A Guide to ACCA Courses

Throughout your ACCA course, you will be able to gain certain qualifications as you work. You will gain the ACCA Diploma in Accounting and Business (RQF Level 4) when you have passed the applied knowledge exams and the Foundations in Professionalism ethics module. This award can be earned in 6-12 months. You will gain the Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business when you have passed all of the applied knowledge and applied skills exams, and have completed the ethics and professional skills module. This award can be earned in 12-18 months.

You can also combine your ACCA qualification with gaining a degree. You could gain a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting, meaning that you can get a degree at the same time as becoming a qualified accountant. Currently ACCA works in partnership with Oxford Brookes University to offer this qualification. You could also gain and Master’s in Professional Accounting, meaning you can gain a professional and academic perspective. This is currently offered at the University of London.

There are several options for how you complete your ACCA qualification. You can choose from:

• Full-time courses
• Part-time/weekend courses
• Distance learning
• Online learning via ACCA-X
• Revision courses

All of these options will still require you to complete at least 36 months of practical experience. No matter where or how you study, you will have access to the 24 hour support through the ACCA Connect team.

The entry requirements for the ACCA qualification varies for each country, and students from some countries may not be able to register. You will need to have 3 GCSES and 2 A Levels (or equivalent) including Maths and English. To find out if your qualifications are sufficient, visit the ACCA website.

If you do not meet the entry requirements, or are ineligible for registration, you may want to explore the ACCA foundation level courses instead. These are a great place to start if you are new to accountancy, or already work in finance but have no qualifications.

The ACCA qualification fees will depend on where you are from, and how you choose to study. It is not paid as an upfront or bulk cost, each module, exam and registration is paid separately. For more information about the fees you will have to pay, visit the ACCA website.

You may be eligible for a scholarship or funding. This could be awarded by your company, or by a separate funding body. For more information, visit our scholarships and funding section.

Once you are a fully qualified member of ACCA, you will be able to get an accounting job in an industry of your choice. ACCA members are present in public practice or accounting firms, public sector (such as government), corporate sector, financial services and not-for-profit organisations.

You will have gained strong technical skills in accounting and numeracy, as well as transferable skills that are applicable in careers and industries not directly related to accounting, such as effective communication, critical and logical thinking, and problem solvers.