ACCA

OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY

BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting

Degree Programme
Why should you do the BSc Honours degree
in Applied Accounting?

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

Improves your career prospects if you decide to change employer and helps
progression 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 degree
programme was designed to recognise the quality of the ACCA professional qualification and to provide
students with the opportunity to gain an internationally recognised academic qualification, whilst taking their
ACCA examinations.

The degree is a highly regarded qualification that is based on practical, professional, employer-driven
accounting requirements. It enables students to prove that not only have they mastered the knowledge
required 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 syllabus
ACCA examinations and a Research and Analysis Project (RAP) assessed by Oxford Brookes University in line
with their normal degree assessment criteria.

Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible, you must have completed the Fundamentals level of the new ACCA qualification (F1 – F9) and
specifically have sat and passed papers F7, F8 & F9. If awarded exemptions from papers F7, F8 or F9 you
will not be eligible to join the degree scheme. You are also required to hold a minimum English language
qualification (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 those
who do not opt in at this time you can do so on the ACCA website, any time prior to passing papers F7, F8
or F9. Your status is indicated on each examination entry form, which is sent out in February and August
each year. Please note that you must complete your RAP within ten years from your first date of registration
with ACCA (see ACCA website for details).

You must also complete the online Ethics module BEFORE you can submit your RAP. Deadlines are as
follows:
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) but
also 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 being
undertaken. It is strongly advised that you adhere to this list of topics, which can be adapted to suit
individual 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 and
prepare 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 a
shorter 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 level

After Essentials module
When 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 of
RAP reports during two periods each calendar year. The submission deadlines for 2010 are:

May 2010 November 2010

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

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

Latest receipt of RAP by Oxford Brookes University 31 May 2010 30 November 2010

Oxford Brookes University BSc Examination Board September 2010 March 2011

RAP and BSc degree results despatched 29 September 2010 End March 2011

There is a fee payable to Oxford Brookes University when you submit your RAP, which is currently £85.

Student Responsibility
It is your responsibility to drive the process (one of the skills being assessed is ‘planning’) but with the aid of
a 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 be
successful in the degree.

Your RP will be awarded one of four grades: A, B, C or fail

Your 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 ACCA
papers (F4 – F9 inclusive) and also the grade (A, B or C) that you achieve in your RP.

Class of Degree
ACCA 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 the
project. Oxford Brookes guidelines stipulate that these meetings should last around 30 minutes each but
Kaplan’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. The
final submission form needs to be counter-signed by the mentor to verify a number of necessary regulations.
For more information on the degree programme, you can also read the information on the ACCA website:

www.accaglobal.com/students/bsc