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New university courses speed up time it takes for students to qualify
New university courses speed up time it takes for students to qualify
More than 1,200 people have expressed interest in a new Open University certificate which will allow them to skip ACCA and CIMA entry exams.
University staff said they were delighted at the interest in the course, which it started advertising earlier this month following a launch in March.
The certificate in accounting is the first such part-time distant learning course to be offered.
It offers a 12-month ‘fast track’ into accountancy enabling students to skip the five CIMA foundation level exams and three of the ACCA part one tests.
The course, which covers financial accounting, management accounting and managing organisations has won approval from both institutes.
It does not require prior qualifications and enables students to study using the latest technology.
Alan Sangster, professor of accounting at the OU Business School, explained: ‘The course was developed to fill a gap in the market and we feel it has huge appeal to a range of people.’
Robert Jelly, CIMA’s director of student development, explained: ‘CIMA has its own examination, we simply see this as another pathway to join.
It covers our minimum standards and more. We’re looking forward to lots of students joining CIMA.’
He added that CIMA was particularly attracted to the course because it caters to non-traditional students. ‘It widens the scope of people who can join,’ he said.
‘We’re comfortable with the brand name of the Open University, it has an excellent reputation as a business school and it has potentially global reach.’
A spokeswoman for the OU Business School said: ‘It looks like this has really grabbed the imagination of the public.’
More information at oubs.open.ac.uk.