Intensity of ACCA studying/exams

Depends how quickly you want to pass it, I've started studying for 4 exams this june and I'm struggling to do 2 hours a day, which isn't enough really, but if you were doing 2 exams per sitting I'd say it was possible, though again, you'll have to water down the number of exams you do for your degree.

Reply 2

OP

The job description says:

"After 2 years on the AAT, (Association of Accounting Technician) qualified technicians can be offered the ACCA (Association of Certified Acountants) professional qualification if they are judged to be of the right calibre. This involves correspondence study and block release study at Financial Study Centre pre module exams. This takes 3 years of block release study and qualifcation which significantly increases earnings and prospects."

I dont know how many exams a year that would be?

Reply 3

Right, theres lots of ways you can do it.

The way I'm doing it is self-study with 30 days study leave per year so I can take as many exams as I like provided I don't take more than 30 days off for study.

The block release system means you take a few days off every couple of weeks to study for a module, I think in total for 1 module there are 10 study days to attend, so if you get 30 days off per year there is no way you can 8 exams a year if you intend to go to every college day. You'd have to do some in your own time or whatever.

Reply 4

Clubber Lang

15

I started the ACCA earlier this year as an independant student. All of my study was done out of BPP books on each topic. I passed 1.1 on the computers and I took the next 3 in the Dec sittings. I am fairly confident of having passed the paper exams.

I already have an Accounting A level and a Business Degree so A LOT of it was old ground for me - infact for 2 of the exams I only spent 1 day reading the books over (!) - obviously if it was all new to me I would have taken much mroe time.

If its all new to you then it will take a fair bit of studying - but the fact that you get proper teaching should help - I think 2 per sitting would be OK for most people. The first 2 are much harder than the 2nd 2 exams as they are much more numerical and a lot to take it.

My next exams if I pass the ones I took are 2.3 and 2.4. I am told 2.4 is a massive exam and very difficult - so when I get there I may only attempt 2.3 and 2.4 but not the ones after in the same sitting.

Reply 5

OP

I have been on the ACCA website, but it doesn't say anything about exemptions for any exams if you have done the AAT, so aren't there any?

Reply 6

Hev456

11

Sorry to add something here kirstin, but does anyone know if you need to retake the exams at any time - like if you need to get requalified? Or is it if you pass that's it and you're a qualified accountant forever?

Reply 7

verticalforce

Hev456

Sorry to add something here kirstin, but does anyone know if you need to retake the exams at any time - like if you need to get requalified? Or is it if you pass that's it and you're a qualified accountant forever?

Forever, but I think it can be revoked if you are found to be breaching the rules set by the organisation or something to that effect...

Reply 8

kirstinx

I have been on the ACCA website, but it doesn't say anything about exemptions for any exams if you have done the AAT, so aren't there any?

You get exempt from the first 3 exams if you are AAT qualified.

OP

Thanks

Oh, also kirstin, I forgot to say - if it takes 3 years to do ACCA after AAT then you will have a total of 11 exams to do in 6 sittings, so 2 exams per sitting except for the last sitting - that shouldn't be massively taxing and you could probably do some sort of part-time degree at the same time.

I'll just say, don't underestimate how hard it is to do exams and work at the same time - you have to impress on the job as well as with exam passes and quite frankly sometimes its utterly knackering.

Have you got a job now then or is that a prospective position?

Reply 11

OP

Thanks for that.

It's a prospective position, they firm advertised through Connexions and I am going to see Connexions about it on Monday :smile:

.

Reply 12

Talya

16

How much easier/how much less time does AAT take than ACCA?

Reply 13

AAT is pretty basic for anyone of reasonable intelligence - takes two years as opposed to ACCA which takes 3 years.

Reply 14

Talya

16

Could I self study AAT alongside my degree?

Reply 15

Easily, but AAT isn't worth much without the practical experience. How about studying AAT and trying to get some part-time accountancy work at the same time?

Or just study ACCA whilst doing your degree, even better - though that'd be far trickier, if you were determined you could at least pass 6 exams which would mean you could be exam qualified in just 2 sittings(1 year) if you go into accountancy.

Reply 16

Clubber Lang

15

You can only take 4 exams at a time. The new syllabus is 14 exams so you could do 8 exams in one year and then 6 the next year so the earliest you can do it will be in 2 years.

However from next year you will be able to do the first 3 papers on computers with no time restriction so you could pass those 3 first and then do 11 exams - that would still need 3 sittings - so 18months is the earliest you can do all of the exams.

bear in mind the rules for the computer exams and paper exams are quite odd - you have to finish the computer exams by a certain time to be able to enter the NEXT paper exams in the next sitting.

So for example - if now is Jan and you want to pass all 3 papers (1,2 and 3) on computers then you will need them done by say May to be able to move onto papers 4 5 and 6 in the June paper exams.

In my case I passed paper 1 in October but I didn't do it in time to be offered paper 5. Therefore I had to do papers 1 2 3 4 in the Dec exams (I had to pay for the paper 1 exams even tho I have already passed it!) - what I wnated was for me to do paper 1 on computers and then be offered the NEXT 4 on paper but I didn;t leave enough time.

Registration takes about 6 weeks as well - so ebar that in mind - and you have t oregister a certain amount of months before the exams - i missed the deadlien by a few days but they let me in anyway after I asked (as you can guess i rushed everything!) - the exact date was August 15th for December exams IIRC - so roughly 4 months

http://www.accaglobal.com/students/study_exams/qualifications/acca_choose/acca/overview/syllabus_exams/progression

Reply 17

OP