Graduate IT Schemes

How do they work?

An IT graduate scheme is a structured, full-time program offered by companies to recent graduates. It’s designed to train and develop future IT professionals through hands-on work, formal training, and mentorship. 

It can be quite difficult to understand the difference between a grad scheme and a normal job you get after graduation, so we summarised the key points below for you:

Graduate Scheme

• Let you experience other departments to better understand the business

• Offer you a permanent contract if you work super hard

• Structured around specific learning objectives

• Formal training is given from the start, with the majority of your role focusing on self-evaluation and assessment

• Go live in September during your final year at university and close again in November

Graduate Job

• You'll stay in one team and role, and it's your decision whether to move on

• Focus on what you can bring to the business and how you can help it grow

• Unstructured (though standard training is given)

• Your manager will set you daily and weekly tasks and check in to see how you're doing

• Applications go live as and when the role becomes available

IT graduate jobs or schemes aren’t exclusive to those with an IT degree. Anyone can do them. You’ll likely start your career in an entry-level role and move up the ranks once you learn the ropes. Having experience or a website/portfolio will boost your job prospects massively.

Types of graduate IT jobs

There are so many roles available for IT graduates that it depends on what your career goals are. Then what you do within your chosen field is also extremely varied. So what’s out there? Here are a couple of examples. 

Game developer.

If you’ve spent your degree developing anything from games for consoles to mobile play RPGs, you can take that experience into a graduate role creating entertainment for the masses. As a graduate game developer, you’ll:

• Write clean and efficient code for gameplay systems, user interfaces, and game logic

• Test and debug game functions to ensure a smooth gaming experience

• Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in game development.

Software tester. 

Going hand in hand with software development, you’ll spend your time testing software to improve quality and reduce the risk of anything going wrong when the software is eventually released. These can be anything from operating systems to apps and programs. Some tasks will include:

• Learning and applying various testing techniques

• Assisting in the creation of test plans and test cases

• Executing test cases and documenting results.

Web developer. 

Web developers, especially front-end developers, are responsible for building the user-facing parts of websites and web apps. This includes how things look and behave in the browser, using a mix of design and coding. It's a good mix of creativity and logic, and you'll often collaborate with UX designers and back-end developers. Typically, your responsibilities will look like:

• Building responsive web pages using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks like React or Vue.js

• Collaborating with designers to bring mockups and prototypes to life

• Debug and test websites to ensure cross-browser compatibility and performance

Data Analyst.

Data analysts and scientists interpret large amounts of data to discover trends, solve business problems, or build predictive models. Analysts focus more on reporting and insights, while data scientists create more advanced models using machine learning. Both roles are crucial for data-driven decision-making. What you'd typically do:

• Collect, clean, and manipulate data using tools like SQL, Python, or Excel

• Create dashboards and visualisations to present insights (e.g. with Power BI or Tableau)

• Identify trends, correlations, and actionable findings to support decision-makers

Business Analyst. 

Business analysts act as a bridge between IT teams and business stakeholders. They gather and translate business requirements into technical specifications, helping ensure projects meet the organisation’s needs. You’ll typically have the following tasks as a business analyst:

• Gather and analyse business requirements from stakeholders

• Document processes and propose tech-based solutions to improve efficiency

• Work with developers and testers to ensure the correct implementation of features

AI or machine learning engineer.

AI and ML engineers develop systems that can learn from data and make decisions or predictions. It involves both theoretical knowledge (maths, statistics) and practical programming skills. It’s a cutting-edge, fast-evolving area with applications in everything from healthcare to finance. You'd typically:

• Design and train machine learning models using Python and libraries like TensorFlow or Scikit-learn

• Preprocess large datasets and engineer features for model accuracy

• Evaluate and deploy models into real-world applications or services

The IT industry offers such a varied career, and you can keep your work more general or even specialise in one area. Either way, you can rapidly climb the career ladder with IT experience under your belt. 

Ready to see what opportunities we have?

Which companies offer IT graduate schemes?

There are employers all around the UK who offer graduate schemes in the IT sector. There are small firms and massive firms all across different industries. Here are some of them:

How much do you get paid in an IT graduate scheme?

This will depend on your employer and your location. If you’re based in London, you will normally get paid a bit more to help cover your living costs. On average, IT graduates earn around £30,500 a year. But, it’s always best to check with the employer before you work out your living arrangements. 

Also, once you have finished your scheme, with your new skills and experience, you can progress through your company or industry to become the head of a department or more. Those titles especially earn big, so definitely something to work towards.

What qualifications do you need for an IT graduate job?

Most employers will ask for at least a 2:2, but some will prefer a 2:1.  Sometimes employers will also ask for specific degree disciplines like computer science or IT. 

However, it’s always best to check with the employer what their entry requirements are. Normally, they are listed on the job description. 

Having an internship or placement year will also help you stand out, especially if you have done one in the IT industry.  

When should I apply for an IT graduate role?

That will depend on when you want to start your graduate job. Know that a lot of companies hire graduates up to two years after they graduate from university, so you don’t have to start right away. You can go travelling for a bit if you want. 

However, if you want to start the same year you graduate, it’s best to start looking at the beginning of the academic year. So around September/October, the year before you want to start. But don’t stress yourself out if it’s already past that, we have plenty of IT grad roles on Higherin all year round. 

How to apply for an IT graduate role

You want to do your research. It’s so important for you to know what exactly you want from your grad scheme so you know what to look for. But do remember you will most likely be rotating around a couple of departments. 

Use Higherin to find the perfect internship for you.  We have tons of IT grad schemes every single year so definitely check that out. 

Make sure you’re ready for the application process. Get your CV and cover letter sorted as quite often those are requested near the beginning of the application stage.