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Kaplan Financial 1 Oct2010

ACCAOXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY

BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting

Degree Programme

Kaplan Financial


Why should you do the BSc Honours degreein Applied Accounting?

A great, satisfying personal achievement - something for you and your friendsand family to be proud of!

Improves your career prospects if you decide to change employer and helpsprogression within a company if you are staying

Gives you a change from sitting exams, helping you to refresh and re-focus

Develops your communication, analytical & report writing skills

Helps you understand how exam topics work in real business environments

If you’ve qualified, will count towards your required CPD points

You will have a degree from a well-respected English University to your name.

‘Easiest and cheapest way of getting a degree!’- Quote from a student who has recently completed the course.


Overview

The BSc (Hons) in Applied Accountancy is a joint initiative between ACCA and Oxford Brookes University(voted best modern University for seven consecutive years by The Times newspaper). The degreeprogramme was designed to recognise the quality of the ACCA professional qualification and to providestudents with the opportunity to gain an internationally recognised academic qualification, whilst taking theirACCA examinations.

The degree is a highly regarded qualification that is based on practical, professional, employer-drivenaccounting requirements. It enables students to prove that not only have they mastered the knowledgerequired for the degree, but that they have the key skills required by graduate employers.

The degree is awarded on the basis of successful performance in the Fundamentals level of the new syllabusACCA examinations and a Research and Analysis Project (RAP) assessed by Oxford Brookes University in linewith their normal degree assessment criteria.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, you must have completed the Fundamentals level of the new ACCA qualification (F1 – F9) andspecifically have sat and passed papers F7, F8 & F9. If awarded exemptions from papers F7, F8 or F9 youwill not be eligible to join the degree scheme. You are also required to hold a minimum English languagequalification (e.g. GCSE English) or equivalent (which includes ACCA paper F4).

You are given the opportunity to opt into the degree at the time of initial registration with ACCA. For thosewho do not opt in at this time you can do so on the ACCA website, any time prior to passing papers F7, F8or F9. Your status is indicated on each examination entry form, which is sent out in February and Augusteach year. Please note that you must complete your RAP within ten years from your first date of registrationwith ACCA (see ACCA website for details).

You must also complete the online Ethics module BEFORE you can submit your RAP. Deadlines are asfollows:

o to submit your RAP in May, complete the Ethics module by 15 April of the same year

o to submit your RAP in November, complete the Ethics module by 15 October of the same year

Students will only be permitted 3 attempts to complete the degree.

Requirements

To obtain the degree, you need to have passed not only the relevant ACCA examinations (see above) butalso have to produce the following output specifically for Oxford Brookes:

Pass the Research and Analysis Project (RAP) which consists of 2 parts:

o 6500 word Research Project (RP)o 2000 word Skills & Learning Statement (SLS)

Deliver a presentation of your findings to the Project Mentor and peer group

Attend 3 mentor meetings with your Project Mentor

Oxford Brookes provides a list of 20 project titles, which should cater for the majority of projects beingundertaken. It is strongly advised that you adhere to this list of topics, which can be adapted to suitindividual interests and/or company requirements. These can be found on the ACCA website.


When to do the degree

Before starting the degree, make sure you have sufficient time available to conduct your research andprepare your reports, ensuring you have a good work / study / life balance. Most students who work full-time will require 5-6 months in order to obtain and analyse their data and then and prepare their reports,ready for submission. If you are a full-time student then you may be able to complete the degree in ashorter amount of time, provided you are able to obtain all the research information you require.

There 3 key times to do the degree are:

After Fundamentals levelAfter Essentials moduleWhen all exams are completed (this can count as part of your CPD requirement)

Many students prefer to wait until they have passed all their exams before attempting the degree.

Project Submission deadlines

Instead of exam deadlines, there are RAP submission deadlines. The university allows the submission ofRAP reports during two periods each calendar year. The submission deadlines for 2010 are:

November 2010 May 2011

Latest date to complete the Professional Ethics module 15 October 2010 15 April 2011

Earliest receipt of RAP by Oxford Brookes University 1 November 2010 1 May 2011

Latest receipt of RAP by Oxford Brookes University 30 November 2010 27 May 2011

Oxford Brookes University BSc Examination Board March 2011 September 2011

RAP and BSc degree results despatched 30 March 2011 28 September 2011

There is a fee payable to Oxford Brookes University when you submit your RAP, which is currently £90.

Student Responsibility

It is your responsibility to drive the process (one of the skills being assessed is ‘planning’) but with the aid ofa mentor to guide you throughout the process. You should personally ensure you:

are eligible for the degree have passed the relevant ACCA papers prior to submission of the RAP completed the online Ethics module within the correct period are registered with Oxford Brookes University (although this should be automatic if registered with

ACCA) choose your mentor submit all relevant documentation on time and in line with requirements have access to computer and Internet facilities for research purposes.


Classification of Degree

Students must pass both the Research Project (RP) and the Skills & Learning Statement (SLS) in order to besuccessful in the degree.

Your RP will be awarded one of four grades: A, B, C or failYour SLS will be awarded one of two grades: Satisfactory or unsatisfactory

In order to pass overall, you must achieve A, B or C in the RP and Satisfactory in the SLS.

Degree classification is determined by the average of the exam results achieved in the specified ACCApapers (F4 – F9 inclusive) and also the grade (A, B or C) that you achieve in your RP.

Class of DegreeACCA average mark

First Upper Second Lower Second Third

68 or more A, B, C - - -

67 A, B C - -

66 A B, C - -

60-65 - A, B, C - -

59 - A, B C -

58 - A B, C -

54-57 - - A, B, C -

53 - - A, B C

50-52 - - - A, B, C

Role of the Project Mentor

The project mentor’s role in the process is varied and consists of the following aspects:

Supporting / advising you throughout the process Monitoring your progress during the project Verification of your progress / output / submission Confirmation of process in line with University regulations

The above is to be achieved via three formal meetings between you and the mentor during the course of theproject. Oxford Brookes guidelines stipulate that these meetings should last around 30 minutes each butKaplan’s experience to date has shown that there is no one standard time period and the meetings(sometimes more than three) last according to individual your requirements.

The choice of mentor is critical to the process and can be any of the following:

A qualified ACCA Your employer Kaplan tutor

The mentor also has responsibility to ensure that the relevant mentoring forms are completed correctly. Thefinal submission form needs to be counter-signed by the mentor to verify a number of necessary regulations.


How Kaplan Financial adds value to the process

Kaplan provides a formal three-day course structure spread over 5-6 months. You will be able to contact theProject Mentor in between the formal days if you require further advice and support.

Meeting 1An introduction to the programme with sessions covering detailed regulations and requirements, reportwriting skills and the critical selection of project title to suit your requirements.

Meeting 2 (about 3 months into the project)Involves individual one to one meetings between you and the Project Mentor to check upon progress,highlight and resolve obstacles and discuss research findings to date. Work should also be in progress ondeveloping the report.

Meeting 3 (about 5 months into the process)This incorporates a 20 minute presentation to the Project Mentor and peer group, with individual meetings(to suit requirements) after the presentations. Preparation work will have been monitored prior to this day.

In between these days our experience has been one of extensive communication between students and theProject Mentor, which adds value to the process in a variety of ways.

You will also receive the Kaplan Publishing Oxford Brookes text book (approved by both ACCA and theUniversity) which will guide you through the process.

What next?

Please contact one of these Kaplan centres for more information on the individual courses available.

Centre EmailBirmingham [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

For more information on the degree programme, you can also read the information on the ACCA website:

www.accaglobal.com/students/bsc

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