ACCA FAQS: What do I need to know about ACCA Exemptions?

What are ACCA exemptions? ... The ACCA qualification is designed for students without any foundational knowledge of accounting and finance. If you do have ... Courses ACCA CIMA CPD AAT FRM FIA(ACCA) Login GetStarted--Free Learnsignalblog Insights,adviceandtipsforbusyaccountingprofessionals.Learnsignal'sbloghelpsboostknowledgeandenhanceprofessionalcareers.   Blog / ACCAFAQS:WhatdoIneedtoknowaboutACCAExemptions? ACCAFAQS:WhatdoIneedtoknowaboutACCAExemptions? byConorMotyer ManystudentsareeligibleforACCAexemptions–butjustbecauseyoucanclaimanexemptiondoesn’tmeanyoushould.Readthisarticletofindoutthetruth. WhatareACCAexemptions? AmIeligibleforACCAexemptions? WhatdoACCAexemptionscost? ShouldIclaimmyACCAexemptions? ThisispartofourACCAFAQsseries,whereweanswerthequestionshundredsofyouhaveaskedus.Learnsignalalsorunregularwebinarsaddressingyourquestionsliveandoftenrefertoyourfrequentlyaskedquestionsonourpopularpodcastshow–ForgettheNumbers:TheStudentAccountingShow. Youcansubmityourownquestionshere. WhatareACCAexemptions? TheACCAqualificationisdesignedforstudentswithoutanyfoundationalknowledgeofaccountingandfinance.Ifyoudohavefoundationalknowledgebecauseyou’vetakencertaincoursesandqualificationsyoucanoftengetanexemptionfromlower-levelpapers. Thismeansyoudon’thavetositthatpaperunlessyouwantto.(Andwe’llcomebacktowhetherornotyoushouldacceptanexemption.) Instead,youcanclaimyourexemption,payafee,andyou’reautomaticallyawardedapassforthatexam. AmIeligibleforanyACCAexemptions? Whetheryou’reeligibleforexemptionsdependsonyoureducationsofar.YoucanpotentiallyreceiveanexemptiononanyoralloftheAppliedKnowledgeorAppliedSkillspapers. Eligiblequalificationsincludecertaincertificatesandrelevantfoundation,Bachelororpostgraduatedegreesandotherprofessionalqualifications.Forexample,sayyouholdaBachelor’sinBusinessFinancefromtheUniversityofDurham,UK.You’dbeeligibleforACCAexemptionsonthethreeAppliedKnowledgepapers,withfurtherexemptionspossibledependingonyourBachelormodules. Checkoutthe ACCAexemptioncalculatortofindoutwhichACCAexemptionsyou’reeligiblefor. HowcanIclaimACCAexemptions? YouapplyforexemptionswhenyoufirstregisterasanACCAstudent,orifyou’vegainednewqualificationssinceregistering.It’simportantthatyoudon’tenteranycoursesormakeanydecisionsaboutnextstepsuntilyourexemptionisconfirmed,astheACCAwon’trefundanymoneyyouspendmistakenly. TheexactprocesstoclaimyourACCAexemptionsdependsonfactorslikewhereyouareinyourACCAjourneyandwhereyourqualificationsarefrom. UsetheACCA’sstep-by-stepquestionnairetofindouthowyoushouldclaim.   Getyourfree interactivestudyplantodaytopassyourexams.Thisplannotonlytellsyouwhattostudyeachweek,italsogivesyouaquestiontopracticeoneachtopic.   WhatdoACCAexemptionscost? ThecostofACCAexemptionsdependsonwhereyou’resittingyourACCAexams.IntheUK,forexample,exemptionsfromAppliedKnowledgepaperscost£76eachandAppliedSkillspaperscost£103each.Thisistocoveradministrationcosts.FindoutwhatthefeesforACCAexemptionsareinyourcountryhere.   WhatifI’mnotawardedexemptionsIexpected? Exemptionsaredesignedsostudentsdon’thavetotakethesamematerialtwice.TheACCAhavetobeverycarefulnottogiveexemptionsifthecoursedoesn’tcoverthematerialinenoughdepth. Otherwiseyou’lllacktheknowledgeyouneedtoprogress,andtheoverallcredibilityoftheACCAqualificationwillsuffer. Whatthatmeansis,theACCAhavearigorousassessmentprocessbeforeofferingexemptions.Thismaymeanstudentswithsimilarqualificationsgaindifferentexemptions–becauseonecourseinonecampusmightbemoredetailedthanthesamecourseelsewhere. Soyoumightexpectanexemptionbecauseyou’vetakenanaccountingmodule,butnotbeawardeditbecausetheACCAdon’tbelieveyourcoursewasdetailedenoughtojustifytheexemption. Thatcanbefrustratingbutultimatelyit’sforyourbenefit.Ifyouweretotakeexemptionsyouweren’tentitledto,you’dstruggletopasslaterpapers.WhichbringsusneatlyontothemostimportantpointaboutACCAexemptions. ShouldIclaimmyACCAexemptions? Whenyoufirstdiscoveryouhaveexemptions,youmightbethrilled.Afterall,itmeansyouhavefewerexamstotake,andcouldpasstheACCAmorequickly.Now,thatistrue.ACCAexemptionsmeanyoudon’thavetostudythesamematerialtwice.Youcanstartattherightlevelforyourexistingunderstandingandskills.Thissavestime,andhelpsyouqualifyfortheACCAfaster. Ifyouwanttokick-startyouraccountingcareer,ACCAexemptionscanhelpyourealiseyourgoalsmorequickly. Butthat’snotthewholestory. TheproblemwithACCAexemptionsisthattheAppliedKnowledgeandAppliedSkillspapersexistforareason.Andthatreasonistobuildyourfoundationalknowledgeandunderstandingbeforeyou’retestedinamoreadvancedwayatStrategicProfessionallevel. TheACCAjourneyisdesignedsothoseearlierpapersfeedintothelaterpapers.Andthatcanbeanissue,ifyouhaven’tsatthoseearlierpapers. Thewholepointofexemptionsisthatyou’vealreadycoveredthematerial.Butsometimesyoumighthavecoveredthematerialalongtimeago,ornotinthesamedepth.Whichcouldthenmeanyoustrugglewithlaterpapersbecauseyoudon’thavetherightfoundation. Forexample,FinancialReporting(whatwasF7)connectsbacktoFinancialAccounting(whatwasF3),butmanystudentshaveexemptionsfromFinancialAccounting. LearnsignalACCAtutorWojtekLyjaknotesthatmanystudentsstrugglewiththefundamentalsofFinancialReportingforexactlythisreason,becausemanycoursesdon’tcovertheimportantconceptsoffinancialaccountinginasmuchdepthastheACCA. Sowhatshouldyoudo? Definitelyreadthesyllabusfromtheearlierpaperbeforeyoudecidewhethertoclaimyourexemption.Andifyou’realearnsignalmember,takesomepracticequestionsfromthatpapertoo–toseeifyou’regettingthemallrightwithouteffort. Thenbehonestwithyourself.Ifyouhaveadeepunderstandingoftheearlierpaper,thenclaimingyourACCAexemptioncanbeagreatidea.Butifyoudon’t,maybetakingthatearlierpaperwillhelpyoupassallyourexamsmorequickly. Conclusion ACCAexemptionsaren’talwaysagoodthing MoststudentsthinkaboutACCAexemptionslikeafreepass.You’reeitherthrilledtohaveexemptions,orfrustratednotto.Especiallyifyouthinkyoudeservethem. Butthethingis,theendgoalwiththeACCAisn’tjustto‘passyourexams’.No.Instead,theendgoal istobecomeamoreastute,moreknowledgeableprofessional. That’swhyemployerslovestudentswhotooktheACCA–becauseyouknowyourstuff,andcanaddmorevalueintheworkplace. Withthatinmind,youdon’twantto‘gloss’theearlierpapers–evenifyoucan.It’scrucialthatyouhaveadeepunderstandingofallthecoursematerial,tomaximiseyourlikelihoodofpassingbutalsotomaximisethebenefitsofACCAmembership. Ifyoualreadyhaveagenuine,deepunderstandingthenclaimingACCAexemptionsisagoodidea.Butifyou’rehonestwithyourselfandyoudon’t,youshouldprobablysitthepaper. GiveyourselfthebestchancetosucceedinyourupcomingACCAexamswithafreeinteractivestudyplanthatwillhelpguideandsupportyourightuptoexamday.  Topics: ACCA Tweet Recent Popular Categories CentralCounterparties CountryRisk ConvexityFormula CleanandDirtyPrice BasicIndicatorApproach ACCAExamFees2022:EverythingYouNeedtoKnow ACCAExamDatesfor2022 HowDifficultisPassingACCA?AnHonestReview 7oftheBestYouTubeChannelsforAccountingStudents 5GreatReasonstoChooseaCareerinAccounting ACCA(196) CIMA(137) CPD(118) FRM(117) AAT(99) Accounting(28) FRMCourse(11) ACCAstudy(3) ACCAexam(2) ACCAonline(2) Career(2) CareerTips(2) ContinuousProfessionalDevelopment(2) passACCA(2) ACCAFAQ(1) ACCAresults(1) ACCAsalary(1) ACCAtips(1) AccountingCPD(1) CIMAexams(1) CPDcourses(1) CPDforaccountants(1) Management(1) StudyforACCA(1) Technology(1) WhyACCA?(1) studyACCA(1) seeall ACCACourses CIMACourses CPDCourses FIA(ACCA)Courses ACCAProducts ACCAProducts CIMAProducts AATProducts FIA(ACCA)Products FAQs ContactUs PrivacyPolicy Terms&Conditions Facebook Twitter LinkedIn ©2019learnsignal