Dube, 22, from Enfield joined mid-tier firm BDO, ranked 6th in the Accountancy Daily Top 75, when she was a school leaver.

She took the apprentice pathway at BDO where she is training to gain an ACA qualification as it looked like the best option.

The apprenticeship school leaver programme involved attending college, taking the professional ACA exams and on-the-job training which takes four to five years to complete.

‘If I had gone go to university I was going to study mathematics with finance, but with the job prospects afterwards, it is better to get a professional qualification,’ said Dube.

‘It’s three years at university and four to five years to do your ACA, as opposed to doing the apprenticeship route and cutting that time. I also started to see a trend of people valuing work experience more than just getting a degree.