Milestone Academy has a rare and exciting opportunity to appoint a Finance Assistant (Apprentice) to join our friendly and vibrant team as soon as possible. The overarching purpose of this role is to provide a comprehensive financial support service to the Finance Manager and Finance Officers. We are looking for someone that can demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, excellent prioritisation and also accuracy and attention to detail. Our successful candidate will benefit from being part of our highly collaborative team!

The position is ideal for someone at the start of their career, who is passionate about working within the department and the value that it adds to an organisation. You'll be joining a well-established team who will support you to thrive in this role and you will receive fantastic professional development opportunities, working towards gaining a nationally-recognised Level 3 AAT qualification. This will provide you with a solid base of accounting principles, which you will build on through your daily duties within the Trust.

The successful candidate will need to be well-organised and reliable with a willingness to work as part of a team. In order to thrive in this role, the use of good numerical, verbal and written skills is a must and it would also be useful to have experience working with IT packages just such as Microsoft Excel.

Please note: This is a fixed-term position for 12-18 months to reflect the apprenticeship duration, however, every effort will be made to extend / make permanent thereafter. Applicants who have already obtained a Level 3 qualification will not be eligible for this position.

Apprenticeship Summary:

Annual wage: £12,500 per annum
Holiday allowance: 25 days per annum plus bank holidays
Working week: Monday - Friday
Total hours per week: 37 (including the 20% training element of the Apprenticeship)
Apprenticeship duration: Approx.18 months
Anticipated start date: As soon as possible
Apprenticeship level: Advanced Level Apprenticeship (Level 3)​​​​​​​
Positions: 1 available
Desired entry qualifications: GCSE grade C/4 or above in Maths, English and ICT


Please note that a Level 2 qualification in English and Maths is essential for this opportunity. Applicants that do not have this can not be considered.

Future prospects: This apprenticeship could be the start of a very promising career within the wider business and finance remit. We endeavour to offer further employment following successful performance and completion of the Level 3 course with future opportunities to extend your training with a higher level apprenticeship programme. We offer in-house Continuing Professional Development and you’ll be part of a highly experienced and efficient office team – you’ll be learning from the very best!

Essential skills:

Level 2 in Maths and English
Excellent organisational and planning skills with outstanding attention to detail
Demonstrate a high level of initiative
Computer literacy in usual office applications
Committed and enthusiastic
Excellent attendance and time-keeping record.
Organised
Attention to detail and accuracy
Able to respond proactively to daily issues in a timely manner
Comfortable working both individually and as part of a team
Comfortable with communicating with people at all levels of seniority


Working for Milestone Academy: Milestone Academy is a large special school for pupils with Profound, Severe and Complex needs, and is part of Leigh Academies Trust. We currently have 385 pupils on roll aged between the ages of 2 and 19. Milestone Academy has been judged as Outstanding by Ofsted at our last three inspections. Click here to view our website and learn more about Milestone Academy.



Being part of Leigh Academies Trust: As of 1st September 2022, our Trust comprises 30 geographically organised academies (14 secondaries, 14 primaries and 2 special) educating 20,000 students, and employing 3,000 talented staff. The Trust is establishing four ‘clusters’ of academies: North Kent; Central Kent; South East London; Medway. In addition, the Trust is responsible for one of the region’s biggest initial teaching training organisations, a large teaching school hub and is an accredited apprenticeship provider. Our future plans are found in our Vision 2030 document available on our website.​​​​​​​

As part of Leigh Academies Trust, you will have ample opportunity to collaborate with your peers both within the academy and across the whole Trust. This is an important part of our vision as we know through experience that we perform better when we work together. You are supported to undertake regular self-development to continue your professional development and hopefully progress further within the organisation.

​​​​​​​Click here to view the benefits available to all LAT employees from day one.

Our commitment to safeguarding: Leigh Academies Trust and all of our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair, robust and consistent recruitment process across all academies and business units which is inline with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This includes online checks for shortlisted candidates - you can read more about this in our Recruitment Guidance. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check. ​​​​​​​

Our commitment to equality and diversity: As a Trust, we are passionate about diversity and recognise that as individuals, we all bring something unique to the role regardless of any protected characteristics which is why we treat all of our people equally, without compromise. We are committed to providing equality and fairness throughout our recruitment and employment practices and not discriminating on any grounds.