Finance & Governance Placement Year

Kick-start your finance career with a structured 12-month placement at Bupa — a global healthcare organisation focused on helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives. This placement offers rotation-based experience across core finance and governance teams, practical exposure to regulatory and commercial work, and a supportive development programme designed to accelerate your skills and employability. Opportunities are open for penultimate-year undergraduates who meet the entry requirements and are excited about a career in finance within a purpose-led business.

Job Description

This 12-month undergraduate industrial placement at Bupa is designed to give you broad, hands-on experience across finance and governance functions inside a large, purpose-driven healthcare group. Over the placement year you will rotate through multiple teams, which may include Financial Control and Reporting, Regulatory Reporting, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Commercial Finance, Internal Audit, Risk, and Tax. Each rotation is structured to combine practical tasks, mentoring, and professional development so you gain real ownership of work and build technical competence.

During your rotations you’ll be trusted to support month-end processes, contribute to management information packs, help prepare regulatory returns, analyse operational and commercial performance, and assist with internal reviews and audit activity. Placements are designed to balance meaningful responsibility with learning: you’ll undertake live assignments, sit in on senior stakeholder meetings, and receive guided feedback from experienced finance professionals. This makes the placement an excellent environment to test whether careers in areas such as financial control, regulatory reporting or commercial finance are right for you.

Development sits at the heart of the programme. You’ll participate in a tailored development programme that combines classroom sessions, on-the-job coaching, and peer networking with other placement students. Typical programme topics include financial reporting basics, Excel and data skills, understanding the insurance regulatory landscape, stakeholder communication, and commercial decision-making. Bupa also emphasises wellbeing and flexible working; the placement includes access to colleague wellbeing programmes, mental health first aiders, and hybrid working arrangements where business needs allow.

The placement is structured so that successful students are visible to hiring managers and may be fast-tracked for the graduate scheme if performance and business need align. Whether you’re certain you want a finance career or still exploring options, this placement provides valuable, current experience inside a large UK employer, with exposure to real financial governance and regulatory responsibilities. You’ll return to university after the placement with clearer career direction and stronger technical and interpersonal skills, plus a network of contacts across the business.

Eligibility & How to Apply

Bupa’s Finance & Governance placement is aimed at students who are in their penultimate year of undergraduate study and meet the specified academic and work-eligibility criteria. To be eligible you must have the legal right to work in the UK, be enrolled on an undergraduate degree (in any discipline), and be on track to achieve at least a 2:1 degree classification. Bupa typically asks for a minimum of 120 UCAS tariff points, and at least a B grade in A-level Maths or an equivalent qualification. These entry rules are designed to ensure candidates have the numeracy and analytical foundation to benefit from the placement rotations.

When preparing your application, focus on three practical areas: evidence of analytical thinking, examples of collaborative working, and demonstrations of resilience or initiative. Use recent examples from coursework, part-time work, volunteering, or student societies to make your application concrete. Bupa looks for curious, adaptable candidates who can challenge constructively, communicate clearly, and take ownership of tasks. It’s useful to show interest in how finance supports customer outcomes — Bupa values a customer-first mindset because it’s a not-for-shareholder business that reinvests to improve health services.

Application steps are straightforward:

1. Visit the official Bupa job page using the apply link in the details table and create a candidate profile if required.
2. Complete the online application form — this will usually ask for education details, a CV upload, and short answers to competency questions. Keep answers tightly focused: structure responses using the STAR approach (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
3. If shortlisted, you may be invited to online assessments which can include numerical and situational judgement tests. Practice timed numerical tests and brush up on basic accounting and spreadsheet logic if possible.
4. Successful test candidates will typically be invited to a virtual interview or assessment centre. Prepare by reviewing recent financial news about the healthcare and insurance sectors, refreshing key finance concepts, and preparing examples that show teamwork, communication, and problem solving.
5. If you pass the interview stage, you’ll receive an offer subject to references and right-to-work checks. Read the offer carefully for start date (placements usually begin in September), salary, and any pre-placement requirements.

Tips for standing out: tailor your CV to highlight relevant modules (e.g., accounting, statistics, economics), show practical spreadsheet experience, and demonstrate interest in the healthcare/insurance sector. During interviews, ask insightful questions about rotation choices, mentoring arrangements, and the types of projects previous placement students have completed. Showing awareness of Bupa’s purpose — helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives — and how finance supports that mission will help your application resonate with assessors.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Who can apply for this placement?This placement is open to undergraduate students in their penultimate year who have the right to work in the UK, are on track for at least a 2:1 degree, and meet Bupa’s academic entry requirements (commonly 120 UCAS points and a B at A-level Maths or equivalent).
• What will I learn during the placement?You’ll develop practical finance skills (reporting, FP&A, regulatory return preparation), stakeholder communication, commercial awareness, and audit/risk fundamentals. The programme combines rotations, formal training, and mentoring to accelerate professional development.
• Is the salary location-dependent?Yes. The advertised figure (£27,500) represents the upper end for certain locations; pay can vary depending on where you are placed (London, Salford Quays, Leeds) and Bupa’s published placement pay bands for the intake year.
• Does the placement lead to a graduate role?Successful placement students who perform well may be fast-tracked for the graduate scheme, subject to business need and available graduate programme positions. The placement is a recognised route into Bupa’s early careers programmes.