Just to straighten things up:
* ACCA isn't the only qualification you can do without a degree. You can do them all without a degree. Except for ICAS (where you have to pass through AAT first), you can do them all direct from A Level.
* You don't have to be in the big four or practice to do the ACA. There are a couple of hundred training contracts a year in industry and the public sector - mostly audit based. Though it's true that 90%+ of ACA training contracts are in practice, and 40-50% (about 2k-ish) with the big four.
* Or should I have said big three: you can't do the ACA with E&Y, they switched their 400 or so training places to ICAS years ago.