The latest student cohort includes 1,269 graduates and 204 apprentices through its student programme - an increase of 35% from 2021.

Almost 40% will be located in EY’s regional offices, with Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, and Reading all seeing large intakes as the firm continues to strengthen its regional presence.

Of the new student hires, 41% are women, and 45% are from an ethnic minority background, of which 4% identify as black or mixed-black.

Hywell Ball, EY’s UK chair, said: ‘These are record numbers for EY as we continue to invest in young talent to support our growth across the UK.

‘We’re continuing to see strong levels of client demand and continued investment across the firm, which is why we’ve increased our student intake year on year.’

Over the last three years, the firm has steadily increased its student intake and hired more than 3,600 students.

In addition, EY has provided work experience, summer internships and industrial placements to over 470 young people. These programmes offer insights into EY’s culture, providing learning experiences and networking opportunities.

Ball added: ‘This is an important talent pool for EY that we want to nurture and support as they begin their careers. It’s also why for a third year running, we honoured all conditional offers we made prior to A-Level and Highers results in recognition that many students had their studies disrupted during the course of the pandemic.

‘Over the coming year, our new students will spend time getting to know their colleagues across EY, begin their training and start working with clients.’

The firm has also invested in new technologies and processes to help simplify the application process for its student recruitment programme, making it more transparent and accessible.

These changes are designed to improve accessibility and remove ‘unnecessary recruitment barriers’ to ensure the profession is open to students from more diverse backgrounds.

The new application process means candidates can now complete applications in one go rather than in several sittings.

The firm is also creating a virtual centre to provide candidates, parents and teachers with resources to support early career decisions.

EY said it is committed to becoming an employer of choice for young people and is collaborating with Jack Parsons, CEO of The Youth Group, to achieve Youth Verified status.

Justine Campbell, EY’s managing partner for talent in the UK, said: ‘Young talent is essential to our future business growth. We are consistently improving accessibility through a range of entry routes to attract and retain the UK’s best and most diverse talent.

‘We were the first of the Big Four to remove the 2:1 academic criteria for all graduate roles in 2015, and our recruitment processes have evolved.’

The Youth Group focuses on helping young people develop their careers and its accreditation continues to build trust between young people and employers.

EY is also returning to campuses to promote trainee programmes.

Campbell added: ‘We’re excited to return to on-campus events as it’s an important touchpoint for us to meet and engage with potential student recruits.

‘Over the next two weeks, we will be visiting 35 campuses across the UK in person and virtually, where our people will be talking about EY and offering virtual reality simulations, where potential candidates can experience what it’s like to work for us, alongside giveaways and fireside chats.

‘We really value our time on campus to showcase our brand and get feedback from students.’