ACCA Opinions?

Hey all! I'm currently considering applying for the ACCA professional qualification after I have finished my A-Levels and gotten my results. I want to gather some opinions from people who are currently taking the qualification and what it's like. Any further advice will be appreciated. Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Sam-Thompson1994

Hey,
I would recommend doing AAT before going straight to ACCA depending on what A-Levels you are doing. I went straight from A-Levels to AAT level 2 with my employer paying my fees and it's a lot better doing that as ACCA is extremely difficult off the back of no applied accountancy exam experience. AAT level 4 also gives you exemptions from the first 3 knowledge papers of ACCA.

I've done this myself and I'm now doing my 3rd and 4th ACCA papers in June and trust me, the experience, especially from Level 4 AAT really does help.

Just my experience though, others may disagree.
Hope that helps ☺

Reply 2

M1011

Contrary to the above, if you have the opportunity to go straight into a professional qualification then I can't see much reason to do AAT first. Just go for it - ACCA/ACA/CIMA are kind of like A-levels anyway to be honest, just with more content.

Reply 3

Sam-Thompson1994

The ACCA fundamental papers are equivalent to degree level education, and the full ACCA qualification is equivalent to a masters-taught degree, so I think it would be a little complacent going into them thinking of them as similar to A-Level standard.

I can understand going straight into professional qualifications if you know what to expect, but the foundation learning and at least a few years working in practice is a lot of help towards your learning.

Again, only speaking from experience, but I haven't met anybody in my short 4-year career in accountancy/audit who has gone straight from A-Level to ACCA/ACA. AAT is also a very highly regarded board and is an excellent springboard to professional qualification.