PwC Ireland has no plans to drop 2:1 minimum degree requirement to secure a job

In the UK, PwC said it would no longer consider a 2:1 degree as a minimum requirement for entry-level jobs or internships.

PwC in the Republic, which each year recruits a large number of college graduates, appears to have no plans to follow its partner firm in the UK in no longer setting a 2:1 minimum grade requirement to get a job at the company. 

In the UK, where it is also of the biggest employers of recent graduates, PwC said it's scrapping a requirement for applicants to achieve a certain UK degree result as it bids to attract people from less advantaged backgrounds. It would no longer consider a 2:1 degree as a minimum requirement for entry-level jobs or internships, it said.

“Talent and potential is determined by more than academic grades,” said Ian Elliot, PwC’s chief people officer, adding that the move would “allow us to make real progress in driving social mobility of PwC recruits”. 

Just 14% of British graduates got a 2:2 last year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, while 3% got a third-class degree. Over 80% achieved a 2:1 or a first-class degree.

PwC in the Republic, where it is known as PwC Ireland, employs 3,000 people mostly in Dublin and Cork, but also at offices in Limerick, Galway, Waterford, and Kilkenny.

The staff numbers make it among one of the largest recruiters of recent graduates north and south but it appears that it has no plans to follow the initiative of PwC UK. Its website stipulates it seeks to hire final year students who are heading to secure a minimum of 2:1 grade. 

A spokesperson for KPMG, another of the UK’s so-called “big four” audit giants, said its graduates are still expected to achieve a 2:1 degree but added that it judges each application individually. In 2015, reports said that rival audit firm EY had scrapped its requirement for 2:1 degrees. 

Additional reporting Bloomberg