Accountancy qualificaton - CIMA or ACA

I know that this is not what you asked for, but why not do an ICAEW (there are also CIMA) accredited degree: http://www.icaew.com/en/learning-and-development/partners-in-learning/icaew-higher-education-institutions/strategic-partnership-degrees (look at the strategic partnership drop down)

I may be wrong, but I would think that it would probably open many more doors for you; for example, if you want to go into the banking sector etc...

I'd say ACA is considered to be the gold standard in the UK and gives you more options later down the line. ACA training contracts are more exclusive and v competitive, but if you can secure one then absolutely go for it. The training will be more well grounded.

CIMA is limited to management accounting in industry. Also consider the ACCA over CIMA as it gives you more options.

Yeah thats what i was thinking. Only problem is the firm/company choses the qualification, you dont get a choice of which one you want. The BT appreniceship is offering CIMA only, whilst the other 2 are offering CFAB which is the first 6 modules of ACA, and they offer progresion to the full ACA qualification after. However the BT one has some really good aspects to it and work benefits.

I know. Apply for all of them and search for others too, as many as you can. I took the uni route and tbh feel like apprenticeship/AAT candidates have been favoured over me in the past. Experience is basically everything to a lot of employers.
Hopefully I can secure an ACA contract in my interview next week though!

So my gcses were 4A* 2A 3B 1C , A* in maths, geography,history,re and the 2A's were in English language and literature respectively. For A levels im studying Maths,Economics,History and for AS i got BBC in that order. My ucas predicted grades were AAB, however im looking to go down the appreniceship route.

Im only applying to EY in the big 4, and outside of the big 4 i have found a few firms such as Crowe Clark Whitehill, MacIntyre Hudson and BT which have some really good apprenticeship schemes. The first 2 offer the CFAB which is the first 6 modules of the ACA qualification, and they offer full porgression towards the ACA afterwards depending on if you pass. The BT apprenticeship is offering the CIMA qualification.

First off, what do you think my chances are of getting in to any of these apprenticeships? They all require a minimum of BBB achieved or expected, however i've heard the competition is quite high. If i were to get offers in theory, which is better the CIMA or ACA ones and why? Im not entirely sure of what kind of accounting i want to go into, but both are highly regarded and respected so which do you think i should go for?