Three GCSEs and two A Levels in five separate subjects including maths and English or their equivalent are required for this accountancy qualification.
| Work experience | Three years. |
|---|---|
| Number of exams | Up to 13, depending on exemptions. |
| How long does it take? | Three to four years on average. |
| What else is involved? | Ethics and Professional Skills module. |
None, foundation level is open access. So if you do not have the entry requirements to start at the ACCA Qualification, you can start your studies here.
If you are starting out in accounting and finance or already working in finance but have no formal qualifications, you can start your journey with ACCA at our foundation level.
You simply need to be a registered ACCA Student and have opted-in to the BSc Degree Scheme.
| Number of exams | Successfully complete all Applied Knowledge and Applies Skills exams, including passing Financial Reporting (FR), Audit and Assurance (AA) and Financial Management (FM) exams |
|---|---|
| How long does it take? | The degree must be completed within 10 years of the earliest date of your first examination pass or the date of your first ACCA exemption being granted, otherwise your eligibility will be withdrawn |
| What else is involved? | Complete and pass the Oxford Brookes University Research and Analysis Project and the ACCA Ethics and Professional Skills Module |
For the student pathway, you simply need to be a registered ACCA student and have successfully completed the Strategic Professional Essentials exams.
For the affiliate and member pathway you are automatically eligible, however, if it has been more than five years since you passed your final Strategic Professional exam you will be required to successfully pass the University of London Professional Accountancy Online Preparation Test.
| Number of exams | Student pathway: 2 modules each assessed via coursework and an exam (2 exams in total) | |
|---|---|---|
| What else is involved? | Complete and pass the Strategic Financial Project | |
| How long does it take? | You can complete the MSc in under a year or take longer if that is more convenient (up to a max of 5 years). Each module and the Strategic Financial Project are studied over a 22 week session, requiring an average of 12 hours of study per week |
ACCA member or a minimum of three years’ professional/managerial work experience.
| Work experience | None involved in qualifying, but three years' professional/managerial work experience is required for entry. |
|---|---|
| Number of exams | Assignment-based and two exams. |
| How long does it take? | If an ACCA member, as little as 21 months. |
| What else is involved? | Two face-to-face workshops. |
Designed for professional accountants and auditors qualified in their national accounting standards who need to update their skills to meet the challenges involved in adopting and implementing IFRS in their workplace. An educational or vocational background in financial reporting is recommended before starting the Cert IFR. This course also benefits ACCA members who gained their qualification prior to the introduction of IFRS. For ACCA members whose qualifications are already based on IFRS, the Cert IFR is an opportunity to update their IFRS knowledge for recent IASB publications.
| Work experience | None involved in qualifying, but the qualification is designed to accompany relevant work. |
|---|---|
| Number of exams | One online multiple-choice assessment. |
| How long does it take? | Average of 20 hours. |
Professional accountants and auditors working in practice and industry and qualified in national accounting standards are eligible to take the qualification.
Practitioners not yet qualified, but who can verify the following, are also eligible:
| Work experience | None involved in qualifying, but the qualification is designed to accompany relevant work. |
|---|---|
| Number of exams | One written exam. |
| How long does it take? | Three to six months. |
Designed for professional accountants and auditors working in audit or seeking to make a move in to audit practice. An educational or vocational background in auditing is recommended before commencing the Cert IA.
This course would benefit ACCA members who qualified before the clarified ISAs were introduced or for members who wish to ensure that their audit knowledge is up to date with all relevant IAASB publications.
| Work experience | None involved in qualifying, but the qualification is designed to accompany relevant work. |
|---|---|
| Number of exams | One online multiple-choice assessment. |
| How long does it take? | Average of 25 hours. |
No formal qualifications are required. Designed for professional accountants and auditors qualified in national accounting standards or International Financial Reporting Standards, the module is written as an introduction to IPSAS, on the assumption that the reader knows a reasonable amount or has sufficient experience of accounting and financial reporting.
| Work experience | None involved in qualifying, but the qualification is designed to accompany relevant work. | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of exams | One online multiple-choice assessment. | |
| How long does it take? | Average of 20 hours. |
There are no formal entry requirements, but we recommend that an educational or vocational background in business valuations is gained before starting this certificate. Primarily the course is aimed at people who already have a professional accountancy qualification.
| Work experience involved | None involved in qualifying, but the qualification is designed to accompany relevant work. |
|---|---|
| Number of exams | None. |
| How long does it take? | Average of 20 hours. |