What the job entails:       

Paraplanners find out about financial products and write reports about them. These include pensions, mortgages and insurance. They may specialise in one of these areas. They work closely with financial advisers and help them with their work.

Routes and choices while at school:

You do not need set qualifications to become a paraplanner. But it is important to have a good general education as this will help in competing for jobs. Paraplanners need to be able to write reports. They also need good number skills. Most employers would expect their paraplanning staff to have some GCSEs at grades 4 or C or better, or equivalent, especially in maths and English. Business studies could be useful. It is sometimes possible to go into this sort of work after GCSEs. But most paraplanners have some A-levels and many have a degree.

Pay:

Pay when starting is about £18,000 to £22,000 per year. When experienced, it is about £27,000 to £35,000. For experts with a lot of experience, pay can rise to £40,000 or more.

If you have any careers queries or would like to discuss any aspects of careers in more detail, please see Mrs Halford at Student Services.