ACCA Masters with University of London

ACCA sent out an email about the MSc in Professional Accountancy with University of London out today. Unfortunately, very little information is available yet from https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/campaign/msc-professional-accountancy.html

It seems that there will be two paths to ACCA: all require the fundamental ACCA exams and the 3 essential professional papers, but then you can choose between the two optional ACCA papers (ACCA route) or 3 MSc courses (MSc route).

I guess those going the MSc route won’t quality as auditors since the MSc doesn’t include the audit exam. (Presumably, you could take the ACCA audit exam in addition to the MSc courses in order to quality.)

I wonder about the cost of going the MSc route. The 3 essential P exams count as 90 credits (hopefully for no extra cost), leaving you to do 90 credits via 2 MSc courses and 1 MSc project. Looking at the OuL web site, a course at MSc level appears to be around 1260-1450 GBP. Assuming we only have to pay for the 3 courses we take, that’d be in the 3800-4400 GBP range, which wouldn’t be bad for a MSc.

UoL only does exams once per year, but you only have to do 2 MSc courses. (Hopefully the project can be done any time.)

The course is through University College of London (UCL). UoL and UCL have a good reputation, so this MSc might be quite attractive.

Note that there’s a lot of guessing in this posting… I hope ACCA will post details soon.

OpenTuition staff: do you have more information than what’s currently available from the ACCA web site?

To be honest I saw news article in January about new initiative, but the link from above is something new for me. If you get any additional information please post.

More info below:

Professional Accountancy (MSc, PG Dip and and PG Cert)

We are excited to announce the launch of a brand new MSc in Professional Accountancy which is being developed between the University of London and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Academic and teaching faculty will be drawn from University College London (UCL), whose academic excellence is recognised through its top five world ranking (QS World University Rankings 2013). A postgraduate Diploma and Certificate are also being developed.

Gain two prestigious qualifications in one

Help yourself to stand out from the crowd and fast track your career by working towards a combination of qualifications. For the first time you will be able to study for a prestigious new Masters level degree in Professional Accountancy and your professional accountancy qualification at the same time. ACCA students will be able to use Professional Level exam passes to count towards the Master’s degree and some of the University of London Master’s degree modules will count towards the Professional Level of the ACCA Qualification.

Starting January 2016

You will be able to apply and register for the programme from September 2015 onwards. The first study session starts in January 2016. There will be a second study session starting in July 2016.

Entrance requirements for students, ACCA affiliate and ACCA members

You will be able to apply for this programme if you have passed the ACCA F1-F9 Fundamentals or an equivalent recognised undergraduate degree.

You will also be able to apply if you have passed some or all of the ACCA P1-P7 Professional papers. You may apply if you are an ACCA affiliate or ACCA member.

The programme is in English and details of the English Language requirements will be published in due course.

Further details and the structure of the pathways offered for students, affiliates and members will be released in March 2015.

Module fees and what is included

There is a fee to study per module in an affordable price range*. This will give you: your registration with the University of London; specially designed study materials for each module; self-assessment tools on the University Virtual Learning Environment; access to a worldwide community of learners; the university first exam entry fee; access to the online study sessions and an online tutor. A student needing to complete three modules for their masters will pay three module fees.

* Fees will be confirmed later in 2015. This does not include your annual subscription fee payable to ACCA.

Study options

You may choose the study option that suits you for any of the modules. For example, you can choose to study online for one module and for another you can select a face-to-face support package from a teaching institution in your country. A full list of available institutions (by country) will be provided on the programme page at a later date. The teaching institutions will present their own fees for tuition.

Assessment

You will be assessed by a mix of exams and coursework. For a standard module this is approximately 70-80% by exam, and 20-30% by coursework which you will submit electronically. You sit your exams at a local exam centre. The University and ACCA utilise many of the same centres for examinations around the world and a full list is available on our website.

taken from: https://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/distance-and-flexible-learning/new-courses

@kobrogya said:
good to hear that and hope it comes to pass.the cost is an issue thinking of how much it will cost.
It is the cost that will determine its attractiveness so equivalent to ACCA PRICE good for us all

There are similar courses/programmes offerred by other colleges under UoL. We may use that as a fee gauge for this Msc. I find a graduate diploma offerred by LSE is 1500+ pounds.

Wait, so does this mean that I would need to complete the Fundamentals Papers first or can I opt in while finishing up the F papers?

Also £1,300 per module sounds reasonable considering that tuition fees for the P papers are substantially more than this.

Hoping to start in January whilst completing my F papers!

Damn…do you think they will have more sessions after July 2016?

Or is there only 2?

And does this mean I can move straight on to the MSc after the F papers? Does it mean that the completion of the P papers isn’t necessary?

@latoyah84 said:
The essential papers are P1-P3 are 90 credits for the Msc and then 3 modules instead of the optional papers. that’s 90 credits for approx 300 pounds and then 3900 pounds for the other 90 credits.

or you could complete do your optional papers for 100 pounds per paper get qualified.

@Avnish “Also £1,300 per module sounds reasonable considering that tuition fees for the P papers are substantially more than this.”

how is £1,300 is less than £100?

Professional:
P1, P2, P3 (and any two from P4, P5, P6 and P7) Early £103 £104
Standard £111 £112
Late* £266 £268

I think he meant the total cost, tuition fees+ revision fees + exams fees could cost up to £1,200

£3,900 is reasonable for a Msc from UoL/UCL.

@latoyah84 said:
sorry, i self study so my exam fees/subscription fees/ and books are my only expense.

You too are talking two different things. He was talking about the route that leads both to the UoL Msc degree and the ACCA qualification, whilst you were talking about the route only to the ACCA qualification.

I understand what he is saying -tuition fees+ revision fees + exams fees could cost up to £1,200 – since i self study i cut out the tuition fees etc so I probably spend £150.

that said there are persons like myself that self study that may find getting their ACCA qualification/membership first and then doing the Msc when their salary can manage the higher fees (£150 vs £1300).

No disrespect to anyone but i had no clue that tuition fees were so high! I tried tuition for CAT back in 2002 and the school kept extending the period for sitting exams so i stopped. When i started ACCA in 2010 with a local college the tutor came in and read from the book – which didnt help much. I started self study in 2012 using only Opentuition and youtube videos and have been successful each sitting.

Details are now out on the UOL website:)

https://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ucl/professional-accountancy-msc-pg-cert#structure

Hi all,

I have received information regarding the MSc that ACCA are offering. I have thought about a potential route for myself in terms of study. I had a few questions, if anyone could help me. This is my route:

Finish ACCA doing P6 Advanced Taxation and P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance as the options
Do professional ethics module and submit project for BSc Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes
Enter CIMA through professional gateway route and finish CIMA strategic level
Do the MSc Professional Accountancy as an affiliate/member of ACCA

What I found most difficult was deciding between the modules below:

ACCA: Advanced Performance Management, Advanced Financial Management
MSc: Strategic Performance Management, Strategic Financial Management, Strategic Financial Project
CIMA: Risk Management, Financial Strategy, Strategic Management

As you can see you I have decided to go with the CIMA route as I felt this offers more in terms depth and knowledge. However, I may be wrong which is why I wanted advice. What is the difference between these modules and what do you think offers most relevant knowledge and application to the real world? You also may wonder why I want to do both CIMA and ACCA, this is because I want to be a more rounded individual with skills in management accounting. I am not trying to collect credentials, I believe the strategic level of CIMA offers knowledge ACCA does not provide. Please correct me if I am wrong. I feel ACCA does not have much management accounting in it. I also chose P6 Advanced Taxation and P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance as my ACCA options so that I have covered all bases.

Thanks,

Harry

@harry87 said:
Hi all,

I have received information regarding the MSc that ACCA are offering. I have thought about a potential route for myself in terms of study. I had a few questions, if anyone could help me. This is my route:

Finish ACCA doing P6 Advanced Taxation and P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance as the options
Do professional ethics module and submit project for BSc Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes
Enter CIMA through professional gateway route and finish CIMA strategic level
Do the MSc Professional Accountancy as an affiliate/member of ACCA

What I found most difficult was deciding between the modules below:

ACCA: Advanced Performance Management, Advanced Financial Management
MSc: Strategic Performance Management, Strategic Financial Management, Strategic Financial Project
CIMA: Risk Management, Financial Strategy, Strategic Management

As you can see you I have decided to go with the CIMA route as I felt this offers more in terms depth and knowledge. However, I may be wrong which is why I wanted advice. What is the difference between these modules and what do you think offers most relevant knowledge and application to the real world? You also may wonder why I want to do both CIMA and ACCA, this is because I want to be a more rounded individual with skills in management accounting. I am not trying to collect credentials, I believe the strategic level of CIMA offers knowledge ACCA does not provide. Please correct me if I am wrong. I feel ACCA does not have much management accounting in it. I also chose P6 Advanced Taxation and P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance as my ACCA options so that I have covered all bases.

Thanks,

Harry

You are already ACCA Affliate? In that case, you don’t have to sit the two strategic modules from the Msc route. On the contrary, you need to sit one module which is something to do with contempary financial issues. Then the final project which is mandate for both routes for the Msc.
As for ACCA (P4, P5) v CIMA management accounting wise, I doubt there is much difference.