The first degree

Oxford Brookes University has recently been named Best New University by the Sunday Times Good University Guide for the fifth year in succession. Working in partnership with Oxford Brookes, more than 3,000 ACCA students from over 70 countries have been awarded a BSc in Applied Accounting. Gwen Cheeseman reports on this year's celebration of achievement.

On 12 September 2005, ACCA students and members from around the world arrived in Oxford to celebrate successfully completing the BSc in Applied Accounting.

Over 70 graduates and 23 new ACCA/Oxford Brookes MBAs mingled with family and friends as they prepared to enter the main hall at the Gipsy Hill campus for the ceremony. After a brass band introduction, the royal-blue draped stage played host to a short pre-filmed address from Jon Snow - the well-known UK broadcaster, who is the chancellor of Oxford Brookes University. He congratulated the graduates on their achievement, and encouraged them to stay in touch with the university through the alumni newsletter and website, and to keep Oxford Brookes updated with their career progress.

Next, Graham Upton, vice-chancellor of the university, took to the podium to make his speech: 'I'm aware that most of you graduating today will have had to combine your academic work with the pressures of everyday life. So I would like to add my thanks, too, to the families, friends and mentors who have supported our students throughout their studies. Without your support, their journey would have been harder, so thank you.

'This ceremony focuses on students from two programmes - the BSc in Applied Accounting and the MBA. These programmes have both been developed through collaboration between the Business School at Oxford Brookes and ACCA, the world's largest and fastest-growing international accountancy body.

'This is a unique and innovative relationship between a world-renowned professional body and a top modern university, formed to offer finance professionals a further dimension to their career development. We very much value our collaboration with ACCA and hope that it will continue to develop for many years to come. A more recent development is the exciting and innovative relationship between Oxford Brookes University, ACCA, and leading Chinese university, Tsinghua, to form what must be one of the most powerful strategic alliances in education. The intention is to work closely together on a number of new projects, which potentially will have an impact not only in China but worldwide.'

Upton went on to list some of the key events that took place at the Business School in the last year. A highlight was the formal opening, by politician Lord Kinnock in March 2005, of a new Postgraduate Centre in Wheatley, which is already being used for MBA workshops.

The Business School also recently won an award of £4.5m from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to become a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and received two further, major awards from the fund for Development and Learning. These awards confirm the Business School's place at the cutting edge of research into learning and teaching assessment methods, defining new techniques which will ultimately affect how generations of students at Oxford Brookes are taught.

The Higher Education Academy also appointed the Business School to host its new Subject Centre for Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance, thus confirming that in learning and teaching it can rightly claim to be a leading Business School.

The vice-chancellor then went on to congratulate the graduates personally. Each graduate, wearing robe and mortar board, stepped up to the stage when their name was called, shook hands with Upton and received a personal message of congratulation. The last award went to honorary graduate Mary Keegan, managing director of government financial management at HM Treasury, and former chairwoman of the UK Accounting Standards Board. She spoke to the graduates about her experiences in the world of finance and gave advice to those just setting out on paths to new careers. Her speech was informative and entertaining and she was applauded for her insights into the world of high-flyers within the profession.

Clare Minchington, ACCA's managing director - education, training and development, was also present at the ceremony, and commented: 'It's great to see students who have worked so hard and so long coming together to celebrate such wonderful achievements and sharing a common experience and affinity both with ACCA and Oxford Brookes.'

John Woodley, the Oxford Brookes programme director of the BSc in Applied Accounting said: 'I am very pleased that so many graduates have now been awarded the BSc degree. This shows the strength of the collaboration between ACCA and Oxford Brookes and the value of the degree to ACCA students. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to talk to BSc degree graduates, as this is the first degree ceremony I have attended since taking up my post at Oxford Brookes.

'The award of the BSc degree shows that a student has developed important academic skills in research and analysis, together with a capacity for reflecting on experiences. These achievements enhance the technical knowledge that a student demonstrates by passing ACCA's professional examinations. The BSc degree is a very valuable combination of academic and professional attributes and should be highly regarded by employers.'

After the ceremony, graduates and their guests were invited to a champagne reception in a marquee in the grounds of nearby Headington Hill Hall. For graduates, this was a great opportunity to meet others who had studied as they had, and to make new contacts and friends. Canapés were served to guests while they chatted and listened to music performed by a string quartet.