Accountancy qualifications - anyone else studying one?

suited-aces

Final year accounting student, hoping to either be starting CIPFA or ICAI soon!

mrspoor

Just found out that my work are going to re-pay the cost of my last distance course, as well as the exam fees - it's really good news, but I still have to cover the revision course myself. Can't work out whether to go for the cheaper distance option (about £200 per paper) for the next 3 papers, or the more expensive online option (about £430 per paper!! :eek:) which includes online evening classes. If I weren't paying for it, I'd definitely go for the more expensive option, but it will take that much longer to pay off, and I'll still have another £1600 to find for revision courses for either option. I'm trying to think of it as an investment, but it just feels like a flipping big debt!! :think:

What do you think??

456789

If you are happy with distance learning stick with it - if you think you could do with the extra online help give it a go I am sure it will be worth it in the end

pcyam

i just become a member of acca and my first exam is in june too, im going to so it self study all at home for now, im trying to find out where i can buy the things i need for the f2 exam as i was exempt from f1. i didnt have time to ask the acca advisor loads today cuz i only had about 5mins lunchtime today. will ring them tomorrow but can anyone point me in the rite direction so i can research tonight, also kaplan is that an online college??

jessicamb

pcyam wrote: »

i just become a member of acca and my first exam is in june too, im going to so it self study all at home for now, im trying to find out where i can buy the things i need for the f2 exam as i was exempt from f1. i didnt have time to ask the acca advisor loads today cuz i only had about 5mins lunchtime today. will ring them tomorrow but can anyone point me in the rite direction so i can research tonight, also kaplan is that an online college??

search for bpp or ftc kaplan

pcyam

jessicamb wrote: »

search for bpp or ftc kaplan

spoke to both and thought Kaplan gave better advice and thought BPP was jus selling me the more expensive package, plus for some reason cant buy all the books etc from BPP till 23-2-10 whereas Kaplan are available now. not really wanting to buy books off amazon now because not sure which ones are in date and applicable anymore. Whats everyones experience with BPP and Kaplan??

TIA

Regshoe

pcyam wrote: »

spoke to both and thought Kaplan gave better advice and thought BPP was jus selling me the more expensive package, plus for some reason cant buy all the books etc from BPP till 23-2-10 whereas Kaplan are available now. not really wanting to buy books off amazon now because not sure which ones are in date and applicable anymore. Whats everyones experience with BPP and Kaplan??

TIA

I've used both BPP and Kaplan for Distance learning packages (albeit for CIMA rather than ACCA, but I imagine the standard of preparation is the same and I believe the pricing is the same from both providers).

You get basically the same materials from both (I did standard paper based, without any of the online info), with the one difference being that Kaplan give you something called "Study noted 4 Success" or something similar, these are the notes they (apparently) use in the class rooms courses. On the face of it these are good as they are massively cut down from the text book and allow you to whip through the course really quickly. However unless you are a particularly strong student you can end up struggling to understand sections of the notes, as unlike in the taught courses you don't have a tutor in front of you explaining the notes.

Initially the BPP course seemed more daunting as I was going to have to go through the full text book rather than the condensed notes (maybe 5 times longer!) but I do think this helped me and I got my best results after using the BPP courses. Also it's worth nothing the Kaplan Study notes only seem to be available if you book a distance learning course rather than just buying books.

For the basic paper distance learning BPP are also a lot cheaper at the moment - £150 rather than £225 for the courses I've just booked.

Oh and in answer to the OP - studying CIMA, just passed my last two managerial papers. I did all 6 managerial with distance learning packages, in part due to distance to nearest tuition providers, in part due to preferred study style and not wanting to travel. It's 25 miles to the nearest place and driving there would be a pain due to lack of parking, also I don't really want to work at other peoples paces or in set blocks of time, I do better on my own.

Managed to due the certificate level for the princely sum of £0.00 (excluding exam fees - which I claimed back from my employer) as I used some borrowed notes and didn't bother with actual courses.

I've never actually bothered handing in any practice papers to be marked under the distance learning package, nor have I ever contacted them to ask a question. TBH the only reason I'm getting a Distance learning package this time rather than getting the books is that Strategic exams now have pre-seen material and I'm hoping BPP might give some feedback on this....

(Oh and you should all be pleased I'm doing it on the cheap as I'm public sector and therefore your tax money is paying :P)

katebl

Alizarin - Thanks for the support, I will definitely be moving on to one of the other eventually, it seems so daunting comparing the two but I've a long way to go yet! Had a random LBM one night that I wanted to be an accountant (have had a job involving book-keeping previously) - so literally went into it knowing next to nothing about the career progression!

Timnicebutdim - I'm in the first year of my diploma, coming towards the end of IAC - am hoping to sit a computer based assessment soon. Do you have a job in an accounts role ATM? How long have you been studying for?

456789

pcyam wrote: »

i just become a member of acca and my first exam is in june too, im going to so it self study all at home for now, im trying to find out where i can buy the things i need for the f2 exam as i was exempt from f1. i didnt have time to ask the acca advisor loads today cuz i only had about 5mins lunchtime today. will ring them tomorrow but can anyone point me in the rite direction so i can research tonight, also kaplan is that an online college??

Kaplan and BPP are primarily tuition centres but also provide distance learning options

Kaplan are also soon launching ACCA live online where you get some web lectures in addition to distance learning

pcyam wrote: »

spoke to both and thought Kaplan gave better advice and thought BPP was jus selling me the more expensive package, plus for some reason cant buy all the books etc from BPP till 23-2-10 whereas Kaplan are available now. not really wanting to buy books off amazon now because not sure which ones are in date and applicable anymore. Whats everyones experience with BPP and Kaplan??

TIA

They tend to be quite similar - might be worth buying a book from both of them to see which you prefer as everyone has their own preferences

Stesshead

pcyam wrote: »

spoke to both and thought Kaplan gave better advice and thought BPP was jus selling me the more expensive package, plus for some reason cant buy all the books etc from BPP till 23-2-10 whereas Kaplan are available now. not really wanting to buy books off amazon now because not sure which ones are in date and applicable anymore. Whats everyones experience with BPP and Kaplan??

TIA

Does it matter to buy books issued in 2008/2009 to prepare for 2010 exams? Seems buying older versions of books are a lot cheaper than buying current ones from BPP.

Will the syllabus change each year? Do you all buy new books or older issues? I am self-funding so want to save a bit, but I am worried wasting time studying the wrong book:(