ACCA UK 2025 graduate opportunities

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If you're interested in a career in finance, then you'll know how important it is to gain a recognized accountancy qualification. Whatever your ambitions in the business world, a background in accountancy will ensure you have the skills and knowledge to achieve them. And this is where we come in.

Why ACCA?
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the largest and fastest-growing global professional accountancy body with 296,000 students and 115,000 members in 170 countries. We aim to offer first choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. ACCA offers you a highly respected route into accountancy, and the opportunity to become part of a global business network which will open doors for you at all stages of your career.

Opportunities
Accountancy and finance have always been at the heart of every business, but now the profession holds more challenges and opportunities than ever before. There are a wide variety of exciting career options in all industries often leading to senior management positions.

The advantage of having the ACCA Qualification is that throughout your career any company you want to work for will know that you have the skills and knowledge to do your job to the highest standards. It is highly respected and recognised around the world and leads to great career opportunities.

The ACCA Qualification is designed to offer flexibility and choice to our students - you can choose how and when you study, how many exams to take and which areas to specialise in.

Case studies

Name: James Pritchard
Role: Large Corporate Analyst, Lloyds TSB

I was looking for a good entry into business and had read that a lot of business people had been accountants in the past. Accountancy offers a huge number of transferable skills. I didn’t know much about accountancy when I started and I was debunking myths as I worked through the qualification.

ACCA makes me feel very professional and also quite privileged. The qualification is something that’s worth achieving. ACCA is very rigorous and gives you really good building blocks based on your own areas of interest. As an accountant you are propelled into business at quite a high level. Having this really solid base provided by the ACCA gives you a real confidence.

I feel valued by the organisation. It listens to its members and makes sure it meets our needs. It carries out surveys and encourages people to comment and share their thoughts. It is constantly evolving. Plus it is very colourful internationally. You are part of a worldwide international body and with accountancy standards harmonising everywhere now this is particularly important. I feel like I am on the crest of a wave.

I was speaking to a senior banker recently who said that the ACCA was the businessman’s accountancy qualification. To him it meant that someone had gone in to accountancy because they wanted to work in business. ACCA doesn’t ignore the softer side either. You’ve got to develop the technical skills but it also helps you with managing people and understanding how organisations work.

Ultimately, ACCA is about flexibility and options. By qualifying with ACCA you aren’t limiting yourself at an early stage in your career and what with the continuous professional development, well, the fun never stops!

Training & profiles

Graduate Training
You’re only three steps away from becoming a qualified accountant and gaining your ‘ACCA’ letters. ACCA membership comprises of Exams, Ethics and Experience.

Exams
Students will need to complete 14 papers in total. However students with relevant degrees from a recognised university may be eligible for exemptions for up to nine papers in the Fundamentals level. The breadth of syllabus will mean that you will gain an understanding in all areas of accountancy before you choose what area you wish to specialise in.

Ethics
Professional ethics is at the heart of the ACCA Qualification. You will have to complete an online ethics module that has been designed to test you on a range of ethical situations and what your decisions would be. ACCA is a leader in developing the profession globally and so it is important that the accountants we train are ethically aware and responsible.

Experience
A key component of the ACCA Qualifications is practical experience. Students will need to complete three-years’ relevant practical experience. If you have undertaken relevant work experience before you started the ACCA Qualification than this can be counted towards the total. Experience combined with your examination results will provide invaluable proof of your abilities to future employers. During training you can work in any business sector, and even change employers if you wish to gain more variety of experience.

Graduate Partners
There are graduate training positions available within a range of organisations that offer the ACCA Qualification. KPMG, Orange, Transport for London, Nationwide, Abbey, Standard Chartered, Welsh Audit Office, BDO and Centrica are just some of the organisations that offer graduate placements. For more information about these schemes visit the ACCA website.

ACCA Accredited Employers
These are organisations that have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to training ACCA students, providing them with structured study and training support. ACCA works closely with these Accredited Employers to ensure that students and those training them receive the best possible support and advice.