We recognise that boosting social mobility isn’t just about our own internal business practices, but how we support our local communities too. As part of our New World. New Skills community programme, we work with school students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and other disadvantaged groups (such as refugees) to:
equip them with the skills to help them fulfil their potential and achieve positive employment outcomes in their career of choice, whether at PwC or elsewhere;
remove barriers to access, linking our outreach programme to our recruitment opportunities;
reach the most disadvantaged areas and groups according to national data, including local authority cold spots; and
share our people's expertise through volunteering opportunities.
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Supporting schools
Our Social Mobility Schools programme is aimed at schools across the UK with a higher than average proportion of students eligible for free school meals and/or located in a social mobility cold spot (England only) or areas of deprivation.
Supporting other groups
We’re committed to supporting other disadvantaged groups, such as refugees, through our employability skills programmes and mental health first aid training.
Supporting schools
Our Social Mobility Schools programme offers school students an opportunity to develop their confidence and key employability skills through face to face and virtual activities. Having a blended approach allows us to increase our impact, both in terms of the number of students we engage with and our geographical reach. We know in person engagement and office visits are generally considered more impactful in providing opportunities and inspiring students, particularly for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
We have mapped our activities against the Gatsby Benchmarks and the Skills Builder framework, where appropriate.
- School series
- Virtual school series: Dragon's Den
- Virtual school series: Essential skills
- Work experience
- Employability Skills Toolkit
- Primary schools engagement
- Supporting students with SEND
- Mentoring
- One Firm One Day
- Work with partner organisations
School series
Our Schools Series events offer secondary school students the opportunity to connect with us and develop their confidence and essential skills through an in person office visit. We run this twice during the academic year: in Autumn for Years 10-13 (and equivalent in NI and Scotland) and in Spring for Years 7-9 (and equivalent in NI and Scotland). These events are exclusively available to schools that meet our social mobility criteria.
For the academic year 2024/2025, we have events running in October and November 2024. If you would like to sign up, please get in touch.
Supporting other groups
Through our programme, we work with partner organisations such as refugee charities and local councils to deliver employability skills programmes. These are designed to equip participants with key skills, insight and boost their confidence through activities such as professional communication courses and interview workshops.
At PwC, we work hard to support the positive mental health of our people, clients and our wider society. As part of our commitment as a cornerstone employer in Bradford, we provide free Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) training to workers across the city who work with young people.
- Refugee Employability Programme
- Mental Health First Aid training
Refugee Employability Programme
This programme is designed to provide refugees and asylum seekers across the UK with the skills and insight to support them in the UK labour market.
We hold relationships with several external organisations to deliver this programme including: UK Refugee Council, Welsh Refugee Council, Refuaid and Code Your Future.
Our employability skills programme includes:
Employability skills sessions including CV workshops, interview practice and communication workshops.
1:1 mentoring sessions with PwC mentors
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