Level 3 Finance Apprenticeship
Network Rail
Milton Keynes (MK9 1EN)
Closes on Friday 10 April 2026
Posted on 22 January 2026
Contents
Summary
Our Level 3 Finance Apprenticeship Scheme is an alternative route to university, and provides a unique opportunity to understand various aspects of finance and how they all interact with the wider business.
- Wage
-
£24,000 a year
- Training course
- Professional accounting technician (level 4)
- Hours
-
Monday - Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm
35 hours a week
- Start date
-
Tuesday 15 September 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 6 months
- Positions available
-
3
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
- In your first three years, you will rotate across a range of placements and a variety of departments, giving you a unique experience of how finance works within Network Rail
- You will support finance teams with forecasting, budgeting, and analysis, as well as taking the lead on meetings and reporting to senior members of the company
- For the remainder of the scheme, Group Finance apprentices will be able to undertake placements in our route businesses within the regions whilst studying the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification as part of a Level 7 Apprenticeship
Where you'll work
The Quadrant
Elder Gate
Milton Keynes
MK9 1EN
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED
Training course
Professional accounting technician (level 4)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Collate and analyse financial information, and show how that information can be used most effectively to support value creation within an organisation.
- Apply accounting principles and adhere to legislation to ensure records are accurate and compliant with law or company policy when delivering accounting activities, such as the financial accounting of single entities, limited companies or partnerships or management accounting activities for an organisation.
- Apply professional scepticism when undertaking accounting activities to inform and evaluate decision making on the content of true and fair accounts, being alert to conditions that may indicate possible misstatement of financial information due to error or fraud, establishing the facts sensitively and being aware of unconscious bias.
- Interpret financial information for accounting purposes, such as using judgement to determine the correct way to report or account for transaction or undertaking ratio analysis.
- Participate in or support others with quality improvement activities, for example the improvement of personal working practices.
- Use software packages to assist with accounting tasks in line with cyber and data security requirements, using data securely and safely, including backing up data.
- Deliver accounting tasks with a critical eye to transactions and trends, demonstrating a ‘right first time approach’.
- Use workload management principles to plan, organise and prioritise own tasks, and manage time effectively.
- Use accounting information to add value to the organisation through use of data visualisations, analysis and interpretation, and communicate financial information in a way that facilitates understanding for non-finance stakeholders.
- Communicate accounting information through a variety of media to enable key stakeholders to understand what is required, considering the risks and benefits to the organisation of social media and other digital applications.
- Build and maintain collaborative, professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver accounting tasks, recognising the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Collate and analyse financial information, and show how that information can be used most effectively to support value creation within an organisation.
- Apply accounting principles and adhere to legislation to ensure records are accurate and compliant with law or company policy when delivering accounting activities, such as the financial accounting of single entities, limited companies or partnerships or management accounting activities for an organisation.
- Apply professional scepticism when undertaking accounting activities to inform and evaluate decision making on the content of true and fair accounts, being alert to conditions that may indicate possible misstatement of financial information due to error or fraud, establishing the facts sensitively and being aware of unconscious bias.
- Interpret financial information for accounting purposes, such as using judgement to determine the correct way to report or account for transaction or undertaking ratio analysis.
- Participate in or support others with quality improvement activities, for example the improvement of personal working practices.
- Use software packages to assist with accounting tasks in line with cyber and data security requirements, using data securely and safely, including backing up data.
- Deliver accounting tasks with a critical eye to transactions and trends, demonstrating a ‘right first time approach’.
- Use workload management principles to plan, organise and prioritise own tasks, and manage time effectively.
- Use accounting information to add value to the organisation through use of data visualisations, analysis and interpretation, and communicate financial information in a way that facilitates understanding for non-finance stakeholders.
- Communicate accounting information through a variety of media to enable key stakeholders to understand what is required, considering the risks and benefits to the organisation of social media and other digital applications.
- Build and maintain collaborative, professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver accounting tasks, recognising the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Training schedule
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 5 or higher)
- Maths (grade 5 or higher)
- Minimum of 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) (grade 5 or higher)
A Level in:
Desirable qualifications
A Level in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Administrative skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Logical
- Team working
- Initiative
About this employer
We own and operate the railway infrastructure in England, Scotland and Wales on behalf of the nation.
infrastructure, including 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges
and viaducts and thousands of signals, tunnels, level crossings
and points. We also manage rail timetabling and operate 20
of the largest stations.
Our role is to provide a safe, reliable
and efficient railway while growing and upgrading the
network to better serve passengers and freight.
https://www.earlycareers.networkrail.co.uk/programme/apprenticeships/ (opens in new tab)
Disability Confident
A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.
You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.
After this apprenticeship
- At the end of your apprenticeship, you will be given the support you need to continue your career at Network Rail and move into one of our finance roles
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000010143.
Apply now
Closes on Friday 10 April 2026
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.