With the steep rise in university tuition fees, business has come under pressure to offer more financial help to talented students.

KPMG, the professional services firm, has today responded to the challenge by unveiling plans for a school-leavers' programme that will fund would-be accountants through the University of Durham.

The scheme, developed with Durham and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), will start in September.

Some 75 students will be taken on at Durham at the start of a six-year programme with the firm, leading to a degree and ICAEW qualification.

KPMG will pay the full university and professional tuition fees for each student in addition to a starting salary of around £20,000 in London. They will receive a salary throughout the six-year period.

During the four-year degree course, students will spend part of the time in residence at Durham University, where they will study at Durham Business School, and part of the time working at KPMG.

Paul Gresham, senior partner for KPMG in the south east, said: "For us, one of the key things is to ensure fair access to the profession by ensuring the greatest number of young people possible go to university - and also have the potential to train as an accountant.

"We need an accountancy profession that is as diverse and as open as it can be. This scheme will address current concerns around how students can meet the costs of university, and make degrees and professional qualifications available to a broader socio-economic group."