Access to Banking Polling

Report Overview

New polling commissioned through YouGov shows barriers to access for disadvantaged students in the banking and financial services sectors, with presentation at interview a key hurdle.

Today’s research is published ahead of the launch of Pathways to Banking, a Sutton Trust/Deutsche Bank programme aiming to widen access to the banking professions.

Four-fifths of senior figures in financial services think that the way candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds present themselves at interview is preventing them from getting a job in the sector
81% of respondents in the finance industry cited presentation, a higher proportion that the just over three-quarters (77%) who said that school and university results were affecting the job chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds
62% said that employers thinking disadvantaged applicants wouldn’t fit in with the work culture was preventing their success at interview
Businesses which stated that they operate in finance and accounting were among the most likely to think that their business didn’t support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access jobs in their sector: 45% said their business didn’t do this well, as well as 37% of those working in the legal sector and 33% in IT
But when it comes to responsibility for increasing the representation of those from disadvantaged backgrounds in their industry, senior finance and accounting leaders were the most likely to believe that it lies with the government. 25% of respondents thought they were responsible, compared to 15% of respondents overall. Almost a third of those in the finance industry (29%) thought the responsibility lies with businesses across their own sector, while 5% said universities and 2% said schools and colleges.

Report Overview

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