Four students from Hugh Baird College have successfully completed a scholarship programme with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), gaining hands-on experience across some of the government department’s most important professional teams.
The learners, all studying at the Ofsted Outstanding college, were placed in roles spanning compliance, digital transformation, business change and sustainability.
The programme, now in its second year, was developed through a partnership with Hugh Baird College as part of HMRC’s commitment to creating lasting opportunities for local communities.
Students were selected through a competitive process, including a written application, an interview, and a skills-matching assessment, before beginning their placements earlier in the academic year.
HMRC is one of the UK’s largest employers, with over 66,000 staff working across a diverse range of roles, including digital specialists, data analysts, policy makers, and government communicators.
Scholars Gain Hands-On Corporate Experience Across Diverse Federal Roles
The structure of the initiative enabled participants to embed directly within specialised operational units, working alongside senior civil service mentors.
Anish Neupane was placed in a Compliance Business role, where he developed a clear understanding of how HMRC analyses financial data to identify errors and ensure tax is collected accurately and fairly.
Katie Roberts took on a Business Change role focusing on digital transformation, delivering a detailed presentation on change management within HMRC, with a particular focus on the GOV.UK One Login transition project.
Simultaneously, other cohort members focused on the internal mechanisms required to coordinate large-scale public sector workforces.
Natalia Freitas was placed in the Business Change team within HMRC’s Unity Business service, where she gained broad experience across stakeholder management and internal business operations.
Mya Durnin completed her placement within HMRC’s Individual and Small Business Compliance team, where she worked on understanding repayment fraud and the role of investigation and collaboration in supporting compliance.
Natalia Freitas, a Business Level 3 student at Hugh Baird College, said:
“The team made me feel welcome from day one and like my contributions actually mattered. I learned more in those few weeks about how a big organisation works than I have in any classroom.
“I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity, it’s given me a real confidence boost and a much clearer idea of where I want to go.”
Academic and Government Partnerships Strengthen Regional Career Pathways
The successful conclusion of the second annual cycle highlights the growing importance of structured vocational links between local educational institutions and major employers.
Ashley Rae, Head of Personal Development at Hugh Baird College, said:
“This partnership has given our students access to experiences that can genuinely change the direction of their futures.
“HMRC’s commitment to our learners goes well beyond what we could have hoped for, and we’re excited to keep building on what we’ve achieved together.”
The department intends to maintain the vocational pipeline, viewing it as an effective method for introducing young people to varied professional pathways within the civil service.
Matty Ellison, Outreach Project Lead at HMRC, said:
“Hugh Baird College students have really embraced this programme, and we’ve been impressed by what they’ve produced.
“We’re not just a tax organisation; we have 23 professions spanning digital, finance, HR, communications and more, and this scholarship is about showing local people what’s possible.
“Our partnership with Hugh Baird College goes from strength to strength, and we’re already looking forward to next year.”
Anyone wishing to find out more about Hugh Baird College’s scholarship programmes can click here.
