Together, they discuss how to balance work, study and personal life, and how small, realistic changes can help learners work smarter, stay resilient and build sustainable habits

They explore how sustainability reporting and ESG assurance are reshaping the accounting profession, from regulation and double materiality to the growing role of AI. This is a forward-looking discussion on how accountants can apply their skills beyond the numbers and make a real impact in a changing world.

They explore how AI is shaping the workplace, why trust and transparency matter more than ever, and how unexamined assumptions in data and algorithms can create real-world inequality. Jo shares insights from her work in inclusive innovation, AI auditing, and professional ethics - offering practical guidance on how we can build technology that truly works for everyone.

Kieran breaks down why clubs earn billions yet still struggle to make a profit, how the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules really work, and why ownership models raise big ethical questions. From creative accounting to the rise of the women’s game, he reveals what football can teach us about money, risk, and responsible decision-making.

Whether you’re a football fan or simply want to understand financial sustainability in action, this episode turns headlines into meaningful lessons about the numbers that shape the sport.

Irsa shares her inspiring journey - from an internship with the Social Mobility Foundation to becoming an award-winning apprentice and passionate advocate for diversity in the workplace.

Together, they explore the realities of apprenticeships, the importance of representation, and how taking small, purposeful actions can spark lasting change.

Discussing how Addie’s career has always been guided by fairness and a drive to make the world better, they explore what real inclusion looks like, and how data, trust, and open conversation can drive meaningful change.

We explore the unique strengths neurodivergent individuals bring to a team, the importance of language and labels, and what ‘reasonable adjustments’ really mean. 

Together, they explore the challenge of differential outcomes for minoritised students in higher education. The conversation unpacks key terms like equity vs. equality and minority vs. minoritised, while also analysing the data that highlights systemic gaps.

This is a challenging but essential discussion on how we can all take steps, individually and collectively, to ensure education fulfills its promise of opportunity for every learner.

We explore how data is transforming the finance world, and what it means to be a data-driven accountant. We dive into the essential skills you need to succeed and discuss the critical role of ethics when handling sensitive information. 

Discover how to leverage data to provide deeper insights, make smarter decisions, and add more value than ever before. If you're looking to future-proof your career and stay ahead of the curve, this is an episode you won't want to miss. 

Together, they speak about their fascinating career paths, from Lee’s dreams of being a radio DJ to Caron’s passion for making complex topics accessible. They preview upcoming discussions on topics such as AI, diversity in finance, and the unique challenges women face in the industry. 

Whether you're studying for professional qualifications or advancing your career, this episode sets the stage for conversations designed to help you seize opportunities and truly understand what you're learning.

Zoë has worked at Kaplan for 17 years and worked her way up throughout her career to become the curriculum manager for our ICAEW courses. As part of her role, she focuses on the skills and behaviours our learners can gain throughout their studies. 

However, since hitting a ‘bump in the road,’ and finding out she has breast cancer, Zoë has used her personal experiences to provide techniques and advice on how to recover from your own hurdles - no matter what they are.

Our guest is the director of Making Tax Digital for HMRC, Craig Ogilvie. His experience and passion for this initiative puts Craig in a perfect position to explain what Making Tax Digital is, and why it’s so important. 

Our guest is Rob Brown, who is the co-founder of Accounting Influencers Roundtable, and the host of Accounting Influencers Podcast. Because of this experience, he is extremely knowledgeable about the accounting industry as a whole, as well as talent management, diversity, different generations, and remote working.

Our guest is Arun Mehra, the founder and CEO of Samera - a Surrey-based accountancy practice. Arun started his practice 25 years ago with just one client, and now talks about why offshoring is something to consider.

Our guest is Samantha Mitcham, who built her own accountancy practice from nothing, with a very intentional social media strategy. She now has around 19,000 LinkedIn connections - significantly more than the average.

Our guest is Joe Fisher, who at the time of the recording worked as the Head of Compliance and Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) at Raisin UK.

Our guest is Dr. Cristi Ford: The Vice President of Academic Affairs at D2L - a Canadian education company that developed the Brightspace Learning Management System. 

Our guest is Ian Pay, who is the Head of Data and Technology at ICAEW. He explains the evolving role of data and technology in the accounting and finance sectors, as well as how the innovation of technology practices is shaping the relationship between data and accounting. 

Our guest for this episode is Tanya Retter. Tanya has worked within the banking industry for over 25 years and is now the Chartered Banking Institute's Executive Director of Education.

Our impressive guest, Ben Wildavsky, is a scholar, veteran higher education writer, strategist, speaker, host of the podcast Higher Ed Spotlight, and author of The Great Brain Race and The Career Arts.

Our guest is Dan Sodergren: a founder, writer, trainer, and an accomplished speaker with over 20 years of experience in telling stories on the impact of technology on life and work. 

Dan is an expert on the future of work. But not only this - he also managed to put his type 2 diabetes into remission through changes in his lifestyle and diet.

They discuss Kathy's passion for apprenticeships while drawing comparisons with professional qualifications to make it easier to decide on which one is right for you.

Fatima Hassan is our guest for this episode. She heads up the Finance Strategy & Development team and delivers people initiatives for the finance community at Network Rail. Fatima is also a Trustee Director of the Railways Pension Scheme, and in the past was responsible for the finance graduates. But these are only job titles, Fatima shows how her job titles only tell part of her story, and her values and beliefs are what have helped shape her career so far.

Our guest for this episode is Dominic Horne, Senior Manager at Robert Walters - one of the world’s leading specialists in professional recruitment. Robert Walters has over 4000 employees worldwide, operating in over 30 different countries. 

While a gap year intrigued a lot of us, everyone has a different experience. Some may find this to be the trip of a lifetime that provides clarity in terms of their future career, and others might consider it just an expensive holiday! But if you work in finance, you may find that you can get the best experience all while working abroad. 

Dominic and Stuart discuss everything about accountancy around the world.

Zach Stein is our guest on this episode. He is a Co-Founder of The Carbon Collective, an organisation based in California that makes it simple for people to invest in companies that offer climate solutions and divest from companies reliant on fossil fuels.

This episode explains the simple message: to quote Zach, “Climate change is the most important issue facing the world. We still have time to avoid the worst-case scenarios, but only if we invest capital in climate change solutions that can be adopted and implemented quickly,”. 

Neil Bertram is our guest today, Consultant, Board Director and a Chief Financial Officer for SMEs. Neil has a significant amount of experience in the finance sector that he has put to good use to build a portfolio career. 

After COVID-19, many people questioned their futures and what they wanted to do with their life. One option is to take control over how and when you work. People are starting to think in terms of multiple streams of income rather than one, and become open to the idea of a mix of full or part-time employment, freelancing or consulting, and do what Neil has done: have a portfolio career.

COVID-19 was the catalyst for many people to take a long hard look at their future. 

Our guest in this episode is Asif Muhammad, CEO of a company called Main Course Associates with offices in London, Italy, Spain and the USA. The company specialises in providing financial, accounting and management support to those in the hospitality industry. But alongside this, Asif is also an investor, turnaround specialist, serial entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist and much more… 

Our guest for this episode is Kaplan’s very own, Charlotte Lewis. She has managed to combine a very successful career as a tax lecturer with her love for sport and competition and will be representing Great Britain in the World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Spain in April 2023

Our guest is Gareth Winters, Relationship Development Officer for CABA - the independent occupational charity for the ICAEW community. In his role, Gareth gets to talk to a whole variety of different people, at different stages in their lives and careers, but what makes his observations interesting is that they all work in the world of finance and are seeking help in some way to get them and their lives back on track. 

Our guest is Chris Smith, Personal Tax Director at BKL - an accountancy, advisory and tax support firm in Finchley, North London. This episode is all about crypto and digital assets in the tax world, as Chris goes well beyond what most people would consider the traditional tax route. He has developed expertise in advising on the tax implications of crypto-currencies. 

The guest for this episode is Gabriel Osamor, Business Intelligence Analyst at Brown Advisory, an investment management firm in the City of London. Be careful not to judge Gabriel on the basis of his current role (as impressive as it is), as what sets him apart from others is that, in his own words, he is “ordinary, average and not a particularly good student. But he has one significant characteristic, he doesn’t give up and thrives on challenge.” Tell him he can’t do something and he will prove you wrong – he has what the Americans refer to as ‘grit,’ huge amounts of determination and an aptitude for hard work. 

We have two guests for this episode, Kirsty Gibson and Abigail Nolan. At the time of recording the podcast, Abigail and Kirsty both worked within Kaplan’s Quality Development and Improvement Team, with expertise in inclusion and diversity. They are both hugely passionate about neurodiversity and share their knowledge and tips. 

Our guest is Justin Onuekwusi, Head of Retail Investment and Fund Manager at Legal & General Investment Management. He is also Founder of EnCircle Mentoring, the Rolling Start Podcast, a member of the City of London social mobility taskforce and a non-executive director.

Our guest is Kat Bond, Head of Partner Consulting and Verticals at Xero, who develop cloud based accounting software for small businesses.

Kat explains how digital transformation is about improving our processes rather than replacing people, and how it can help businesses to gain better data to help make better decisions.

Our guest is Caroline King, Director of permanent talent solutions at Robert half, a specialist talent solutions consultancy. With 7 years experience changing finance professionals' lives by getting them their dream jobs, she shares her top tips when entering accountancy and finance careers.

Our guest is Anjanette Fraser, an expert in Nutrition and founder of company The Natural Alternative Health & Wellbeing Ltd.

For more information on her teachings you can visit her youtube channel, Bitesize Nutrition TV - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSPsqhybkaFQ8hiz398axIg/videos

Our guest is Paul Cheetham-Karcz, Founder of Sedulo Group, an award winning advisory firm and investment house. He is also the author of Taking Care of Business and host of the namesake podcast.

Our guest is Neil Da Costa, Senior Tax Tutor at Kaplan, well known for the advice and resources he provides his students. Neil explains his personal journey into a career in tax, what makes tax professionals so important to businesses, and how the specialised knowledge can help to futureproof your earning potential. 

Our guest, Kirsty Lilly, is a Mental Health expert who specialises in helping people develop their compassionate self. Kirsty talks about the importance of resilience when it comes to failure and how self compassion is integral to this. 

This week our host looks at motivation and how you can learn to lead a more engaged life.

Our guest is Ross Anderson, an expert in well being sciences and human optimisation, also known as The Motivational Dude. Ross shares details of his past involving drugs, crime, suicide and family struggles. Plus, how he found a more purposeful path through motivation.

Kicking off series 2 of our Learn Better Podcast, host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, explores career planning and how to find a job that you enjoy.

Guest Sarah Pritchard, Head of Banking, Finance & Management Design at Kaplan, tells her own personal journey from studying Set Design at university to finding passion in education. Sharing what she discovered to be important in loving what you do, Sarah provides useful tips  for assessing your personal skill set and in turn identifying if a job is right for you.

Kaplan’s learn better podcast covers topical subjects to support our past, present and future learners to succeed in both their studies and careers.

Alex Swift, Insurance Director at R5 and former Kaplan student, highlights the opportunities available abroad and shares his personal experience of being an accountant in a foreign country.

Kaplan’s learn better podcast covers topical subjects to support our past, present and future learners to succeed in both their studies and careers.

In this episode, mental health speaker, Ross McWilliam of Mindset Pro talks through the importance of acknowledging wellbeing and how to optimise our productivity through taking care of our wellness. He asks “Does being the best come at the expense of mental health?”, as well as sharing the 5 pillars to help you perform at your maximum. 

Kaplan’s learn better podcast covers topical subjects to support our past, present and future learners to succeed in both their studies and careers.

Our guest is Jason Moss, who is the Apprenticeship Development Director at Kaplan. Helping us to understand the difference between knowledge and skills, Jason explains what employers are looking for and how studying an apprenticeship to learn these digital skills can help further your career and increase your employability.

Here he speaks about personal development, computerisation within the industry and value perception. This episode summarises ways in which accounting will continue to be important and how to make it a successful career path for you. 

Kaplan’s learn better podcast covers topical subjects to support our past, present and future learners to succeed in both their studies and careers.

This week Richard Barker, Professor of Accounting at Oxford University, joins us to explore sustainability. With a lot of confusion around sustainability, and what it really means, this episode will help provide clarity on what it is and why it is important.

Guest Alice Olafare, Co-found of New Gen Accountants (NGA), shares her experiences and what led her to co-founding the NGA community initiative. Alice discusses the challenges diverse candidates may face, the resources they can lean on for support and the benefits of a diverse workforce for everyone.

Kaplan’s learn better podcast covers topical subjects to support our past, present and future learners to succeed in both their studies and careers.

In this episode our host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of learning here at Kaplan, helps uncover how to make the best use of the 24 hours before an exam. Our guest for this episode is Neil Da Costa, who is a Kaplan Senior lecturer. He walks us through his top exam preparation tips. From time management to what to eat and drink, Neil explains why each little thing you do can add up to make the critical differences when sitting your exam. 

Our host Stuart Pedley-Smith, Head of learning at Kaplan, and guest clarify the differences between pursuing the University vs Apprenticeships route into work. Kaplan’s learn better podcast covers topical subjects to support our past, present and future learners to succeed in both their studies and careers. Joined by Apprenticeships Partnerships Director, Jenny Pelling, this episode covers where the job market is going, the difference in learning experiences and how apprenticeships have become a genuine alternative to University. From practical application, to freedom of exploration, and the importance of money to personal development, this podcast will help you to understand the key questions you must ask yourself to decide what route is right for you.