Equity research analyst
Studies listed companies and tells investors whether to buy or sell. Lives in annual reports and spreadsheets.
Skills: Reading accounts, building simple models, writing a clear one-page view.
becoming an analyst
Careers, from sixth form
Nobody explains this properly at school. Here is what the jobs are, how people get into them, the dates that matter, and a question to practise every week.
Interview question of the week
Borrowing is £8.1 billion above forecast and the Budget is on 28 October. What can the Chancellor do?
say your answer out loud first
Show a strong answer Hide the answer
Start with the three levers: taxes, spending and borrowing. For each one, say who pays and when. Raising taxes brings money in, but someone ends up with less to spend. Cutting spending means choosing which services or payments get less. Borrowing more adds to the debt, and interest on it was £8.8 billion in August alone, the highest August figure in cash terms since monthly records began in 1997. It also helps to know why borrowing is above forecast: the OBR says the gap was driven by spending on benefits and debt interest. A strong answer ends with what you would watch: the OBR's new forecast, published with the Budget on 28 October.
Budget questions test whether you can see trade-offs, not whether you can guess the Chancellor's plan.
the jobs
What analysts actually do
Investment banking analyst
Helps companies raise money or buy other companies.
Skills: Excel, attention to detail, stamina, and being calm when the deadline is tonight.
Corporate finance / FP&A analyst
Works inside a company outside finance, planning budgets and forecasting.
Skills: Forecasting, explaining numbers to people who are not finance people.
Credit analyst
Decides whether a borrower can pay the money back, for a bank or a ratings agency.
Skills: Scepticism, cash-flow analysis, reading the small print.
Risk analyst
Measures what could go wrong and how much it would cost, then argues for limits.
Skills: Statistics, scenario thinking, saying no politely.
Data / quant analyst
Uses code and statistics on markets and customer data.
Skills: Python, probability, and explaining a model to someone who will act on it.
routes in
How people get there
- 1
University, then spring weeks and internships
Spring weeks are short insight programmes for first-year university students, run by banks and other finance firms. Each firm sets its own dates, so check its careers page before you start university.
- 2
Degree apprenticeships
You work and earn a wage while studying for a bachelor's or master's degree, with at least 20% of your working hours set aside for training. You can start an apprenticeship from 16. Search for vacancies on GOV.UK's apprenticeship service.
what to do when
A timeline that starts now
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Year 12, autumn
- Read the money news every week and keep one page of notes on what the key numbers did.
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Year 12, spring and summer
- Look for insight days and work experience. Search '[firm] insight day sixth form' and '[firm] work experience Year 12'.
- Start answering the interview question of the week out loud. Nobody is good at this the first time.
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Year 13, autumn
- UCAS deadlines: 15 October for Oxford, Cambridge and most medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses, and mid-January for most other courses. Check the exact dates for your year on the UCAS site.
- Ask a teacher or your school's careers adviser to do one practice interview with you.
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First year of university
- Spring week applications: each firm sets its own dates, so check early and have a CV ready before you arrive.
deadlines
What's coming up
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at 18:00
UCAS
UCAS deadline pageUCAS early deadline: Oxford and Cambridge
Applying for 2027 entry to Oxford or Cambridge, for economics, maths or anything else? The whole application has to be in by 6pm. Most other courses have until 13 January 2027.
More Less
UCAS uses the same 15 October deadline for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine and science, and dentistry, which is why its page lists them together.
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at 18:00
UCAS
UCAS deadline pageUCAS deadline for most other courses
The 'equal consideration' deadline for 2027 entry. Universities must consider every application that arrives by 6pm equally.
Dates come from the organisation named on each row. Check the link before you rely on one.
the habits
Think like an analyst
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1.
Find the number
Every story has one figure that matters. Write it down before you read anyone's opinion of it.
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2.
Ask who wins and who loses
Every decision helps someone and costs someone else. Name both before you give a view.
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3.
Compare with what was expected
Markets move on surprises, not on the number itself. 3.1% inflation is calm if everyone expected 3.1%, and a shock if they expected 2.8%.
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4.
Go to the source
Read the actual ONS release or Bank of England statement, not just the headline about it. It's shorter than you think.