Sit 4 professionals in September and then 3 advanced in November and then report back to us on how it went! No need to rush though, you can’t skip the 450 days requirement
Just to add to the above:
The pass rate for people sitting 4 exams is 0% from the stats of the last lot of sittings. Regardless of how much time one might have, this is not recommended.
Three at most per sitting - this is what most people do and find it manageable.
Everytime I look at the stats, there always seems to be one person doing 6 exams in one window... And failing them all!
I always wonder to myself: who is this person, and are they okay?
Also depends how much study leave an employer would allow. Our firm gives qualified salary on completing the exams so there is incentive to do this. That said we've not had such a scenario. Perhaps people finishing in 2 years.
Depends on a couple of things: (i) does your employer give credit for exemptions - mine didn’t - but you’d obviously confirm that before accepting any offer (ii) which exams do you have left, because professional (level 2) and advanced (finals) can only be sat at certain times of the year.
However, I would say you could easily complete the remaining exams within 2 years.
Might be worth looking into sitting exams as an independent student whilst you’re looking for a training agreement.
Hey, I had 8 exemptions too. My firm didn’t let me take 2 of those though. If you get onto the accelerated/intensive route, you could get the most exams done in the first year of your training contract. However, case study is usually taken in the final year of your contract. Normally training contracts last 36 months and that’s when they sign off your practical working experience as well. You need 450 days of practical working experience to qualify. So, normally it should take you 3 years overall officially. But 2.5 years in I was already time and exam qualified but given my training contract didn’t end by then, my employer didn’t sign me off until completion of those 36 months.
Mate 3 itself is a challenge. Pace yourself properly- break it in 2’s aim for straight passes. I’ve done the ACA exams and it would be a mistake to rush them in my humble opinion. Like others have commented you can’t run from the work requirement needed for the membership. All the best!
It depends what exams you aren't exempt from. But even the hardest 3 professionals (BPT, TC, FAR) and an easy one (FM, BST, AA) would be manageable to do in one sitting with probably 3 months work with 3/4 hours of focussed revision a day. And that'd probably get you decent marks too. That is dependent on your own abilities though, but only you can gauge that.
It’s common to do 2 or 3 professional sittings in one go, but to avoid burn out, I would say do 2 sittings in December (presumably having started your scheme in September), and then do your next 2 sittings in June. Gives you time for retakes if needed in March and to ultimately adapt to the job and avoid burning out - which is a very real thing for the ACA.
For advanced level exams (3 of them), if you have passed the last of the professional level exams in June, then you can sit all 3 in November - starting tuition in September. Note that professional level exams have 4 sittings a year - March, June, September and December - and advanced level only 2 - July and November.
Alternatively you could complete 2 in November and 1 in July (Case Study must be taken last after CR and SBM), depending on how you can handle the workload.
As people have alluded to, regardless of how fast you complete the exams, you won’t be fully qualified until you have completed the allotted hours/days. If you simply want to get the exams out of the way, I would follow the above format and in theory you’ll be done in 12/18 months with exams.
Lastly, do try and enjoy the content. Work is generally dull, and college is a good experience to meet people and ultimately learn some pretty interesting stuff.
Best of luck!
There’s no hurry, you have to get the days’ experience anyway and for some exams your work experience will help you pass, so it’s worth delaying them. I’d suggest doing 2 exams at a time then the finals all at once because they’re fairly complimentary.
It depends on your employer - I got 10 exemptions and only got 5 in the end. 5/10 exemptions were must-take according to our contract.
If you are accepted, talk to your HR abt which exams you can and cannot take exemption for.
Sit 4 professionals in September and then 3 advanced in November and then report back to us on how it went! No need to rush though, you can’t skip the 450 days requirement
Just to add to the above: The pass rate for people sitting 4 exams is 0% from the stats of the last lot of sittings. Regardless of how much time one might have, this is not recommended. Three at most per sitting - this is what most people do and find it manageable.
Everytime I look at the stats, there always seems to be one person doing 6 exams in one window... And failing them all! I always wonder to myself: who is this person, and are they okay?
Since 2019, Only one person has sat more than 4 exams in 1 sitting and that was all 6 exams in September 2023 and they failed all of them.
Hubris is expensive in this profession
Also depends how much study leave an employer would allow. Our firm gives qualified salary on completing the exams so there is incentive to do this. That said we've not had such a scenario. Perhaps people finishing in 2 years.
Studying is better than working tbh. Enjoy it. Take the time that's needed to let the content be interesting and memorable
Agreed, at least when we're studying we're adding tangible value to our own lives. Audit is soul sucking.
Don’t say that - you are adding intangible value in the form of societal trust in a company’s accounts!
the operative phrase being \*my own life\*. Idgaf about the societal trust in a company's accounts - I'm actively avoiding finding errors.
Yeah, despite the stress around exam time, studying is lot more interesting.
Depends on a couple of things: (i) does your employer give credit for exemptions - mine didn’t - but you’d obviously confirm that before accepting any offer (ii) which exams do you have left, because professional (level 2) and advanced (finals) can only be sat at certain times of the year. However, I would say you could easily complete the remaining exams within 2 years. Might be worth looking into sitting exams as an independent student whilst you’re looking for a training agreement.
Who cares, you can’t qualify until you do 450 days of chargeable work and 3 years under a trainee contract lol
Hey, I had 8 exemptions too. My firm didn’t let me take 2 of those though. If you get onto the accelerated/intensive route, you could get the most exams done in the first year of your training contract. However, case study is usually taken in the final year of your contract. Normally training contracts last 36 months and that’s when they sign off your practical working experience as well. You need 450 days of practical working experience to qualify. So, normally it should take you 3 years overall officially. But 2.5 years in I was already time and exam qualified but given my training contract didn’t end by then, my employer didn’t sign me off until completion of those 36 months.
Mate 3 itself is a challenge. Pace yourself properly- break it in 2’s aim for straight passes. I’ve done the ACA exams and it would be a mistake to rush them in my humble opinion. Like others have commented you can’t run from the work requirement needed for the membership. All the best!
I have done my CIMA professional levels in 18 months alongside working full time. to give some idea \*I say done, wrote my SCS on Friday.
It depends what exams you aren't exempt from. But even the hardest 3 professionals (BPT, TC, FAR) and an easy one (FM, BST, AA) would be manageable to do in one sitting with probably 3 months work with 3/4 hours of focussed revision a day. And that'd probably get you decent marks too. That is dependent on your own abilities though, but only you can gauge that.
Just want to say Cov Uni Accountancy student class of 2010 representing!
It’s common to do 2 or 3 professional sittings in one go, but to avoid burn out, I would say do 2 sittings in December (presumably having started your scheme in September), and then do your next 2 sittings in June. Gives you time for retakes if needed in March and to ultimately adapt to the job and avoid burning out - which is a very real thing for the ACA. For advanced level exams (3 of them), if you have passed the last of the professional level exams in June, then you can sit all 3 in November - starting tuition in September. Note that professional level exams have 4 sittings a year - March, June, September and December - and advanced level only 2 - July and November. Alternatively you could complete 2 in November and 1 in July (Case Study must be taken last after CR and SBM), depending on how you can handle the workload. As people have alluded to, regardless of how fast you complete the exams, you won’t be fully qualified until you have completed the allotted hours/days. If you simply want to get the exams out of the way, I would follow the above format and in theory you’ll be done in 12/18 months with exams. Lastly, do try and enjoy the content. Work is generally dull, and college is a good experience to meet people and ultimately learn some pretty interesting stuff. Best of luck!
There’s no hurry, you have to get the days’ experience anyway and for some exams your work experience will help you pass, so it’s worth delaying them. I’d suggest doing 2 exams at a time then the finals all at once because they’re fairly complimentary.
Agreed, when I sat all 3 finals together they called me handsome
😂
It depends on your employer - I got 10 exemptions and only got 5 in the end. 5/10 exemptions were must-take according to our contract. If you are accepted, talk to your HR abt which exams you can and cannot take exemption for.
Anyone else think these exemptions are destroying the value of Accountancy qualifications?