Study accountancy and graduate with a university degree

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If you are planning to do professional Accoutancy training, you need both a university degree and a recognised professional qualification. All of Bacheclor of Accountancy (BAcc) degrees (single and joint) are fully accredited by ICAS, CIMA and ACCA who will grant you significant exemptions from their exams when you have a Stirling degree.

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Entry requirements

Year 1

Highers BBBB.
A-levels BBC.
IB Diploma with a total of 32 points.
HNC or HND with Bs in graded units.
Access courses and other UK/EU and international qualifications are also welcomed.

Year 2

Scottish HND in Accountancy with B's in graded units in Accountancy. English HND with Merits and Distinctions.
A-Levels or Advanced Highers ABB (including Accounting and Economics).
General entrance requirements apply.

International students can study our Undergraduate Certificate if they do not possess the necessary entrance requirements to be admitted directly to the first year of an undergraduate degree course.

Other information

If examinations are taken over two sittings, or there are repeats or upgrades, the entrance requirements may be higher.

Required subjects

English Standard Grade (2), Intermediate 2 (C), GCSE (C) or equivalent. Applicants with English Standard Grade (3) will also be considered, although alternative entry conditions may be made in this case.
Mathematics Standard Grade (3), Intermediate 2, GCSE (C) or equivalent.

Information on possible sources of funding

Full-time (three modules per semester).
Part-time (one or two modules per semester).
February entry also available.

The Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc) course is designed specifically for students planning a career in the Accountancy profession.

Semesters 1 – 3
You will take core modules in the following:

• Accounting I
  An understanding of the basic concepts required to
  prepare and analyse financial statements.
• Accounting II
  An examination of the basic accounting techniques used by management accountants to help in decision making and in the formulation of future plans.
• Finance I
  An examination of the two key aspects of corporate finance: the financing decision and the investment decision. The evaluation of investment risk and return. Introduction to financial securities and financial markets. Basic principles of security valuation.

You are also required to study Economics, Business Management and Business Law.

Semesters 4 – 8
You will develop a critical understanding and analytical approach to subjects directly relevant to Accountancy.

Core advanced modules include:

• External Reporting
• Finance II
• Taxation
• Advanced Financial Accounting
• Accounting Information and Employment
• Quantitative Methods for Business Decisions
• Personal Financial Planning
• Auditing
• Accounting Dissertation

You will choose further advanced modules in accountancy and finance from a list of electives.

You may take the BAcc degree as a three-year specialist degree or a four-year Honours degree. Students taking the BAcc Honours degree must write a dissertation on an accounting topic of their choice.

We also offer a BAcc Honours degree in Accountancy and Finance, which provides considerable scope for you to study a variety of topics. The BAcc Honours degree in Accountancy can also be combined with other subjects, please see 'Combined Degrees' section on the full list of subjects offered.

View full module descriptions

Teaching is by a combination of formal lectures, seminars, practical workshops and tutorials. The course of small group tutorials provides feedback and reinforcement of lecture topics throughout each semester. Assessment is by a combination of coursework and examinations.

For Honours students, all advanced modules undertaken during the final two years of the course count equally towards their overall degree classification.

*Students can also exit with a BA in this subject combination.

Where are our graduates now?

Accountancy graduates are currently working in 21 countries around the world including: USA, Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. They are contributing to the performance of both finance-related organisations, as well as a range of other private and public sector bodies including:

• JP Morgan 
• Ernst & Young 
• Unilever 
• Biggart Baillie 
• IBM 
• Grant Thornton 
• NHS Scotland 
• PriceWaterhouseCoopers 
• Diageo 
• Deloitte 
• Audit Commission 
• HSBC 
• Royal Bank of Scotland 
• Arcadia Group 
• Halifax Bank of Scotland 
• BBC 
• KPMG 
• Goldman Sachs 
• Lloyds Banking Group 
• Proctor & Gamble 
• Morgan Stanley 

Recent graduates from Stirling’s Accountancy degree have started their careers in the following roles:

• Audit Associate, Deloitte UK
• Trainee Financial Advisor, Greaves, West & Ayre
• Graduate Finance Analyst, Aston Martin
• Part Qualified Accountant, Yousaf & Co Ltd

Graduates who left Stirling up to ten years ago have now forged careers in the following areas:

• Chartered Accountant, Dickson Middleton
• Senior Associate, Deloitte UK
• Auditor, Audit Scotland
• Assurance Technician, Ernst & Young
• Management Accountant, Standard Life plc
• Business Services Manager, RSM Tenon

Some of our more established graduates are currently employed as: Senior Partner in their own firm Chief Financial Officer, Energy Australia Finance Director, BiP Solutions VP (Operational Risk Management), J.P. Morgan Head of Quality Review, ICAS Investment Director, Bank of Scotland Equity An Accountancy degree doesn’t only set you up for a career in the financial sector; some of our graduates have built upon their initial university experience and are now working as Solicitors (McClure Naismith), Reporters (EquityRadar), Social Worker (Barnardos), Editor/Cameramen (BBC Scotland), and even a High Court Judge (Court of Session, Edinburgh). A wide range of employers recognise that a student with an accounting/finance background has had a strong business-focused education which will have equipped them with important skills (numerical, communication, problem-solving etc). This explains why graduates from this department have such a strong employment record.

Career Development Centre

The University has an excellent Career Development Centre, situated in 3A1, which not only provides access to professional career advice and employment resources, but also runs career planning units and workshops.

The Careers Liaison Officer for the Division is Sarah Smith and she offers a link between the Division and the Career Development Centre.

Annual Visits

There are annual visits by professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) as well as prize-giving seminars by firms such as KPMG. Students should watch the notice board in this section of this web site for notification of events such as these.

Chartered Accountancy Training

Positions for Chartered Accountancy training (CA) are normally advertised in the autumn prior to graduation (semester 7), many firms taking part in a milk round of interviews in October and November each year. (Third year students can apply for these positions in semester 5 for deferred entry provided they have a strong academic record from school and university.) It is very important for third year students hoping to get a CA training contract to prepare application forms and cvs before returning into fourth year, as the deadlines set by firms can be as early as mid-October. There are CA positions advertised throughout the year of course with the 3 Chartered Accountancy Institutes. CIMA, ACCA and CIPFA vacancies come up throughout the year and students should check the relevant web sites

• cimaglobal.com/cimatraining
• uk.accaglobal.com
• cipfa.org.uk/choices
• ca-training.co.uk

Anderson Anderson & Brown

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP, are an Aberdeen based chartered accountants. They feel it is important to encourage new talent into accountancy. AAB are authorised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) to train CA students and are an approved training practice for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA).
www.aab.co.uk/careers/graduate-recruitment