All employersHSBC UK
Banking / financial services · researched 2026-10-02. Processes change every year, so confirm on the employer's own page.
Programmes and entry
- Degree Apprenticeship: Commercial Banking (CMB) (Level 6) · BSc (Hons) Financial Services Management, London Institute of Banking & Finance (candidate-reported) · Birmingham, London, Manchester (2025 cycle)
- Degree Apprenticeship: Asset Management and Global Private Banking (2025 cycle) (Level 6) · BSc Financial Services Management via LIBF (candidate-reported; one applicant suggested Finance & Investment for Asset Management) · London
- Degree Apprenticeship: Wealth and Personal Banking (Retail), e.g. Leeds (Level 6) · BSc Financial Services Management via LIBF (candidate-reported) · Leeds (2026 start listed on Find an Apprenticeship)
- Digital Business Services: Data, Cyber, Engineering (Level 6) · Sheffield
HSBC's schools and apprenticeships page (read 2 Oct 2026): degree apprenticeships last about 3 years with no tuition fees; you must be 16 or older, a UK resident and not in full-time education; locations listed are Sheffield (tech), Birmingham (UK head office), Leeds, Manchester, Hamilton, Chester and London; academic requirements vary by programme. A search summary of a Commercial Banking listing says five GCSEs including Maths and English at grade 4 and three A-levels at BCC or higher (unread). Applicants use the talent community and the careers site. Salary reported for 2025: just under GBP 26k outside London, about GBP 28k in London (single candidate, unverified). source
Opens 2025 cycle opened October 2024 (several routes, Asset Management and Private Banking closing within weeks). Expect roughly October for the next cycle; HSBC posts to its talent community first. · rolling (apply early) · HSBC reviews rolling and may close before the printed deadline once places fill (aggregator claim). One applicant received the Simulate feedback report the day after taking the assessment. Reported dates: the 2024 cycle degree apprenticeships closed 6 November 2024, and a Commercial Banking Manchester listing closed 6 November 2025 (search summaries of Find an Apprenticeship; pages not read). One search summary suggests 2026/27 applications for Relationship Management (Commercial Banking) may open 28 September and close 1 November 2026 with a 1 October 2027 start, but this could not be confirmed on hsbc.com, so check the live page. source
Process, stage by stage
1. Online application
Official early-careers guide: 10-15 minutes, eligibility questions, possibly a CV, adjustment requests, optional equal-opportunities data. One application only per cycle reported. · about 15 min
- Apply early: rolling process and places can fill before the published close.
- Pick your division deliberately (Commercial, Asset Management, Private Banking, Digital).
Official source source
2. Simulate online assessment (video and behavioural simulation) (Cappfinity (HSBC-built immersive simulation); video via Modern Hire/HireVue (prep-site claims))
Official: online assessment (~90 minutes quoted for graduates; ~40 minutes per assessment section) using audio/video content, mock emails, data tables, graphs, short written and video responses. Candidates for the DA route report situational questions plus recorded video answers, and received a written feedback report (2 strengths and 1 area to improve) rather than a pass/fail. Valid for 7 days after the invitation. · about 90 min
Feedback report does not say whether you are through; outcome arrives separately.
- Use HSBC's Practice Zone / Candidate Zone (official) before starting.
- Answer video responses in STAR structure and weave in HSBC's four values.
- Complete the whole simulation in one sitting with a laptop, camera and mic tested.
Official source source
3. Technical assessment (Digital Business Services routes only) (Codility)
Coding assessment on Codility after Simulate. Reports from the 2025 data/engineering applicants: 3 questions in 100 minutes (Python pandas and SQL for data) or 4 tasks in 160 minutes (two in Java; an in-tool AI helper was available). Feedback received was generic development tips. · about 100 min
- Read the language requirements in each task; one engineering applicant was surprised by forced Java questions.
- Finish complete solutions to easier questions rather than half-answering all.
Several candidate reports source
4. Final interviews (no assessment centre reported for banking routes) / Virtual Experience Day (tech)
Banking routes (2025 Global Private Banking, London): candidate reports a final stage of three interviews with no separate assessment centre ('There's no AC for HSBC'). Digital/engineering routes go to a Virtual Experience Day. The official guide for graduates lists a ~3 hour assessment centre with multiple interviews and practical exercises, mostly virtual, so prepare for variation. · about 180 min
- Research your specific division and quote it in answers: applicants call the questions generic but advise tying answers to the programme and division.
- Prepare for three back-to-back interviews rather than a group exercise, but be ready for exercises in case the format changes.
Single report source
Online assessment: Cappfinity (built for HSBC); candidate-reported Simulate stage
- Project Kick-Off: Situational judgement, 4 questions · 4 items
- Global Engagement: Situational judgement on communication and conflict, 4 questions · 4 items
- Data Monitoring: Mixed cognitive (data interpretation) and SJT, 10 questions · 10 items
- Navigating Competing Commitments: Cognitive and SJT on multitasking, 9 questions · 9 items
- Pause and Reflect: SJT and personality profiling, 11 questions · 11 items
Prep sites describe 38 questions in total (16 cognitive: numerical, verbal, inductive; 22 SJT/personality), presented as tiles unlocked in sequence, with 5-6 information sources (tables, graphs, text) for cognitive sections and 1-5 ranking responses for SJT. Officially untimed but expect ~40-90 minutes. Some routes add short video answers and an email-writing task. Write original look-alike items as work scenarios with mock inbox data, then rank four actions against 'succeed together' and 'take responsibility'. Structure is from prep sites, not HSBC, so treat the item counts as approximate.
Single report source
Video interview
Pre-recorded video responses are embedded in the Simulate assessment (short video answers to scenarios). Questions are on-demand; retakes may or may not be allowed per on-screen instructions. Candidate 2025: 'situational questions and video interviews (both proper interview and situational questions)'.
Several candidate reports source
Assessment centre
For banking DA routes, a 2025 candidate reports there is no assessment centre (three interviews instead). Official graduate guide says a 3-hour mostly virtual assessment centre, so it may apply to other programmes.
Single report source
Final interview
Reported for Global Private Banking (London, 2025): three interviews on the final day. Questions described as quite generic; research the programme and division.
Single report source
Values they assess against
We value difference · We succeed together · We take responsibility · We get it done
Questions candidates report
- Simulate online assessment (video and behavioural simulation): Given a real-work scenario, record a video response to each specific situation (behavioural style); one task also required typing an email reply. Single report source
- Final interviews (no assessment centre reported for banking routes) / Virtual Experience Day (tech): Interview questions were generic motivation/competency questions; candidates advise referencing the specific programme and division. Single report source
Advice for this firm
- Apply in the first week or two: HSBC's DA routes reviewed rolling and some (Asset Management, Private Banking) closed within weeks in 2025.
- Do the Candidate Zone practice before the Simulate assessment; it is the official rehearsal for the exact interface.
- Treat the feedback report (2 strengths, 1 improvement) as developmental only; it does not say you passed.
- For Digital Business Services, drill Python/pandas, SQL and Java on Codility-style tasks with a 100-160 minute limit.
- Prepare division-specific answers (Commercial Banking vs Private Banking vs Asset Management); candidates say questions are generic so specificity differentiates you.
- Map your STAR stories to 'succeed together' and 'take responsibility', the values the situational items are scored against.
Not verified
- Browser pass 2 Oct 2026: TheStudentRoom's 2025 degree-apprenticeship thread (page 6, read directly) corroborates the Codility reports (3 questions in 100 minutes for data; 4 tasks in 160 minutes with Java for engineering; generic development feedback only), a Virtual Experience Day for digital routes, and, for Global Private Banking, a final stage of three interviews with 'no AC'. Posters asked for interview questions but none were shared. HSBC's own degree-apprenticeship page could not be opened because the browser extension disconnected.
- Re-checked 2 Oct 2026: a claim that HSBC cancelled some 2025 starts was found only in a search summary of forum threads (not read) and no official or news source supports it, so it has been removed.
- A search summary says Commercial Banking and retail routes are a BSc (Hons) Applied Retail and Commercial Banking via Exeter, which differs from the 'LIBF Financial Services Management' degree above: the degree provider needs checking on the live advert.
- HSBC's application guide is for students and graduates generally, so its 90-minute assessment and 3-hour assessment centre may not apply to apprentices.
- Official HSBC page stating DA entry requirements (UCAS points / A-level subjects) could not be retrieved.
- Official HSBC values page could not be read; values are from prep-site and aggregator descriptions (JobTestPrep, Quizlet-style pages) and match HSBC's publicly known four values.
- Item-level detail of the Simulate assessment comes from prep sites, not HSBC or candidate screenshots.
- No verbatim interview questions for 2025 DA final interviews; Glassdoor pages were blocked.
- Reddit (r/UKApprenticeships, r/UKJobs) had no retrievable HSBC DA threads via search.
- Whether banking DA routes ever include the 3-hour assessment centre in the 2026 cycle.