Phoenix Group

Standard Life, formerly Phoenix Group, runs selection for its Actuarial Trainee Scheme as three stages: an online application, a telephone interview, and a final assessment centre that includes numerical reasoning testing. Trainees can specify a preferred UK base, with roles running across offices including Birmingham and Edinburgh. Three sequential stages, each screening candidates down before the next, make this several weeks of commitment before any offer decision, longer than a single-interview employer.

Standard Life, formerly Phoenix Group, runs one structured early-career route: the Actuarial Trainee Scheme, a rotational programme toward Fellowship of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).

• Rotates trainees across teams including investment strategy, product pricing, mortality-experience analysis, and risk modelling
• Full IFoA exam support: paid study leave, funded revision materials and tutorials, and a mentor who is a qualified actuary
• UK-wide, with candidates able to specify a preferred base office, including Birmingham and Edinburgh

The scheme is a multi-year qualification track rather than a single-summer internship: a trainee sits professional actuarial exams alongside the day job for as long as it takes to qualify, extending the time commitment well past the hiring process itself.

The group completed its rename from Phoenix Group Holdings plc to Standard Life plc on 2 March 2026, adopting the name of its best-known brand while keeping Phoenix Life, ReAssure, SunLife, and Phoenix Wealth operating as separate customer brands within the same FTSE 100 group. The combined group manages £300 billion in assets on behalf of 12 million customers, built up by acquiring several previously independent UK insurers and pension books rather than through a single heritage brand. A candidate weighing this firm against a single-brand insurer is choosing a multi-brand group still mid-transition on its own external identity, so it is worth confirming which brand and business area a specific role actually sits in before applying.

Yes. Phoenix Group has 8 student and graduate roles open right now, in off-cycle internships and graduate jobs.

Phoenix Group opened its off-cycle internships on 24 Sept 2026 and its graduate jobs on 21 Jul 2026. Dates are when the firm posted each programme, or when we first saw it on the firm's careers site.

Phoenix Group has student and graduate roles open in Edinburgh, Dublin, Birmingham and London.

Applications to Phoenix Group go through the firm's own careers site, one application per posting, each expecting a CV and cover letter written for that role.