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ACCA - Oxford Brookes University
BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has partnered with Oxford Brookes University (OBU) since 2000/2001 to allow ACCA students to earn a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting by submission of a Research and Analysis Project (RAP) towards their ACCA professional qualification.
There are two submission dates in every year. ACCA publishes information pack stating the project topics and any special requirements. Eligible students are required to have a qualified ACCA OBU mentor to guide them through the preparation of RAP.
Degree classification is determined by student’s ACCA exam average mark from Applied Skills papers (F4/LW - F9/FM) as well as the RAP grade.
Purpose of ACCA OBU degree
ACCA qualification is a well-recognized accountancy profession. Candidates pass ACCA papers have to demonstrate their professional knowledge and technical skills in the examinations.
ACCA students are not only joining the professional exam, but also having a chance for an Oxford Brookes University BSc degree.
The Degree Program
Gives due recognition of your achievement to knowledge, skills and attributes developed through examinations and the RAP
Provides opportunity to earn a degree in a reputable university because they are impossible to do so because of lack of opportunity or because of life choices
Develops information gathering and critical analysis skills which are important to modern professional accountants
Introduction to Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University (OBU) is a public university in Oxford, United Kingdom. It has over 150 years of history if we trace its origin back to 1865 which was Oxford School of Art.
In 1992, it became Oxford Brookes University and now has four faculties which are Business, Health and Life Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Technology, Design and Environment.
OBU is a young university but it does very good in terms of academic achievement. It is the only UK University in the QS ranking of top 50 institutions under 50 years old. In Guardian League Table, OBU is rated 1 of UK’s top 50 institutions.
Eligibility
There are five steps you have to follow in sequence to be awarded the Oxford Brookes University BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting.
1.
You must be registered with Oxford Brookes University, that is opted-in to the BSc degree scheme.
2.
Pass the three ACCA Fundamental level papers F7/FR, F8/AA and F9/FM and pass (or gain exemption from) other fundamental level papers at least two months prior to the start of the submission period in which you are seeking to submit RAP.
3.
Complete ACCA Ethics and Professional Skills Module (or EPSM) by the published deadline before submitting RAP to OBU
4.
Complete and pass OBU RAP
You must meet the requirements 1 BEFORE passing of any of the three ACCA Fundamental level papers, F7/FR, F8/AA and F9/FM.
Although there is a change of time limit in ACCA qualification, you are still allowed to complete the BSc degree in Applied Accounting within 10 years of your initial registration on the ACCA qualification.
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Assessment of BSc Degree
Once you have passed F7/FR, F8/AA and F9/FM exam, the last step towards OBU BSc degree in Applied Accounting is to complete the Research and Analysis Project (RAP).
It consists of two separate documents.
7,500 word Research Report (RR)
2,000 word Skills and Learning Statement (SLS)
A Registered Project Mentor is needed as he or she is to assist you by providing guidance and advice on your RAP and also to verify that you made an oral presentation at the end of your project research.
Your classification of degree is determined by both of your marks in RAP and your ACCA exam average marks in F4/LW to F9/FM (if F4-F6 are exempted, no marks will be counted and only F7-F9 marks counted).
How to
Pass
To pass RAP, you must pass both the RR and the SLS. If you do not pass either one or both in the same submission period, you will be awarded a Fail grade in RAP.
You have three attempts to pass the RAP within the 10 years limit.
You will be given one of three Pass grades (A, B or C) or a Fail grade (F) on your RR. For SLS, you will be given either a Pass grade or Fail grade on your performance.
If you are awarded Fail grades in your first submission of RR and SLS, you are no doubt to submit both RR and SLS in your second attempt.
However, if you are awarded a Pass grade (A, B or C) in RR but a Fail grade in SLS, you only need resubmit the SLS. You cannot submit a revised RR in any further RAP submission.
The grade awarded to your RR will be carried forward and become the RAP grade once you subsequently successful in your SLS
On the other side, if you are awarded a Pass grade in SLS but a Fail grade in RR, you only need to resubmit RR.
One important note to you is once you fail the RR in your first submission, you will be capped at a grade C for any successful subsequent RR, even if the resubmitted RR is awarded a higher pass grade.
Research Report (RR)
The 7,500 words Research Report is the core work in RAP while it contributes a part of your degree classification. It is significantly different from your ACCA exam while no “model” answer in your selected project.
What factors are driving a successful Research Report?
Ability to evaluate and analyse information in your report
and
Focus on accounting and business issues within organization
No matter which topics you choose for the Research Report, it is important to keep in mind the reported financial performance of an organization is the outcome of it’s business activities and not the causes of business performance.
Therefore, once you explain the organisation’s financial performance or changes, you must look into its business environment, economy and other business related issues to understand.
You are advised to consider your own strengths and weaknesses when considering which topics to be selected in your RR. If you are good at management accounting but not in financial accounting, would it be better to choose a topic in management accounting?
For which topic to choose from 20 areas of topics in the list, you can refer to the information pack published by ACCA & OBU in each submission session.
Word Limit
-
Research report word limit is 7,500.
-
If your report is not more than 7,000 words, it will not pass.
-
Only the parts of submission within the word limit will be marked and the rest will be ignored.
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Skills and Learning Statement (SLS)
SLS is made up of 2 parts, one being a reflective statement of 2,000 words provides evidence of self-reflection by answering 4 questions and the other requirement is to give a fifteen minute presentation containing 10-20 slides to your mentor.
In the first part, the questions you have to answer in your reflective statement are –
QUESTION 1
Reflect on what you have learnt from the meetings with your Mentor, including the presentation that you gave to your Mentor?
QUESTION 3
How have you demonstrated your interpersonal and communication skills during the project work?
QUESTION 2
To what extent do you think you have achieved the RAP research objectives you set?
QUESTION 4
Reflect on how undertaking the RAP helped you in your accountancy studies and/or current employment role?
You no need to write exactly 500 words in each answer for the questions above. You may write between 350 and 650 words on each question within the total word limit of 2,000 words.
OBU markers would like to see you provide evidence that you know your strengths and weaknesses. If you only describe what happened during your work in RAP, then you will not pass the SLS.
The second part of SLS is to prepare 10-20 slides for a fifteen minutes presentation.
Your mentor will be asked to confirm that the presentation is conducted effectively and Oxford Brooks University will also require evidence to be submitted with the RAP.
The suggested content and presentation of slides are –
01
Interesting, clear and easy to read
02
Including graphs, pictures and charts in addition to text
03
Starting with clear opening slide with title and your ACCA number
04
Supporting your verbal presentation and summarising the research report
Mentor
You need to have a Registered Mentor to help on your RAP submission. The Mentor has two roles, firstly, Mentor support your preparation of RAP by providing advice and feedback to you.
Secondly, Mentor is asked by Oxford Brookes University to confirm your RAP submission is your own work.
3 Meetings
Three meetings with your Mentor are minimum while the meetings provide your Mentor with the opportunity to guide your RAP work. In addition, you are benefited from the meeting to develop your personal skills such as questioning, listening and presenting.
These meetings contribute to your development of your graduate skills when you work on SLS.
Class of BSc degree
Given you pass both research report and skills learning statement, you class of BSc degree will then be based on –
No. 1
The average mark you gain from ACCA exam paper F4 (LW) to F9 (FM).
No. 2
The grade you achieve in RAP.
If you gain exemption from any of three fundamental level papers, that is F4 (LW), F5 (PM) and F6 (TX), no marks available so that they will not be included in the calculation of average mark.