Leadership Academy Review

It was an incredible experience - you learn so much about yourself and become a lot more self aware. Every student is extremely competent and so you gain a lot from other people. All the tasks and challenges are great, and the evening activities were really fun and a good time to really get to know people.

EY have invested so much into this scheme and the emphasis is entirely on your personal development, and they appreciate that you may or may not end up working for EY. The staff to student ratio is fantastic.

A huge amount, there were always staff to help you during every session and talk to you whenever. They sat with us during meals as well so there was always a chance to ask any questions. There was also a large emphasis on feedback and we were given an individual session with our coach each day.

You learn so many valuable leadership and teamwork skills which may be of use if doing group projects for your degree, but more so for anything you are involved with at university and certainly will be of use in any career.

The days were very full and busy. There was quite a bit of time each day for reflection and feedback. Each day had a specific theme to it, and there was a drinks reception each evening, followed by a meal and some kind of evening activity. On the second day there was a partner dinner.

Compared to similar schemes, this had by far the best atmosphere. As it was 4 days, everyone really got to know each other and it was amazing how well we all got on. We were all sad to leave at the end of it! It didn't feel pressurised and there was never a feeling of being in competition with each other.

They invested so much in us, personal training and development was the entire focus of the academy - you come away from it having learnt so much about yourself and gained and developed so many new skills.

This wasn't the principle aim of the academy - none of the sessions were specific to EY. However there was lots of chances between sessions, such as during meals to talk to different staff and get an insight into what they do. They were happy to put you in contact with other staff at the firm if there wasn't someone from the service line you were interested in.

It was clear from the programme that EY's culture is all about people and they invest a lot into their staff at the firm. This came across through every member of staff that we met and it was clear they all enjoyed working for EY.

The focus of the academy was not about EY or careers, however there was still large numbers of chances to network and talk to the staff and ask any questions, so you could get an idea of what the different service lines involve.

We were reimbursed for any expenses.

There was a dinner on one night with a partner and lots of staff from EY - my table had 5 students and 3 staff. The staff rotated between the tables so there was lots of chance to network. We were able to talk to the other employees throughout the week.

They were great - every evening started off with a drinks reception and a chance to network. The first night we had a pub quiz, the second night was the partner dinner and the third night was a 'surprise' event which everyone loved!

There was a lot of chance to network and ask employees about this - they regularly have social events within their teams and there are opportunities to get involved with helping the community and volunteering.

Absolutely - it was an incredible experience, so much fun and the skills you learn on it are invaluable and will be put to use whatever career you go into. It was run so well, and all of the staff there are fantastic.