Retraining in Accountancy

I graduated in 2012 with a First in a Humanities subject
from a top 15 redbrick university. I've spent the last 8 years doing advice and support work in the charity sector and I'm ready for a complete change. I'm thinking about accountancy, because I've found myself doing some very basic bookkeeping and financial forecasting for a voluntary organisation. I quite like it, and I think management accountancy might be a good fit for me.

I'm thinking about doing AAT Level 2 or 3, but have also been considering applying for grad schemes to get up the career ladder quicker. I'm concerned an application would be disregarded though because of my age, time since graduating, and my very different work experience, something AAT might slightly rectify? I'm overall not sure what route to commit to so advice appreciate.

I have loose ambitions/dreams to be a CFO at a charity.

What were your A level results and what part of the country are you looking to work in?

I dont think that your age or time since graduating would be an issue for training schemes - you would need to show yourself to be knowledgeable about the career and about the different pathways to be credible. Have you thought about what sort of organisation you would like to train with? There are plenty of charities which hire trainee accountants, likewise the professional firms often have charity and public sector divisions. What about money? How much do you need to earn?

For now I wouldn't start with AAT - the road to getting anywhere is too long considering your past education.