ACCA qualification? ?

Question

If i gain an ACCA qualification am i then a graduate? And can i study a post graduate courses such as PGCE?

I am thinking of not going to university, but studying with a firm who offers this qualification.

Would you recomend this or going to university?

Thankyou

Answer 1

Although I think nowadays many degrees are not worth the paper they are written on, the fact of the matter is that 'bluechip' employers still expect to see it.

If you don't do a degree you will always have to justify that decision and some employers and recruiters will take a dim view. Therefore you are probably limiting yourself particularly at the early part of your career where your experience is more limited and there is greater emphasis on qualifcation.

A relevant degree would also allow you to gain exemption from some of the exams of an accountancy qualification such as the ACCA.

I don't believe the ACCA alone would make you a graduate but it may give you entry to some post graduate courses - you would have to check this with the particular university providing the post grad course.

Having said all that if you have a good job offer to study to do the ACCA and feel motivated to do that then you could still have a fantstic career without the degree. You hint that it is only a springboard though to other things and for this reason I would recommend the degree first.

Answer 2

No.  An ACCA qualification, or any other kind of professional qualification such as this, is not a degree and therefore obtaining one doesn't make you a graduate.  It's still a valuable qualification to have if you wish to work in accounting though.

It certainly won't qualify you for a PGCE course.  To do this course, not only do you need a degree but it needs to be in a subject that is relevant for teaching.  Even though many secondary schools do offer accounting courses, it's unlikely that you'd get a job teaching solely accounting - you'd really need to have a broader business studies/economics background to enable you to teach effectively.

Now, whether you should go to university or not depends on what you want to do ultimately.  You want to teach?  Then you need to go to university.

A degree can be valuable anyway.  I'm currently hiring for a Finance Manager and whilst they're required to have a professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, it's really expected that they would have a degree as well.  This is entirely dependent on the employer but without a degree, you'd be eliminating yourself from many of the top employers.