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In General, BSc (Bachelor of Science). Factual science based subjects such as Biology, Chemistry. These courses require you to learn facts, laws and theorems. There is little room for self opinion as the answer is either right or wrong. This type of courses will suit you if have a logical mind and like following steps and instructions.
BA (Bachelor of Arts). Much more arts based subjects such as Art, Music, Drama. These course require you have more opinions and to express yourself. Usually there is no right or wrong answer just your interpretation of the subject at hand. This type of course will suit you if you like to express yourself and you have a creative mind, especially if you tend to jump to different though streams.
Thank You
Thank you sir for the detail information. to clarify my question I mean we obtain the OBU degree through ACCA after meeting the requirements without going to the university, however another person obtain the degree by other means like going to the university and studying for the degree for 3-4 years. I wanted to know the difference in recognition or reputation.
Yes, reputation and recognition is affected but remember that for OBU BSc Hons there is thesis requirement i.e. RAP to be submitted by both student coming through ACCA Channel and regular student. Hence, if you pass this final project for Hons degree that means you are able and capable to get this degree. However, recognition is affected and in some countries it is highly recognised while in some it is not but main thing is that it fulfills your academic requirements.
Thank You.
Thank you for the above – a good summary of the requirements however just a few things to clarify to avoid confusion.
1. It assumes that you have selected topic 8 – no comparator company is required for many of the other topics ( although it can be useful to draw a few comparisons with a competitor organisation in some of the others). However a comparator company would be a total irrelevance for some topics ( Topic 6 for example)
3. It is not compulsory to use listed companies ( again for many topics this is an irrelevance) However as mentioned it is EASIER in terms of accessing the FINANCIAL information to use a listed company for Topic 8
2. Whatever the requirement for evidence of standard of English post Dec 2014, the RAP still has to communicate. If the English is so poor that the marker cannot understand it / make sense of the points the student is trying to make, then they will be obliged to fail it on the communication assessment criteria
Yes you are right.
It is not assume that it is topic 8.
Listed companies usually have high media presence and you can have bunch of information related to both financial and non financial aspects. For example in Topic 6. It is better to have a brief comparison of factors for motivation in a competitor and the main company. However, a new student who is not employed in company or have no direct access to the company, if he select a private company then it will be very difficult to gather information.
It is not compulsory to have a listed company. Again secondary data is easily available on listed organisations.
If you will select an organisation which has lack of presence in news, articles, magazines etc then it will be difficult to prepare a balanced report having balanced sources (Both Internal and External)
Thank you for your post and clarification, it will help the students.
@Hammad Ahmed Qureshi
I agree with most of your comments 🙂 and listed companies usually have more financial information readily available and as you say, a higher media presence (but not always – Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd; Arcadia Group Ltd and the John Lewis Partnership are three notable UK exceptions that immediately spring to mind – none being a plc but all being heavily featured in the business press and given lots of media coverage for a variety of reasons – though acquiring the financial information would be more problematic!!!)
Whilst some comparator analysis is very useful in some topics other than Topic 8 (for example 17 & 20 particularly and possibly 15 & 18) it really would be fairly superfluous in Topic 6 “The key factors or indicators in the motivation of employees in an organisation.” The emphasis here is on researching motivation theories and usually conducting primary research, evaluating the findings and linking them back to the various theories. I cannot see that using a comparator would add anything to the evaluation and a student who did this to the detriment of actually analysing the chosen organisation and applying the relevant theories to it, would be more likely to fail. Therefore it is not an approach I would recommend and using a comparator certainly is not advocated by Al Nielson (OBU/ACCA marker and moderator) in his comments about how to approach Topic 6 (OBU Resubmission Guide p. 9-10).
Hi,
I recently started writing my RAP. The organization I work for is a quasi non-governmental organization and I would like to use topic 13 base on this organization. The organization comprise of other location in different Caribbean countries but I would only be using information on the location in my Caribbean country to gather information. Would this be ok?Yes, i respect your comments and you are almost right but my approach is always to use bench-marking the main organisation to another (Significance of this varies topic to topic) and it will help you to improve your recommendation part of RAP. As you know companies publish their information regarding employment and rewards in their Corporate Social Responsibility reports and by using them you can effectively analyse what are key factors main company considers for employee’s motivation and what are in the market (For example market leader) considers for its employees such as, bonuses, salary levels etc. It can be a motivational factor for employees of a company to be the market leader (this may be related to employees monthly sales targets) but it will not be a motivational factor for a market leader. For market leader motivational factor would be to gain share of other company. Hence, how will you determine that whether current factors of motivation are in favor of both company and employees. So, you have to look in the market. For any topic, you can analyze main company with competitor but your focus is on evaluation and application of topic on main company and you support your evaluation by looking at CSR reports and other publications under Code of Corporate Governance regarding employment polices and reward practices of organisations.
For any research, i always recommend to look in the market and research on other organisations to have a taste of what is going on in the market, rather just looking at one company. It is better to have understanding of industry for coverage of wider issues.
Further, by choosing listed companies, you remove risk of breaching confidentiality. So, bench-marking for any topic may be not recommended by someone but is not prohibited too by OBU.
Markers evaluates RAP against passing criteria (i.e. 7 thresholds in Info pack 2013-14). Hence, it is quality of research report, the way you effectively appliy models and framework to the context of topic and company’s situation and presentation that will let you pass, rather than including a competitor or not including it but i always recommend to have a listed organisation unless you are employed there or have no issues with information accessibility because many fresh students have no idea that how much important is information availability, if they choose a difficult organisation then RAP will become very hectic to complete and that is the reason OBU info pack allows project just to be made on secondary data.
Thank You.
@Hammad Ahmed Qureshi I respect your views too and there is a lot of sense in your arguments which are fairly persuasive. However there is always a danger in any RAP that the student veers from the main focus of the report by trying to cover too many aspects that are peripheral to the main objective and by so doing, compromise their work (as they then don’t fulfill the principal requirements adequately). In my opinion using a comparator could be one of these if it detracted too much from the main requirement of Topic 6, which is researching and applying motivation theories to a specific organisation.
If we were looking at an advanced degree then your approach would be very comprehensive and appropriate. However in the context of a Topic 6 RAP as it is not necessary, I would rather advise students to concentrate on the main task in hand (doing good and reliable primary research and applying the appropriate motivation theories with reasoned arguments to their findings ) rather than worrying about finding a suitable comparator.
I have read many RAPs for Topic 6 (including some that have passed with an A grade) but have yet to see one that included comparator benchmarking, so we will have to agree to differ on this one I think with reference to Topic 6. However employee motivation and a comparator would form part of the analysis for Topic 20 CSR . 😀
Yes, you are right they may write irrelevant things or their words utilization can be ineffective. So, for that they need to review it properly and get it reviewed by a professional person with knowledge of OBU Passing Marking.
It is not necessary to must have competitor but if it is easy then conducting a brief comparison will clear a wider picture.
RAP circulation is prohibited by OBU, otherwise i would have sent you with comparison one in A grade too and yes i agree with your last point.
Thank You.
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can you please share your experience with me?
I am in the same situation right now any suggestions will be really appreciated@yasirfarhan according to the following link to frequently asked questions you will have to ask the relevant body in the country. That’s the way round it works – the USA body that regulates their degrees or the equivalent authority in a particular country rules on this not OBU
It will be best if you copy and paste this question to the OBU forum. (OBU is Oxford Brookes University).
We have experts on OBU monitoring that forum and they will be able to give you the necessary information.
@ Andrew Please visit see our OBU home pages on the Forum where I have summarised the main information and have some FAQs. However you should also consult the following doc the OBU Information Pack as it contains all the detailed rules, requirements and advice.
https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Students/bsc/IP2015-16.pdf
Regarding your requirement to use the degree in the USA – the OBU BSc should have the same status as any UK bachelor degree and carry the same number of credits.
If you have ‘a lot of time’ on your hands you still have sufficient time to do a good submission for Period 29 in November (the next opportunity) but please bear in mind that you will not get your result until late March 2015. (This assumes that you are eligible to enter the degree programme but the Info Pack will enlighten you on this aspect)
Trephena – OBU Forum Moderator
Does doing ACCA give one a chance at getting an Oxford Brookes Bsc and what are the conditions ??
@Michael – please see our OBU Home pages where we have some general information and consult the latest OBU information Pack (there is a link on our home page articles for this). You are allowed 3 attempts provided you fulfil the eligibility conditions and have not exceeded the 10 year time limit 🙂
hi everyone….great discussion here i learned alot. i was wondering though can i complete acca then do the applied accounting program within the 10 years of start the start date?
@Ravi as long as you have opted into the programme then it doesn’t matter if you do the RAP before or after completing ACCA. Just check you have already opted in (normally you are automatically opted in) as you cannot subsequently opt into the degree programme if you have already passed F7/8/9.
Provided you opted in before then you have a maximum of 3 attempts to pass within the 10 years of registering with ACCA. The deadline is strict and you are advised to ensure you allow yourself the time for the 3 attempts.
Hi All,
I passed exams from F1 to F6, to sit still for exams F7/8/9 and I am opted into the BSc program. Can I already apply/choose for a mentor and choose a topic or do I need to wait until I have passed F7/8/9?
thank you for your help
S.
@Salvatore – it’s entirely up to you when you do your RAP and what suits your plans . The critical thing was to have opted in before F7/8/9 and to ensure you can fit in 3 attempts (if necessary) before the expiry of the 10 year limit as there is no flexibility on these 2 rules.
@trephena – thank you. Yes, I have been opted into the program after succeeding with F4 in June 2014 (last session for paper F4 to be considered as English proficiency proof).
I guess I will attempt F7 in December and after that I will start my process by choosing my mentor and my topic.
thank you
S.
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If I sit for and pass my F8 paper (I have completed the others) in September will I be eligible to do the RAP to submit in Nov 2015….I notice the booklet says something about a 2 month period
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I just finish my F level and now trying to finish the OBU for the period of 31 in this coming of submission date November 2015 but i have no idea to get start?
Company already selected
@wenching91 – you need to read the latest OBU Information Pack to find out what is required and get an idea about structure and perhaps take a look at our OBU home page and possibly the FAQs. Also use the search facility to look for RAP Objectives and RAP Research questions as some mentors made some contributions a year or so back on these and the points they made are still valid.
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