Accounting

I got 4s and 5s and 6s in gcses and a fail in spanish will i struggle to get into accounting at uni or accounting apprenticeship or should i be fine as long as do i well in a levels also would i need maths in a levels to do it.

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by anon2911

I can't comment whether you would be accepted onto accounting apprenticeships, because this would depend on the employer.
Universities would often list their GCSE requirements on the degree course page. As far as I can tell, you should be fine for the majority of unis, just not necessarily the top ones (some might ask for 6-8 in English Language and Maths).

The key to getting into accounting would be the professional accounting qualifications, not degrees. See the following:
https://www.icaew.com/regulation/qualifications/aca-entry-routes (3 GCSEs at grade 4 or above with 2 A Level passes)
https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/qualifications/glance/acca/minimum-entrance.html (3 GCSEs at grade 4 or above with 2 A Level passes)
https://cimastudy.com/cima-levels/certificate-level (does not require any prior qualifications, but not specified on the page)
https://www.cipfa.org/qualifications/professional-accountancy-qualification (3 GCSES at grade 4 or above with 2 A Levels at A-C)
https://www.aiaworldwide.com/aia-journey (3 GCSEs passes - likely at grade 4 or above - with 2 A Level passes)
ICAS and CAI aren't explicit with UK GCSE requirements, as far as I can tell.
There might be a few more accounting bodies that I have not mentioned, but the above are generally the main ones for the UK.

Should you have issues meeting the A Level requirements, you can consider AAT Level 3, which also doesn't have any entry requirements.

To get into an accounting degree, you would need 3 A Levels in any subjects so long you have high enough grades. Unless you're specifically going for more quantitative accounting and finance degrees (usually at top end unis), you won't need A Level Maths (still nice to have though for a myriad of reasons).

I would recommend scoring as high as you can in your A Levels, not that you would necessarily need high grades to get into any accounting body, but more so for employment purposes. Studying accounting whilst you work is tough, and you need to be the type of student who can do well with limited hours of study whilst working full time hours. Your A Level results would often be more reflective of how well you do in your professional accounting exams than a degree or your GCSEs.
A degree in accounting would at most give you 9 exemptions (assuming you picked all the appropriate modules) out of the 13-15 exams in the professional accounting qualification. You would need to do at least 4 more exams whilst you work or outside of uni.

Alternatively, you can go into an accounting role right after college, since you would meet the entry requirements of the accounting bodies by then. This is often the cheaper and faster option, because you would need at least 3 years' experience in order to qualify for any professional qualification, and you can get this experience whilst you study it after college (a degree wouldn't reduce the years of experience that you would need, but only the number of papers you would need to do if that).

Reply 2

aatwizard

Original post by anon2911

You will need level 2 English and Maths in order to take End point assessment for an accounting apprenticeship. In the absence of those - your provider will help you pass Functional skills.

Reply 3

anon2911

Original post by aatwizard

You will need level 2 English and Maths in order to take End point assessment for an accounting apprenticeship. In the absence of those - your provider will help you pass Functional skills.