ACCA F1, F2 & F3 - BPP or DBS or ?

MartyM

Hi All

I'm considering a career change into Accountancy and have registered with ACCA. I have no accountancy experience and therefore feel it is best to sit evening courses for F1, F2 and F3, rather than home study.

The platinum courses for both BPP and DBS are approx. the same price. 660 Euro and 655 Euro respectively.

For the three papers, which course centre would people recommend? (based on lecturers, course notes and experience)

BPP:
F1 = Sean McLoughney
F2 = Garret Mulvin
F3 = Euan Massie

DBS:
F1 = Bill Kirwan
F2 = James Browne
F3 = Cormac Kavanagh

For these first three papers I will take CBEs (Computer Based Exams)….if that makes any difference to peoples advice?!

Also, from reading threads here, I get the impression that BPPs course notes may be better/more detailed than Kaplan course notes? (DBS use Kaplan I think?)

Thanks!

sue72

Hi Martym

I think you are mad to pay those prices for the courses. just get the study notes, revision book and the ipass cd and you will pass the exams. I am in teh same situation, I am considering a career change and just completed and passed F2 last months by ordering the books from BPP online. went through the study text, then the revision book, then the exam questions. it is not too hard. probably cost around €80/90 euro then the exam fee plus you can do it at your own convience. I am moving onto F3 this month! Hope this helps !

regards, Sue

abhishek

MartyM,

DBS is the best I think! Lecturers are great, very helpful, especially with your career change they can give you sound advice on how to go forward. I know James Browne & Cormac Kavanagh personally, I've been in their classes for the last 2 years & I have gotten first class or very high second class in all the subjects, I only have 2 exams left now for ACCA & Cormac is teaching one of them & let me tell you the knowledge that man is vast, he is highly educated & all of them love a bit of craic so there will never be a dull moment! I gave 3 final level exams in December through DBS & passed with distinction in all of them, 3 of my friends were in BPP and sat for one final level exam, none of them got over 30 marks!

Good luck! And feel free to ask any more questions about DBS or the lecturers!

BPP:
F1 = Sean McLoughney . His lectures were rather interesting, and mostly what's in syllabus.
F2,F3 - i had different lecturers.

DBS - dont know any

MartyM,
if u have time and sufficient funds defo go for evening classes instead of home study. If u didnt get exemptions from F1-F3 it probably u dont have strong backround in that area >> do the classes.


abhishek
ur friends didnt get even 30 points probably because they were 2 lazy to open the books. You can pass exams with any lecturer (im talking about big 4: bpp,dbs, gcd, ind) , but the best ones will make it a pure pleasure ;]

Jame$

I might be late here, but I think the registration date for the ACCA exams in June 2009 WAS April 15th!!:o

Registering with ACCA is not the same as registering for the exams, they do not automatically 'put you down' for the exams, you have to register for each exam you want to take.

Don't panic! They have a late registration process, best get that going ASAP if you haven't already. If you haven't registered and you are thinking you may not bother now . . . .do it! At least take two by distant learning, give them a shot. You are late joing a class now anyway. Classes would have started back in February.

. . . . or are you thinking of December 2009?

abhishek

Hey Raffles, I think you're right mate, it is probably true that my friends were lazy but I was talking about people who got 1st class degrees in Accounting and Finance. I suppose all of them are probably more or less effective & efficient. But MartyM keep one thing in mind, if you go for lets say DBS and then want to change over to BPP in your finals, you'll find it hard because most lecturers who teach fundamentals teach the professional level exams aswell, and they have a certain style, and because the professional level exams include stuff from the fundamentals level you'll be better off sticking to one group of lecturers than changing around. So give it a good thought before you do anything!

And yeah I nearly missed the deadline for exam entry but got in yest because they've extended it till today the 17th April and after today there is a late fees charge for anyone trying to enter till the 8th or 9th of May I think!

And dont be swayed by the quality of the notes, there all the same, I used to study with my friends from BPP and first we thought they were different but then noticed its the same thing, just figures have been changed and what is up is down and what is down is up!LOL!

MartyM

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the replies!

If I was to sit the courses, it would be the December 2009 exams that I would be going for, I only got registered with ACCA in late March so June is too much pressure!
BUT....If I'm taking CBEs, I guess I could sit them at any time??...e.g. Study F1 at home now and take the CBE in July?

Yes, no exemptions and no accountancy/business background...not even in secondary school....apart from Bus Org! I have been a software engineer for 10 years!


At this moment in time, I'm considering taking bits of advice from you all, i.e.

* Take F1 at home and do the CBE in July, if thats possible!

* Take the courses for F2 and F3 in the second half of the year and either sit December 2009 exams OR take CBEs whenever after course completion.

I just need to make a call on who to take the courses with. I have since heard that Independent Colleges are recruiting some of the best lecturers, not sure how true that is!


Regarding home study, the question is, how much or how little to you spend on material?

Just looking at F1, both BPP and Kaplan have the following available on their websites, but its hard to know how much to purchase?

Also, some specify 2009, does this mean that not all material is updated yet for Dec 2009 exams? And should I wait longer to purchase, if newer revisions are going to be released?


BPP ACCA - Available for general purchase (More available from attending their course)
=======================================================================================
I Learn CD Rom - £40
I Pass CD Rom - £30
Audio Success CD - £15
Revision/Assessment/Tool Kit - £17
Passcards - £10
Study Text - £30
Kit Header Suspense (I assume this is also referred to "Final Mock with Online Debrief" on their website), contains the following:
- ACCA F1 CombinedPkg 1st half09 - £268
- ACCA F1 Flex-Blended 1st/09 - £59.5
- ACCA F1 PREPARE TO PASS PACK - £51.3
- ACCA F1 PC Study Buddy 1st/09 - £59.5
- ACCA F1 PRACTICE PERFECT PACK - £39.95
- ACCA F1 Final Countdown 1st/09 - £21.25


Kaplan ACCA - Available for general purchase without sitting a course (I think?)
================================================================================
ACCA Complete Learning Solution F1 Accountant in Business - £107
ACCA Complete Text F1 AB - £35
ACCA Exam Kit F1 Accountant in Business - £20
ACCA Pocket Notes F1 Accountant in Business - £12



Certainly with BPP, you could spend a little or a lot!!

Jame$

Coming at this for the first time is confusing. I know!

Firstly the books for F1, F2 and F3 will not go out of date that fast, so don't wait to buy them [but, don't buy them unless you are doing the course either!]

Only things like Tax {F6} & Law {F4} will go out of date due to budgets and changes in legislation

Next, it is too late to tackle anything but F1 for June 2009.
The books i used was Kaplan - excellent! there was three books
a] text book = you need
b] exam questions = you need
c] notebook = not really needed.

Bpp, didn't use them so can't comment

Forget cd's and the other stuff.

NB: You should check out with ACCA if you can do F1 on its own first, depending on whether you are classified as a mature student or not you may need to sit F2 and 3 first, which is crazy, but them's the rules! Their definition of a mature student is bonkers! It doesn't just mean you are over 25!

Take F1 if you can - give it a lash!!! F1 is completely non computional, and not like any of the other courses, and easy by comparison, but you still have to do it, might as well get it out of the way.

khennessy86

Hi,

i had a quick question, im exempt from f2, and was considering starting acca, can first few f's be taken early, i know the exam dates are june and december but i heard someone tell me that it might be possible to take some in sept, that way i could get through f1 and f3 before dec exams,

thanks

MartyM

khennessy86 wrote: »

Hi,

i had a quick question, im exempt from f2, and was considering starting acca, can first few f's be taken early, i know the exam dates are june and december but i heard someone tell me that it might be possible to take some in sept, that way i could get through f1 and f3 before dec exams,

thanks

My understanding is that F1, F2 and F3 can be taken as Computer Based Exams (CBEs), and that these can be taken outside of the June and December time frame. June & December are the only occasions when paper based exams are scheduled.

Thats why I was proposing taking the CBE for F1 in July for example, but everyone is referring to exam registration deadlines, so I'm confused myself!