2 Year Degrees

Just a thought but if you're specifically interested in becoming an accountant, then there are good, non-degree routes available too.

2 year degrees are still a rarity in the UK- the main university who has been offering them for a while is the University of Buckingham. Other univerisites have started to offer them for some degrees, and I think University of Staffordshire offers them for all degrees.

I'd probably want to go to a uni that had experience of offering them, rather than was just starting to offer them, as I think being in the early years of a new type of program can lead to you experiencing lots of teething problems.

I have tried these out, but they are really hard to get into. I went in for interviews and also applied to many places. I unfortunately, did not get the chance. There is also a feeling that I want to study at a university to double major because then, I can have more choice in jobs as well as the ability to study furthermore if I felt like it in the future.

No offense, but under this logic... No one should be attending any UK university this year 🙄😂😂.

Because of online/blended learning?

I'd certainly be weighing up my options depending on the information I had, were I going to uni this year but I don't think it's exactly the same situation and I think there are lots of circumstances where people probably are better off going to uni this year if they are already holding a place.

For anyone not holding a place who isn't an EU student, I wouldn't be suggesting starting a new application this year though.

Same as any other degree in the sense that it reaches the relevant standards.

More intense workload (Obvs) and much shorter holiday periods. You'll probs find yourself with a little less flexibility in modules but that's really on a case by case basis.

If you can handle the workload and are a pretty disciplined student you should be okay.

Is your birth year 2000? That makes you barely 21...😂 M8 your still very young...depending on your results you could potentially still do a three year degree and even a masters...before 25...that would be of no disadvantage on the job's market.

I would worry more about the quality of education, including ranking.... Rather than fast tracking a degree from a weak institution in a business type degree. Even if it is accounting which is fairly insulated from prestige worries... Since it's standardised, but if you ever decided later in your career to watch to switch jobs... You might be slightly limited in your appeal to employer's, depending on where ofc you got your first work experience. But i doubt it will be at PwC or EY, coming from Staffordshire or Buckingham.

Yeah I understand what you mean in terms of how old I am. But I have taken a gap year already and for me, it really didn't work. I don't want to go for a 2 year degree either, and I have a place for September in a good university. But I am not likely able to go. And another year off, especially with corona is hard to imagine.

I have heard quite good reviews of Buckingham though? I am not sure...

Why aren't you taking up your place then?

I mean it's ok, but it's not anything to mention in a pub or make a CV sparkle.

I took a gap year in hopes of applying for student loans this year, which I was not qualified for last year because I am not a permanent resident. But with Corona, everything shut down and now it is most likely that I am not able to qualify on time because they have to process applications before mine first. So by January, there is some guarantee that I am able to apply for student finance.

I have not rejected my place this September, but I am afraid I will have to and will be left with nothing to do afterwards.

You should be fine, you don't have to have SFE sorted out before you go to uni. The first payment isn't even made until November. If you let the university know you should be totally fine. They'll desperately want to retain you... Not lose a customer, especially in this economic environment.

Thanks a lot for the reply!

I completely understand the rigour of the program since its all packed to 2 years. Since you have already finished this kind of degree, would you recommend it to anyone? how did employers view the degree? I also heard that the exemptions depended on the chosen modules, were you able to do this at all?

Since you mentioned it now, have I thought about the resitting possibility, given that its hard work. I am looking at Buckingham and thankfully have someone who did their degree there, although not accounting. I will have to ask them.

Is your birth year 2000? That makes you barely 21...😂 M8 your still very young...depending on your results you could potentially still do a three year degree and even a masters...before 25...that would be of no disadvantage on the job's market.

I would worry more about the quality of education, including ranking.... Rather than fast tracking a degree from a weak institution in a business type degree. Even if it is accounting which is fairly insulated from prestige worries... Since it's standardised, but if you ever decided later in your career to watch to switch jobs... You might be slightly limited in your appeal to employer's, depending on where ofc you got your first work experience. But i doubt it will be at PwC or EY, coming from Staffordshire or Buckingham.

I recommend it if you don't have any issue about being able to fund an extra year in a worst-case scenario, and you would just like to at least try and save that extra cost and year. And of course if you are willing to not go on holiday throughout the two years. But if you would have to self-fund an extra year as a possibility and that is not something feasible to you, then it's not worth the stress otherwise, and it it'll be worth your time waiting the extra year in order to do a normal-paced degree.

As Staffordshire Uni posted above, unless you actually note to an employer that you did an accelerated degree, they probably won't even realise or certainly won't judge you for it in a negative sense.

Yes, most students chose the modules that would lead to qualifying for exemptions. As I said though in my last post, the value you put on exemptions depends entirely on you and what you want to do after.

I don't disagree with most of what you said. But in the last point you have insinuated that the big4 care about the university a job candidate has attended. I doubt this is the case at all, certainly not for graduate jobs as least. There's no reason why a student at one of those unis couldn't get a job at EY if they possessed the other qualities required of them, and trust me, that threshold is a lot more achievable than many perceive.

Hence, I'm calling that statement out as it's a commonly propagated view in society that needs addressing. One of the reasons those unis don't tend to make up as high a proportion of their intake as, let's say, RG unis, is because of this discouragement those students get, which is completely opposed to encouragement that the RG-uni students get. There is of course another major factor that is the type of student these unis often attract: They can often be less ambitious (partly because of the above view), have completely different preferences generally (about what they want to do after graduating), and of course not meet basic requirements of graduate programmes, which is the same reason they could 'only' get into these unis. Note of course that employers such as EY have been getting rid of minimum grade requirements meaning these are now open to all.

But it's not the uni itself that leads to the major disparity of where students go afterwards. If an ambitious, high-achieving student who wanted to work at a big 4 firm decided they want to go to these unis for some other reason (e.g., two year course), then there's is absolutely no reason they couldn't do so.