Course summary

Our innovative MSc Professional Accounting (with ACCA tuition) combines advanced academic and professional study. The MSc’s technical content is aligned with the final, Strategic Professional Level of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (‘ACCA’) Qualification. When studying our MSc modules, students are also prepared to sit external ACCA exams - internal USW MSc assessments are followed by external ACCA exam sittings. Students therefore have the opportunity to complete all four ACCA Strategic Professional exams at the same time as obtaining a Masters qualification. Please note that it is the responsibility of students to enter external ACCA exams (see http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-entry-and-administration.html for further details). Our course therefore offers a study regime that is highly efficient in terms of both cost and time. The course is aimed at students who have passed the Fundamentals Level papers of the ACCA Professional Qualification (namely nine papers, F1-F9), or those who are exempted from these ACCA papers by virtue of studying an Accounting degree recognised and accredited by ACCA. Our MSc offers a rigorous, critical education: • ACCA final level technical syllabi are at Masters level and require advanced evaluation and synthesis skills to solve complex practical problems in the subjects studied; • teaching of all modules incorporates critical evaluation of the subject area, including study of contemporary research and practical issues; and • Research Methodology and a Business Research Project (dissertation) are embedded into the 60 credit Strategic Business Leader Business with Research Project module. The course provides more value than a standard Masters programme or ACCA study alone. It provides the practical advanced work-based skills that a standard Masters would not, and the advanced critical evaluation of subject areas and research literature that ACCA study would not. Therefore, it provides the best of both worlds – a rich Masters level education from both academic and professional perspectives. On passing their final ACCA exams, students will be able to qualify as Chartered Certified Accountants, subject to satisfying ACCA’s practical work experience requirements, and hence will hold a prestigious professional qualification that will form the basis for a successful senior career in Accounting & Finance. Our professional tuition expertise Tuition for the ACCA Professional Qualification has been offered on a part-time basis at USW campuses for 45 years and our current part-time course typically attracts 200-250 students per annum. We have a long-standing reputation for the high quality of our tuition. Our Newport Campus is a Platinum Approved Learning Partner, the highest available level of accreditation from ACCA. We have also been the winner of the PQ Magazine ‘Public Sector Accountancy College of the Year’ award in 2010, 2012 and 2016, and a number of our students have received national ACCA Wales prizes in recent years. What is the ACCA Professional Qualification? ACCA is the global body for professional accountants with more than 198,000 fully qualified members and 486,000 students worldwide. The association has a network of offices across the world. The ACCA Professional Qualification (the ‘Qualification’) is a vocational professional accountancy qualification that ultimately leads to Chartered membership of ACCA. Students are required to pass 13 examinations and gain three years of verifiable work experience (administered by ACCA) to become full Chartered members. ACCA designs the Qualification (including aims, learning outcomes and detailed syllabi) and offers external examination sittings at a large number of centres worldwide. The Qualification is split into a Fundamentals Level (9 exam papers) and a Strategic Professional Level (4 exam papers).