The National Audit Office are independent of government and the Civil Service and hold the government to account for the way it uses public money. They are right at the centre of the drive to promote economy and efficiency in government and focus on the big systemic, cross-government, and crosscutting issues.

They offer a 5-year professional training scheme leading to qualification as a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). This may be quicker than graduates moving through university. You need120 UCAS points from 3 A levels (or equivalent) inanysubjects.

What you will do

Alongside your qualification you’ll work with clients from across government. You’ll start out working as a team member supporting core financial audits, building up over time to work on bigger audits and more complex work, taking more of a lead role as you develop your skills and confidence. While working mainly on financial audits you’ll also have the opportunity to be involved in a range of other work , including support for Parliament, investigations and larger value for money studies of major government projects and programmes, which result in high profile reports to Parliament that often make the headlines.

You can work in London or Newcastle. After qualifying, you may be offered a permanent position as one of the Audit Principals. This brings a starting salary of over £48,000 in London.

The NAO works in three main areas:

• They audit the accounts of all central government departments and other bodies,
• They produce wide ranging reports such as managing government budgets, consumers & markets, pension enrolment, Olympic legacy etc
• They provide support to Parliamentary Select Committees to help save money and bring about improvements in the delivery of public services.

The recruitment process involves an application form, then online numerical reasoning tests. If you are successful you will be invited to a competency interview of about 45 minutes. If you pass this you will be invited back for the day and participate in a number of individual and group exercises as well as further interviews.