Hello. I just wanna get this off my chest for a bit.
DISCLAIMER: This is merely my own understanding of the whole programme. Please don't flame me for wrong information lol.
WHAT ARE CAT AND ACCA?
CAT stands for Certified Accounting Technician. Yeah, people laugh at the term "technician" but in layman terms it is just another name for Foundation in Accountancy. No idea why they used CAT though; probably because they don't want people to mess it up with Foundation in Arts? Anyways, one thing I dislike is when people ask me what I'm currently doing. When I say CAT, EVERYONE doesn't get it. So I just say "Oh I'm doing accounting." which sounds pretty weak but then it's easier than explaining the whole shit a gazillion times to different people and yet they STILL don't get it. :(
ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Alright, so here's the thing. ACCA is a professional body (sort of like a club, really.) who offers qualifications around the world. So, instead of a getting a degree, we're getting a professional certificate of qualification from ACCA.
Now, why do I not want to get a degree instead? Okay, a lot of degree graduates end up going back to university to obtain the ACCA qualification too. So, now that they offer us a faster path, which is CAT-ACCA, why not give it a shot? Why aren't I allowed to challenge myself?
DURATION OF WHOLE COURSE
3 years. Yes. 1 year for CAT and 2 years for ACCA, that is, if you're capable of passing all the papers in one shot. I was from March 2014 intake, so my CAT ends in June 2015. Why? Because ACCA doesn't offer examinations in February/March, so we have to delay our semester until June. Get it?
NUMBER OF PAPERS
How many papers do I have to take? 9 papers for CAT and 11 papers for ACCA. But wait. I need to clear all my foundation papers first before I can officially proceed to take ACCA papers. So what if I fail? I'd have to go back to CAT and complete the failed papers. Yes, I'd have to wait for another 6 months. Fortunately, ACCA now offers September examinations. Of course, who doesn't wanna pass in one shot though? The thing about taking up CAT and continuing to ACCA rather than taking FIA or Ausmat first is because when you go to ACCA, you are allowed exemptions for the first three papers. Yes, you save 6 months of your time.
DURATION OF SEMESTERS
Which brings me to my next point. Unlike the usual university semesters, we only have 2 semesters in a year. The duration of our semesters is the same: 4 months of classes, 1 month of on and off revision classes and then we're off to the battle. The longest break we can have is 3 weeks. So total time: 6 months per sem. I know, normal degree students (as far as I know in Malaysia) can have multiple semesters in a year, some longer than the other. Their short sems can be 7 weeks only, what?! And then they're on sem break already. And yeah, we only take 3 (if you're keen, 4) subjects/papers per semester, unlike the usual 4-5 subjects and sometimes 6 for some people per semester in degree courses. YES. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE YOU INSENSITIVE PRICK.
GRADING SYSTEM
What about our grading system? Oh, we don't have grades. Just marks.
This is our examination status. My results aren't that great, I know, don't judge. Unlike degree students, we don't have CGPA nor GPA. We don't have As, Bs or Cs. Naturally, we don't have such thing as President's List or Dean's List. We do have World Prizes though, which is an award that comes in a form of scholarship IF you get 100% or the highest in the world.
So when people insult me for not getting As, I'm utterly speechless because I honestly don't know the basis for an A. Is it 80 and above? 85? Oh well. My life isn't defined by strings of As anyway. And it sure as hell doesn't mean you can define me.
When I tell people that we don't have CGPAs and only Passes and Fails, what I always get is "Oh that's so nice!!!" Really? Do you wanna go through what we're going through? Seriously I wish people would be more understanding and be sensitive.
FINALS
Oh, and about finals, our examination results is 100% based on finals. We don't have any assignments nor presentations (unless it's MPU subjects, but different story.). There are risks to it.
The first 7 papers we have to take: FA1, MA1, FA2, MA2, FAB, FMA and FFA (not like you care HAHAHA but just to list it out) are computer-based, which means we take the exam on the computer, and voila instant examination results! Sounds so exciting isn't it? Wellllll, it depends on what kind of a student you are. It's freaking nerve wrecking when you click the OK button though. Heart pumpin', adrenaline rushin' sort of thang going on for a few long seconds.
Oh I forgot to add that all our examinations are external, so the rest of the written papers are to be sent to the UK to be marked. Which is why we have to wait for 2 freaking long months until our results are out. The results come in texts by the way....fuck.
Ok. I'm not typing this just to show how tough or how premium ACCA is, but I just want people to know that even though we may be different, we have our own difficulties too, and if you don't know much about something, don't judge too quickly. I am more than happy to share what I go through each day if you are willing to listen. I do believe that even though we are all on different paths now, our goal is the same:
DISCLAIMER: This is merely my own understanding of the whole programme. Please don't flame me for wrong information lol.
WHAT ARE CAT AND ACCA?
CAT stands for Certified Accounting Technician. Yeah, people laugh at the term "technician" but in layman terms it is just another name for Foundation in Accountancy. No idea why they used CAT though; probably because they don't want people to mess it up with Foundation in Arts? Anyways, one thing I dislike is when people ask me what I'm currently doing. When I say CAT, EVERYONE doesn't get it. So I just say "Oh I'm doing accounting." which sounds pretty weak but then it's easier than explaining the whole shit a gazillion times to different people and yet they STILL don't get it. :(
ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Alright, so here's the thing. ACCA is a professional body (sort of like a club, really.) who offers qualifications around the world. So, instead of a getting a degree, we're getting a professional certificate of qualification from ACCA.
Now, why do I not want to get a degree instead? Okay, a lot of degree graduates end up going back to university to obtain the ACCA qualification too. So, now that they offer us a faster path, which is CAT-ACCA, why not give it a shot? Why aren't I allowed to challenge myself?
DURATION OF WHOLE COURSE
3 years. Yes. 1 year for CAT and 2 years for ACCA, that is, if you're capable of passing all the papers in one shot. I was from March 2014 intake, so my CAT ends in June 2015. Why? Because ACCA doesn't offer examinations in February/March, so we have to delay our semester until June. Get it?
NUMBER OF PAPERS
How many papers do I have to take? 9 papers for CAT and 11 papers for ACCA. But wait. I need to clear all my foundation papers first before I can officially proceed to take ACCA papers. So what if I fail? I'd have to go back to CAT and complete the failed papers. Yes, I'd have to wait for another 6 months. Fortunately, ACCA now offers September examinations. Of course, who doesn't wanna pass in one shot though? The thing about taking up CAT and continuing to ACCA rather than taking FIA or Ausmat first is because when you go to ACCA, you are allowed exemptions for the first three papers. Yes, you save 6 months of your time.
DURATION OF SEMESTERS
Which brings me to my next point. Unlike the usual university semesters, we only have 2 semesters in a year. The duration of our semesters is the same: 4 months of classes, 1 month of on and off revision classes and then we're off to the battle. The longest break we can have is 3 weeks. So total time: 6 months per sem. I know, normal degree students (as far as I know in Malaysia) can have multiple semesters in a year, some longer than the other. Their short sems can be 7 weeks only, what?! And then they're on sem break already. And yeah, we only take 3 (if you're keen, 4) subjects/papers per semester, unlike the usual 4-5 subjects and sometimes 6 for some people per semester in degree courses. YES. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE YOU INSENSITIVE PRICK.
GRADING SYSTEM
What about our grading system? Oh, we don't have grades. Just marks.
This is our examination status. My results aren't that great, I know, don't judge. Unlike degree students, we don't have CGPA nor GPA. We don't have As, Bs or Cs. Naturally, we don't have such thing as President's List or Dean's List. We do have World Prizes though, which is an award that comes in a form of scholarship IF you get 100% or the highest in the world.
So when people insult me for not getting As, I'm utterly speechless because I honestly don't know the basis for an A. Is it 80 and above? 85? Oh well. My life isn't defined by strings of As anyway. And it sure as hell doesn't mean you can define me.
When I tell people that we don't have CGPAs and only Passes and Fails, what I always get is "Oh that's so nice!!!" Really? Do you wanna go through what we're going through? Seriously I wish people would be more understanding and be sensitive.
FINALS
Oh, and about finals, our examination results is 100% based on finals. We don't have any assignments nor presentations (unless it's MPU subjects, but different story.). There are risks to it.
The first 7 papers we have to take: FA1, MA1, FA2, MA2, FAB, FMA and FFA (not like you care HAHAHA but just to list it out) are computer-based, which means we take the exam on the computer, and voila instant examination results! Sounds so exciting isn't it? Wellllll, it depends on what kind of a student you are. It's freaking nerve wrecking when you click the OK button though. Heart pumpin', adrenaline rushin' sort of thang going on for a few long seconds.
Oh I forgot to add that all our examinations are external, so the rest of the written papers are to be sent to the UK to be marked. Which is why we have to wait for 2 freaking long months until our results are out. The results come in texts by the way....fuck.
Ok. I'm not typing this just to show how tough or how premium ACCA is, but I just want people to know that even though we may be different, we have our own difficulties too, and if you don't know much about something, don't judge too quickly. I am more than happy to share what I go through each day if you are willing to listen. I do believe that even though we are all on different paths now, our goal is the same:
To conquer the future.
x
Celine
Hi..I've just started ACCA.Can you please give me some tips on ACCA (eg In how many years I can complete ACCA,how to plan my exams,how to give computer based exams etc)I've just started F1 course.
ReplyDeleteHello! I'm so sorry for the late reply. I hope you have passed your F1!
DeleteYou may finish your ACCA course in 2.5 years if you start with F1. So the best route is to take 3 papers per semester. For example, for your first sem, you may take F1,2,3. Then 4,5,6 in the next, and it goes on. Your last sem would be the last 2 optional papers. That is, provided if you passed everything in one go.
For computer-based exams, and also every ACCA paper actually, the best tip I can give you is to just keep doing past year papers. If not, look for Kaplan and BPP practice exercises. They will come in handy when tackling finals. You don't have to be super hardworking. Understand the concepts instead of memorizing blindly. It will be faster that way.
I hope I have answered your queries. :)
Awww thankyou so much for replying and helping me.I thought you are not going to reply����
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ReplyDelete