Audit Associate - Placement Year

Ballards TAX | AUDIT | CONSULTANCY

Audit Placement Year Student - 2027
Understand businesses. Challenge the numbers. Build your career.
Location Worcester / Droitwich
Placement One-year university placement
Opportunity Potential permanent return offer following strong performance

If you’re curious about what makes a business really work, Audit gives you a front-row seat.
At Ballards, you’ll work with real clients from day one, getting to know organisations from the inside out. You’ll learn how to understand financial information, assess risks, ask the right questions and build the confidence to challenge the numbers - gaining meaningful experience as part of your university placement year.

Why Ballards?
You’ll be joining an ambitious, growing independent firm where you can build relationships, take on meaningful responsibility and learn directly from experienced professionals.

And you’ll be learning from an award-winning team. In 2026, Ballards was named Audit Team of the Year at the Accounting Excellence Awards, recognising the strength of our people and the way we work with our clients.

For a placement student, that means the opportunity to spend a year learning alongside a team recognised as one of the best in the profession, gaining real experience, building your confidence and developing the foundations for your future career.

What you’ll do
• Work on live audit assignments across a range of clients and industries.
• Learn how businesses operate, from their financial reporting and systems to their risks and controls.
• Carry out audit testing, review financial information and investigate what sits behind the numbers.
• Work directly with clients and build professional relationships from the start.
• Develop your technical knowledge while gaining the commercial understanding that turns an auditor into a trusted adviser.

What you’ll get
• A structured placement year with real responsibility and hands-on learning
• Enhanced induction and internal training programme to support your development from day one
• Real client experience from day one
• Mentoring, feedback and structured career development
• Flexible hybrid working
• 25 days’ holiday plus bank holidays
• Pension, life assurance and Employee Assistance Programme
• Electric Car and Cycle to Work schemes
• Enhanced family leave

Who we’re looking for
You don’t need previous audit experience. We’re looking for placement students who are curious, analytical, ambitious, comfortable working with people and ready to learn.

You’ll be studying toward a degree that includes a placement year and be on track to achieve a minimum 2:1. You’ll bring strong attention to detail, good communication skills and the confidence to ask questions and take ownership of your development.

It’s about who you become along the way.

You’ll join a supportive, collaborative environment where your ideas are valued, your development is guided and your responsibility grows with you.

Ready to move your career forward?
If you want a placement year where you can gain meaningful real-world experience and understand businesses beyond the surface, we’d love to hear from you. Students who perform well during their placement may have the opportunity to return to Ballards permanently after completing their degree.

Apply today to start your placement journey with Ballards.