Whats more important to the big 4: the university or the degree?

When recruiting do the big 4 place a greater emphasis on the degree or on the university? For example would a degree in management or english from a target university such as warwick be more beneficial then an accounting degree from a non target, russell group uni such as birmingham?

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It would be sensible to mention what you're applying for.

Generally for big 4 they don't have "target universities". They want a 2.1 and a set amount of UCAS. Beyond that they don't much care, at least for audit which is the biggest part of the business.

Given the options mentioned, I'd forget about English and do either management or accounting. Probably management at Warwick for me out of the three, but any of the three could do the trick really.

But generally speaking if you had to choose, in the financial sector which is more important: the university or the degree?

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It's not really the degree, it's just that you're more likely to do well on numerical psychometric tests if you did a Maths degree over a humanities one.

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Would doing an English degree be of hindrance though? I've heard psychology/history grads getting offers


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Do whatever degree you want, if anything a different degree background helps you stand out from a sea of accounting and finance degrees and helps you bring new insights to situations that your colleagues won't have. Big 4 doesn't care what degree you did, they care that you got a 2 1 and to a lesser extent what uni you went to. Target unis doesn't exist as a concept, sure big 4 may centre their marketing on typical places like Nottingham, lse but that doesn't mean they have a higher chance of getting places.

Would an AS in maths be suffice for the numerical tests?


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What degree did you do and at what uni? Is an A at GCSE maths sufficient for the numerical test?


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It would be sensible to mention what you're applying for.

Generally for big 4 they don't have "target universities". They want a 2.1 and a set amount of UCAS. Beyond that they don't much care, at least for audit which is the biggest part of the business.

Given the options mentioned, I'd forget about English and do either management or accounting. Probably management at Warwick for me out of the three, but any of the three could do the trick really.

What, so a 2:1 from a low ranking uni, say Swandea Metropolitan is no different to a 2:1 from a RG uni?

That's not true.

There is no filter for what uni you went to at all. In addition, first interviews are normally carried out over the phone by HR staff so limited room for snobbery there.

By the time you have your partner interview, it's all down to your personality.

Most big 4 do have a UCAS point filter which I guess roughly acts to remove candidates from lower ranked unis, but if you have plenty of UCAS points and choose to go to University of Useless, I don't think there would be many barriers to you.

That's ridiculous though because a 2:1 from a low ranking is easier to achieve.

What, so a 2:1 from a low ranking uni, say Swandea Metropolitan is no different to a 2:1 from a RG uni?

That's not true.