The Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA)

ELC has chosen to offer the ACCA programme as it is the largest and fastest growing international accountancy body, with over 300,000 students and members spread throughout 160 countries world-wide. ACCA is becoming a truly global qualification and recently received accreditation from the United Nations. ACCA equips students with an in-depth knowledge of both accounting and management to enable them to work in any area of accounting and finance.

Achieving ACCA Qualifications
In order to become an associate of ACCA, in addition to passing the exams, you must demonstrate practical experience by providing evidence of three years of supervised relevant work experience in any type of organisation and in any country which can take place before, during or after studying for the ACCA exams. There is no time limit for this to take place. Students often choose to fulfil this requirement once they have passed their examinations and many do this upon return to their home country.

Entry Routes

• Professional Examination Route
• Mature Student Entry Route
• Certified Accounting Technician

The minimum entry requirements under the Professional Examination Route (PER) are as follows; students must be at least 18 years old and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• 2 A levels and 3 GCSEs (5 separate subjects including English and Maths)
• CAT Level B (complete)
• AAT (UK) Intermediate (complete)
• BTEC National Certificate (any subjects)
• Advanced GNVQ (any subject)
• NVQ Level 3 or 4 (any subject)
• Degree (from a recognised institution in any subject)
• ACCA Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance (complete)

For those who are unable to enter via the PER, there are two other methods of entry. Firstly, for those over the age of 21, the Mature Student Entry Route (MSER) is the first option. For entry to ACCA’s Professional qualification via the MSER you must be over 21 years old. You must also pass papers 1.1 and 1.2 within 2 years from the date of your first eligible exam session.

The second route, is via Certified Accounting Technician (CAT).
This is ACCA’s vocational, open entry introduction to accounting. Applicants who are 16 years or older can complete ACCA’s CAT qualification and will be eligible for direct entry to Part 2 of ACCA’s professional exams, in other words, will be exempt from Part 1 examinations. An exemption fee will be payable for each paper awarded.

Entry Requirements for ACCA

• Applicants aged 18 years or above require 3 GCSE/GCE/CSE (or equivalent) - two of which must be English and Maths – and 2 A levels.
• Applicants aged 21 years or above without these qualifications are assessed on an individual basis.
• For international students, British Council IELTS test score of 5.0 or above is essential. Similar English Language proficiency tests will be considered.

Exemptions
Business or Accounting degree holders may qualify for exemptions from some or all of Part 1 & 2 exams. Holders of the final level of the CAT qualification will be exempt from Part 1. For further information on exemptions, please visit ACCA website at or ask us for assistance.

Professional scheme students
You will need to:

• Gain a minimum of three years' supervised, relevant practical experience
• Satisfy the minimum competence requirements for membership
• Record your experience in your personal Student Training Record (STR).

Once these requirements have been met you can apply for full membership. If you are a full ACCA member and wish to work as an accountant offering your own services direct to the public, you will be required to hold an appropriate practising certificate. This requires further training within public practice, after being admitted to membership.

Certified Accounting Technician scheme students

You will need to:

• Gain a minimum of one years' supervised, relevant practical experience
• Satisfy the minimum competence requirements for membership
• record your experience in your personal Technician Training Record (TTR).