream is very unique, and is Bank specific so they have developed an internal course to better equip students at the start of their career.

Hello
With the future capability programme, the students will receive a Level 4 qualification ( is this a HND ? ) Is there an opportunity for students to undertake a degree apprenticeship with yourselves or would this be via the first method - university and then an internship ?

I think my main piece of advice would be for students to spend some time researching the Bank's values. Because our role is so unique in the financial system, and because our work is different to other banks, I think sometimes there can be a misunderstanding of how this impacts on our organisational culture. Collaboration, empowerment and inclusiveness feature very heavily on what we look for in students, paired with analytical capabilities. However, I'd also say that 'analytical' capabilities don't just have to come from studying subjects such as economics or mathematics, which sometimes seems to be how student interpret that - analytical capabilities can be brought out in a real variety of subjects so students shouldn't be afraid to recognise that.
Otherwise, I think we're also looking for students who truly understand the function of the Bank in the context of the wider economy - simply keeping up to date on current affairs where the Bank is mentioned can go a long way in helping with that!

Hello, all colleagues at the Bank have options for further study, including the route of taking up a degree. So, once a student comes off the Future Capability Programme they can also explore this option. However, this isn't a guarantee and will depend on how the degree they wish to pursue fits into their professional development plans. I do want to note however, that many students are concerned that without a degree their career progression may be limited. At the Bank we have a lot of senior colleagues who do not have a degree, and the unique work that we do means that on the job learning can be just as valuable as academic experience in progressing through the Bank.

What are main benefits of working for The Bank of England, as opposed to other High Street Banks?

Some of our college students, who will achieve their UCAS points through a Level 3 BTEC course, don't always have a full set of GCSEs behind them. Would you consider accepting a Level 2 BTEC and GCSE maths and English in place of the 5 GCSEs?

Also, is there an upper age limit on the FCP?

I think this question can probably be broken down into the intangible benefits, and the tangible benefits. I think in terms of 'intangible' benefits, it's notions like how impactful the work of the Bank of England is, and being able to feed into this. I personally also think that there is something very interesting about being in the heart of the city and at the centre of the financial systems in the UK, but also being a public institution that prioritises the good of the people. In terms of the more 'tangible' benefits, colleagues receive private medical insurance, we have an in-house gym, we have in-house counsellors, and a flexible working policy, amongst others. I hope that helps to answer your question but please let me know if you'd like me to expand.

Yes - I think as long as there is an equivalent qualification there's no problem with accepting these instead of GCSEs. We are also very open to discussions with students around their application forms if they either don't quite fit the 'typical' format, or they have any circumstances which lead to them not achieving the minimum criteria, it's just important that they communicate with us so we can assist them.
There is no upper age limit for the programme, but we do just want applicants to be mindful that if, for example, they apply for the programme later on in their careers (academic or otherwise), they are likely to be in a cohort with young people who are of the traditional post A-level age, and that the pay and progression will be the same for all of them even if an older applicant has more previous work experience.

We are very keen to have someone come and speak at school and have a Bank of England representative at our Careers Fair. Is there someone I can contact?