ACCA - Griffith, DBS, Independent or BPP??

Mr Schmiggles

Hi Guys

I am in the midst of a career change and have decided to follow my Dad into the world of accountancy :rolleyes:

I was wondering if anybody had any views on the above private colleges.
I am intending working towards an ACCA qualification. Which of the above are considered the best in terms of student numbers, lecturer qualifications, exam prep etc.

Just trying to get a grounding before I make a decision :eek:

Thanks in advance guys.

djk1000

Are you talking about full time or part time? I think that it's the lecturers reputation which counts more than the school. People will often do one exam in one place and another exam in another place based on where the best lecturer is based. Have a look back through this forum, there are quite a few discussions about who to go to for each subject.

travist

I was thinking of doing a few of the ACCA courses also. I believe it is possible to just buy a study guide and study for the exam yourself without enrolling in the courses you mention?

Mr Schmiggles

I was looking at full time as I want to plough ahead with as many exams as I can. I have heard of people doing a paper here and a paper there so I will defo consider that route. I will have a scour through previous posts and see if I can come up with anything

Thanks for reply

Mr Schmiggles

Travist - One of my mates did this for his F1 and F2 papers. He passed fairly comfortably, altho he said he needed to enrol with a college after as the volume of work increased and he needed a bit of guidance.

Cookie_Monster

I did it in Griffith, based mainly on feedback from people in work who did it in other places. You can also park there for free which makes it very appealing if driving, the rest cost money iirc

Mr Schmiggles

Cookie do you reckon Griffith is the best? How did you find the lecturers?
Were the classes overcrowded?
Cheers

Cookie_Monster

Mr Schmiggles wrote: »

Cookie do you reckon Griffith is the best? How did you find the lecturers?
Were the classes overcrowded?
Cheers

lecturer for P1 was excellent but has moved on.
P2 very good (a college founder too)
P3 ok
P5 very good

20-30 people per class, not overcrowded at all

Mr Schmiggles

Cookie - Aha I will have to do some F papers before I move onto the professional exams.
Did you do any F papers in Griffith? Good stuff on the number of students, the last thing you want is to be trying to study in a sweatbox

Big Elly

I've just completed F 2, 3 & hopefully 5 in Griffith College on the South Circular and F4 in BPP Lad Lane. Have to say definitely preferred Griffith, parking is very handy and lecturer for F3 and F5 were brilliant too. The guy for F5 (performance and business management) is in particular very good, hes one of the directors of Griffith. BPP use their own notes as opposed to the Kaplan ones and i felt these were inferior, although i was doing law. My Griffith revision course was in the new irish times building near westmoreland street and thought this was great too.

Mr Schmiggles

Big Elly - thanks for that. Yeah the free parking is a perk I knew BPP used their own notes but didnt know how these compared. I think the full time in Griffith is €900 per paper does that sound about right? Also Im looking at doing three papers for the Dec exams would that be achievable?
cheers

Big Elly

That sounds about right i think, i did part-time there and was bout 600e i think, the job paid so i'm not sure!... If your starting from the beginning the first 3 are definitely achievable in one go, you should note too that these 3 are all multiple choice exams too. I'd imagine if you're not working and fairly organized u shud be able to pass 3 at a time not a bother, altho i'm only at the beginning of my exams so it may get more difficult as u go through them.

Mr Schmiggles

Yeah I wouldnt be working so three may be achievable - altho you cant do F1 until you do F2 and F3....AND you cant do F4 until you do F1!! Dont understand the logic myself.
Didnt realise the first three were multiple choice. If I was to do three in Dec what options would be availabe in terms of papers?
thanks

travist

Mr S

I remember reading, and speaking to the ACCA advisor who said that only 4 modules can be done for each sitting - there's two sittings a year.
You can verify this but I think its correct.

I have exemptions from f1,2&3. I believe they are the only multiple choice and so the other paper based may be more difficult.
Any idea whether I should do the English or Global version of the Law module?

Cookie_Monster

Just for record I did not do any of the F level papers, was exempt from them all. so can't comment on any lecturers

Big Elly

I assume you can F 1, 2 & 3 together. Travist, i did the irish variant of Law and it's a pain in the fulte!!... It's based on the english one. Tbh i can't see there being a huge amount of difference coz most of the cases were english anyway. It is a difficult exam tho i can confirm that.

Edit: I have heard that F1 is very easy and more of a money making act, I got exempt from it and i'd never done any accountancy before!

themacdaddy

Griffith is very good in my opinion.

P1 lecturer got me 1st in Ireland
P2 lecturer very good
P3 very good - immensely boring subject
P7 - good
F7 very good
F8 good.

Big Elly

themacdaddy wrote: »

Griffith is very good in my opinion.

P1 lecturer got me 1st in Ireland
P2 lecturer very good
P3 very good - immensely boring subject
P7 - good
F7 very good
F8 good.

Who'd you have for f7, thinking bout doing it there?

themacdaddy

themacdaddy wrote: »

Griffith is very good in my opinion.

P1 lecturer got me 1st in Ireland
P2 lecturer very good
P3 very good - immensely boring subject
P7 - good
F7 very good
F8 good.

Congrats on this btw!

Very impressive

bananaskins

Hey bit late in replyin, not a regular here. I have done F1-F5 and F8 so far. The funny rules F1 after F2 and F3 only apply to mature students me thinks. I took 2 modules per semester and done F1 and 2 first. F1 is a bit of a money maker not much too it, would consider doing it at home if i was funding it myself. They(F1,F2,F3) are mutiple choice yes and as far as I remember yea you have to pass F1 before F4 but this is doable if you wish to do four exams in the same semester by sitting CBE(Computer Based Exams) for F1(also avail for F2 and F3 - mightnt be as adviseable for F2 and F3 as they involve some maths n it can be time consuming doin the workings on paper n then switching to computer to submit results but everyones different. CBE gives a more flexible timetables as they are offered more regularly and can be sat at different collleges than where you study if neccessary to give time between each exam for some cramming.Also immediate results means if ya pass F1 can do F4 paper based in the Dec sitting.
Oupies that was a bit rambling but mayeb it'll help.....

Allister_M

I am thinking of doing F1-F3 in the sitting after Christmas to June exams. Can anyone recommend which providers/colleges do the best courses and how difficult it would be to do these 3 exams in a 6 month window from Xmas -June. Thanks

SBWife

F1 to F3 are very easy and should be doable within 6 months without a course. I'd actually say that if you can't manage these on your own you'll have significant problems with the latter F exams and the P papers.

Allister_M

SBWife wrote: »

F1 to F3 are very easy and should be doable within 6 months without a course. I'd actually say that if you can't manage these on your own you'll have significant problems with the latter F exams and the P papers.

What is so hard about the latter papers? Are they formula based questions with long hypothetical based scenarios where it is almost impossible to apply the formulas to - applying your brain to exams questions are difficuly particularly when carious different ratios figures and scenarios are possible ! (I find these very hard because the amount of different scenarios with applying formulas can be very hard). Or is it just workload - the amount of information to learn off?

I am worrying now about my capability now but I think I should have the ability just worried about managing work with exams and studying enough to pass. How much study is needed outside of work ?

What providers do you think are the best and what is it about the latter stages of the ACCA that is challenging? Thanks

Kaka86

Hi... Can anyone recommend a good lecturer for p5 and p4...I have used Independent College for p2 and p3 ...lecturers were very good.

billcullen1

Kaka86 wrote: »

Hi... Can anyone recommend a good lecturer for p5 and p4...I have used independent for p2 and p3 ...lecturers were very good.

me too thanks !

Kaka86

Very little info.on lecturers for with subject!! I just seen on the ACCA website for p5 they have podcasts of some of the articles...this made me very excited!!!!