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One of the UK's Largest Graduate Employers No Longer Cares About Your Degree

Ernst & Young are the latest in a line of firms to devalue the importance of qualifications.

Ernst & Young Tev Aviv headquarters via

This article originally appeared on VICE UK

Global accountancy firm, EY (Ernst & Young), have announced that they will no longer be hiring people based on their degrees and A-level scores.

The firm, which is one of the biggest employers of graduates in the UK, is opting in favor of in-house assessments and tests, which they say are "a robust and reliable indicator of a candidate's potential to succeed."

This is a growing trend among recruiters. PricewaterhouseCoopers, another accountancy firm, announced in May that they're also going to stop looking at A-level grades as a means of deciding who to hire.

Basically, this is great news for anyone for those who for whatever reason aren't able to succeed in the current education system—those from less privileged backgrounds, perhaps, or people whose skills don't translate into good marks.

It's less great for the heads of independent schools, who pride themselves on their ability to secure lucrative positions for their alumnus.

Increasingly it appears that employers are looking for a more rounded way of deciding whether a candidate is suitable for a position than a high degree score, as the percentage of 1st and 2:1 grades continues to rise.