Pathways Trainee (ACA): 5 - Year Programme 

Location: South Wales (Cardiff Office) and North Wales (Llandudno Junction) Looking for an alternative to university or the next step in your career? 

Interested in becoming an accountant working in the public sector?   

Kickstart your career with a fully funded ACA Pathways Trainee Programme at Audit Wales.  

Audit Wales is looking to recruit a number of Pathway Trainees. 

What you’ll gain: 

• Hands-on experience auditing over 800 public bodies across Wales, while training to become an accountant, in an exciting role offering you the opportunity to provide assurance and inspire the way in which public bodies provide services to their communities.
• Practical experience in financial audits, investigations, and high-impact studies.  Fully funded ICAEW Chartered Accountancy (ACA) qualification.  
• ILM Level 3 leadership qualification.  
• Professional and leadership skills development.  
• A strong peer support network.  

Being GREAT is at the heart of everything we do, we are looking for someone who has a passion for making a difference to the public sector through your sound judgment, analytical. and excellent communication skills. 

Who are Audit Wales 

Audit Wales is the independent public sector audit body within Wales. We hold a unique position within the Welsh public sector, where our role is to: 

• Assure the people of Wales that public money is being managed well through our annual audit of public sector accounts. Explain how public money is being used and how it meets people’s needs through our Value for Money studies. 
• Inspire and empower those with whom we work to continuously improve by sharing initiatives and best practice. 

Working for us

 Audit Wales is a dynamic and friendly place to work, with an incredibly supportive culture. We’re passionate about working with the Welsh public sector and making a difference to local communities.

We’re Flexible – We work Smarter; providing choices of how, when and where individuals and teams deliver their work – we trust you in making the right choice to deliver the task in hand while supporting you in your individual circumstances, be those caring responsibilities or managing disabilities. We also welcome a variety of working patterns, from full time, part-time and job share across the organisation. Please know, during your first 3 months of starting with us we’ll ask you to come into the office on a daily basis to help you grow into your role, integrate into your team, and build relationships with your peers. 

We’ve got Excellent Terms - We genuinely care about our people and about providing an environment that encourages a positive work-life balance through our 35-hour working week, and our 33 days annual leave per annum (exclusive of public bank holidays), you can also purchase, sell, and put leave in the ‘bank’ to enable extended holidays. 

We invest in our People - We’re advocates for personal and professional development and invest in our people to fulfil their career aspirations to be the best they can be. We offer a generous training package which is complimented by a blended approach of structured and unstructured learning. Our successful mentoring and coaching scheme to our LinkedIn Learning licenses give staff the opportunity to learn at times and in ways that suit them. 

We have Excellent Benefits - Alongside our generous salary package, we offer all employees opportunity to enter the Civil Service Pension Scheme which is considered to be one of the best employer contribution rates. Our staff benefits also include compressed hours, where you can compress up to 10% of your working hours over a two week period, typically this means working 9 days in 10, we also have an excellent a cycle to work scheme, shopping discounts and the option to obtain a vehicle through our beneficial lease scheme among much more. 

We’re Proud to be Accredited – Our excellent family friendly benefits and culture mean we are a proud Top Ten Working Families employer and have held this position for the past 3 years, we have also achieved Living Wage accreditation, and recognise hidden disabilities among our workforce and with those whom we work alongside as a member of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. 

We are growing a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we work in and the skills, experiences, and perspectives they offer and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We are also a member of the Disability Confident Scheme and guarantee to interview all disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Our Assessment Process 

If you are interested in applying for this role, please know your application will be sifted to determine suitability to progress through to interview and assessment, we would strongly encourage you to tailor your application to ensure you meet the criteria we will be assessing at each stage of our process, information about the knowledge, skills and experience we will be asking you to display is available here. 

Applicants must not hold a degree and must have the right to work full-time in the UK for the full 5-year programme (unfortunately, Audit Wales is unable to sponsor work visas) 

Find out more 

You can find out more about the responsibilities, skills and experience required for the role in the job description. For an informal discussion about this exciting opportunity, please contact Sian Grainger on 02920 320547 or visit our website to apply.

Closing date for applications is 23:59 on 26 May 2026 

Please note following a sift of your on-line application successful candidates will be invited to participate in assessments and an interview.

Assessment centre: 22 -23 June 2026  

Final Interviews: 2,9,14 July 2026  

Assessments and interviews will be undertaken in person at 1, Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street, Cardiff, CF10 4BZ. 

When applying online please remember to press the continue button following submission of your application – once you have done this you will receive an acknowledgement to confirm your application has been submitted. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please contact our Human Resources Team immediately on 02920 320500 or via HRandPayroll@audit.wales

 AI tools may be used to support applications, but we want to see you—personalised applications are strongly encouraged.

We welcome applications that may be submitted in Welsh; an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.