Joining Big 4 UK through graduation scheme with experience in Overseas Big 4 firms

I’m not sure I understand the questions.

Are you entitled to work in the U.K. at present? If not which schemes are you looking at to move here and what are the restrictions on you getting an appropriate visa?

I am planning to move to UK under the British National Overseas Visa, which is a new special visa for Hong Kong people born before July 1997 (which I am), to live and work in the UK.

Ah , cool. I can’t see a reason to apply for grad schemes? Would you be able to complete your Hk qualification while working in the U.K.? You should be able to get an experienced hire job.

Yeah time is the main concern. The HK qualification can only be completed in HK (and some places in mainland China, not sure but irrelevant). And the timing is probably insufficient for me before I move to UK

Ah, nightmare. Are there any industry societies you could ask for advice? Do eYeah xam passes transfer to ACA or CA? I saw that it was pretty easy to become an ICAEW member with the HK qualification.

Yeah I suppose I should probably ask the UK branches of the CPA firms directly (Big 4 and others) about the possibilities.

You're right one can transfer from the HK qualification to the ICAEW ACA under the Mutual Recognition Agreement - but only after one has qualified and there are no partial exemptions of specific exam papers. Pretty much why I want to ditch the HK qualification completely.

I am just unsure if the graduation schemes of UK CPA firms accept experienced individuals like I am - they do this in HK since HK audit labour is always in shortage. Frankly speaking the entry requirements of HK Big 4 are lower than those of the British counterparts too.

how have you been getting on?

To introduce myself, currently I am working in PwC Hong Kong as a senior associate in audit. Previously I have also worked in Deloitte Hong Kong (transferring during the first few years is far more common in Hong Kong).
Having studied in UK for seven years before backing HK for work and owning a flat in London, it is very likely for me and family to emigrate to the UK soon (yeah, political reasons) via the BNO Visa. However, I have not yet qualified with the HKICPA (ACA equivalent in Hong Kong), which means the route via global internal transfer is pretty much impossible.
I am considering applying to all Big 4 UK firms via graduation scheme for entry in 2022 summer. It is also the “official Big 4 path” to obtain ICAEW ACA qualification. But graduated in 2018, will I be considered too old or “experienced” to try for the graduation scheme?
My situation is probably extraordinary with all those HK politics involved, which makes it unlikely for me to only emigrate after completing the HKICPA. But I do hope I can get some advice here in case somebody has gone through something similar.