ACCA Distance Learning?

TraceyH

Im thinking of doing ACCA Paper F6 (Taxation) and maybe F4 (Law) by distance learning with BPP. Has anyone any views on this - as in how different is it from doing it through lectures/ how is it presented for learning etc...?
Thanks!

ianuss

TraceyH wrote: »

Im thinking of doing ACCA Paper F6 (Taxation) and maybe F4 (Law) by distance learning with BPP. Has anyone any views on this - as in how different is it from doing it through lectures/ how is it presented for learning etc...?
Thanks!

Law could be okay but I seriously wouldn't recommend doing tax distance learning. At least consider a revision course if you don't want to fork out for tuition.

I haven't done any distance learning myself so unfortunately I can't offer any comparisons, but I can tell you that tax is a difficult exam. IMO, you would gain far more from a good lecturer than any online tuition.

jessup

Hi TraceyH. I agree with ianuss. Law maybe, but any Tax paper needs a good lecturer IMHO.

It's my turn to coordinate the trainees at work and there's a lot of talk about material that is online (some of which is free), courses that involve recorded lectures etc. There's a fair few threads about it here too. From my experience and that of the gang here which are a mix of ACA and ACCA the one piece of advice is "Buy cheap, buy twice".

We have the ACCA trainees getting results in a few weeks and their main concern was that we might cut a few corners not fund going to class as we have up until now. They were also worried about us locking in on a corporate deal with one ACCA college as they like to go "a la carte" based on what they've heard about each lecturer. Our pass rate among the trainees is over 90% and they all go to a mix of the main colleges in Dublin.

I know its a comfort if your employer is paying for it rather than paying yourself but as a substitute product the online/distance stuff I've reviewed as part of my 'portfolio' is definitely an inferior substitute to good classes. Some of it is dire. I'd be worried about being penny wise and pound foolish.

The loo paper in Aldi might be cheaper per roll but you have to spend as much money anyway because you have to buy more of it. If you do go to classes don't take any ****e (pardon the pun)in terms of quality as they're not cheap so you're entitled to expect more.

jennypeny

Id agree. Law you can do by distance. Personally I just bought the book and sat a revision course pre the exam but I would definately attend a class for the tax exam. In my experience for practical subjects like that you really need to support of being in the class and a good teacher makes the difference between a pass and a fail.

lucylu19

It's different for everyone. I have sat all my exams so far by just doing home study (just buying the book and revision kit) and passed both Law and Tax first time.
It all depends how much time and effort you can put into your studying. And how quickly you can grasp and understand a subject/topic.

To be honest I found Tax easier than Law! That's because I'm a numbers person and not theory!;)

It can be done but it's different for everyone!

ellips

I think it depends on your background as well. I did IATI and then ACCA and looking back I could have done the ACCA F6 Tax by distance learning as most of it was covered in IATI anyway.

I did not like the lecturer's style in Griffiths - he spent the 3 hours writing the notes on the foil while we wrote it in our notebooks - what a waste! The best way of studying tax is not by writing loads of notes, but by doing questions, more questions and then another few questions. And there's no reason why you couldn't do that at home at your own pace, its not rocket science. There are some forums available to ask questions when something doesn't make sense - even the one here or opentuition one.

TraceyH

Thanks everyone for your views.. My reason for thinking of doing the Tax at home is because Iv come straight from the CAT course and so its (relatively) fresh in my mind. Also I found it more interesting as I much prefer numbers to theory. Im just unsure as to how much of a step up the F6 is and if 2 weekend revision courses would be enough to cover stuff that might be tricky...Iv another week or so to think about it anyway!

crebel81

TraceyH wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your views.. My reason for thinking of doing the Tax at home is because Iv come straight from the CAT course and so its (relatively) fresh in my mind. Also I found it more interesting as I much prefer numbers to theory. Im just unsure as to how much of a step up the F6 is and if 2 weekend revision courses would be enough to cover stuff that might be tricky...Iv another week or so to think about it anyway!

I have done all f4 to p2 papers by home study and so far so good. I think with F6, alot of time is needed if you are doing this subject through homestudy. I just scraped through that particular exam but I would say if you can go to college then go. Lecturers can answer questions you may have alot quicker than say if you had to scan through a textbook looking for the answer.

Best of luck