Professional services firm KPMG has extended its audit school leavers scheme to include the University of Birmingham, alongside current partners Durham and Exeter universities.

From September, Birmingham will offer a part-time accountancy degree over four years in conjunction with a part-time paid job.

Since the scheme’s launch in 2011, it has doubled in size to 150 places and received 1,500 applications this year, of which two-thirds were from state schools and colleges.

KPMG head of corporate affairs Marianne Fallon says: “Employers need to do more to develop programmes that offer credible, quality alternatives to school leavers for whom traditional degree study is not the best match.”