Finance Apprentice
PARADIGM TRUST
Suffolk (IP3 0EW)
Closes in 18 days (Monday 8 June 2026)
Posted on 19 May 2026
Contents
Summary
This is an opportunity to take your first steps to a career in
accountancy, working in education. This is a rewarding role that will enable you to develop your skills in basic accounts within the trust’s finance team. You will be an integral part of the team.
- Wage
-
Competitive
Competitive wage offered
Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
Enhanced hourly rate £10.94
£21,122.40 per annum
- Training course
- Accounts or finance assistant (level 2)
- Hours
-
37 hours per week 52 weeks per year with annual leave allowance.
Working days Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm (can be flexible).
Time for study is included in working hours.
37 hours a week
- Start date
-
Tuesday 1 September 2026
- Duration
-
1 year
- Positions available
-
1
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
To support the Head of Procurement and Accounts Payable Team Leader in providing an efficient end to end accounts payable service to Paradigm Trust.
Key Duties include:
- To enter purchase orders into the system, ensuring all entries are accurately recorded.
- To confirm with suppliers that orders have been received to ensure that goods and services needed by schools are not delayed.
- To enter goods received notes into the finance system.
- To enter invoices into the financial system in a timely and accurate manner.
- To charge expenses to accounts and cost centres by analysing invoice/expense reports and recording entries.
- To ensure that a three-way match is made with all order invoices - chasing schools for delivery notes and confirmation of goods being received or services completed.
- To match timesheets from agencies to invoices, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail and to perform reconciliation checks.
- To receive employee expenses, review in line with trust policy and procedure and answer queries from employees as required.
- To work accurately to strict deadlines to ensure that all accounts are up to date, ensuring management accounts provide clear information to stakeholders.
- To monitor the purchase order inbox to ensure that orders are placed on the finance system within agreed timeframes.
- To respond to queries raised from principals and other budget holders regarding purchase orders, invoices and budgets.
- To liaise with external stakeholders to organise work and attend meetings to take notes where necessary.
- To produce reports for budget holders as and when requested.
- To resolve other purchase orders, contracts, invoices, or payment discrepancies and documentation with suppliers.
- To maintain accounting ledgers by verifying and posting account transactions, including credit notes.
- To post prepayments on all invoices which relate to future periods, ensuring correct calculations for posting in the accounts.
- To verify vendor accounts by reconciling monthly statements and to maintain vendor names and data.
- To analyse older purchase orders and write off in the system as necessary.
- To maintain a current and up-to-date list of suppliers on the financial system, deleting any older or unused accounts where necessary.
- To check and vet new suppliers by completing a new supplier form.
- To report VAT taxes by calculating requirements on paid invoices.
- To protect the organisation’s value by keeping information confidential.
- To maintain the professional standards of the trust when liaising with all stakeholders.
Where you'll work
Piper’s Vale Primary Academy
Raeburn Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP3 0EW
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
SUFFOLK NEW COLLEGE
Training course
Accounts or finance assistant (level 2)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Record transactional data.
- Use the organisation’s standard tools and processes to examine data to identify transactional issues such as, reconciliations and inconsistencies between invoices.
- Recognise and rectify routine errors, escalating as necessary.
- Plan and review accounting and finance tasks.
- Communicate with stakeholders to deliver accurate and timely results, avoiding jargon, using language tailored to the audience and different media methods with an appreciation of the risks and benefits to the business of social media and other digital applications.
- Use finance and accounting software packages to accurately input and manage data to contribute to routine accounting tasks.
- Handle data and digital technology in line with cyber and data security requirements, using data securely and safely, including backing up data.
- Record transactional data.
- Use the organisation’s standard tools and processes to examine data to identify transactional issues such as, reconciliations and inconsistencies between invoices.
- Recognise and rectify routine errors, escalating as necessary.
- Plan and review accounting and finance tasks.
- Communicate with stakeholders to deliver accurate and timely results, avoiding jargon, using language tailored to the audience and different media methods with an appreciation of the risks and benefits to the business of social media and other digital applications.
- Use finance and accounting software packages to accurately input and manage data to contribute to routine accounting tasks.
- Handle data and digital technology in line with cyber and data security requirements, using data securely and safely, including backing up data.
Training schedule
- Accounts or Finance Assistant Standard.
- English and maths (if required) Level 2.
- AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting.
Requirements
Desirable qualifications
GCSE in:
- English or equivalent (grade C/4)
- Maths or equivalent (grade C/4)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Customer care skills
- Problem solving skills
- Administrative skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Team working
- Initiative
- Professional Manner
- Accurate and Dilgent
Other requirements
All applicants must have due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and this will be assessed as part of the recruitment and selection process. If you are successful, you will be required to comply with the Trust’s safeguarding policies and procedures.
An Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service will be required.
About this employer
Paradigm Trust (Paradigm) is a not-for-profit educational trust with schools in Ipswich and Tower Hamlets that are free and open to all.
Paradigm has a very simple ethos: to develop and sustain great schools where we can make the biggest difference to pupils. Our values are: Integrity – doing the right thing even when no one is watching; Excellence – enabling everyone to achieve more through
education and Community – working together; learning
from, and supporting others.
https://paradigmtrust.org/ (opens in new tab)
Company benefits
- Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
- A strong commitment to professional development
- We strive to be a family friendly employer
- Employee counselling service
- Cycle to work scheme
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
This role has the potential to become permanent on successful completion of AAT studies.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
SUFFOLK NEW COLLEGE
Gabby Scarlioli
hr@paradigmtrust.org
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000032623.
Apply now
Closes in 18 days (Monday 8 June 2026)
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.