The NatWest Group partners with the JS Group in ambitious plans to explore and tackle the barriers that prevent the most disadvantaged students from gaining the graduate jobs they deserve

The NatWest Group is partnering with the JS Group to explore innovative ways to tackle the significant barriers to good graduate employment for university students who come from low socio economic backgrounds. NatWest are the founding partner in work that has the potential to really shift the dial on the employment prospects of the most disadvantaged student groups.

The project seeks to build a better understanding of how large corporates can reach low socio economic students in higher education at scale and in a way that is distinctly different from more traditional graduate recruitment processes. The initiative facilitates a deeper and more impactful relationship between employers and groups seriously under-represented in the graduate workforce.

The JS Group works with more than 250,000  students across 30 UK HE partners. The students are  mostly from low socio-economic groups and in receipt of institutional support bursaries.

The partnership has already seen NatWest deliver two workshops on ‘How to Manage your money better’ and ‘How to get a graduate job’ as well as inviting students in the JS Group systems to apply for graduate roles inside the NatWest Group.  There are plans for more events in 2022 and the lessons learned are already feeding into future ambitions