Elevation Programme 2012-2013

danny29

Has anyone started the elevation programme for this year?
I went for the first CAP 1 class last saturday and I was impressed with the lecturer and course material. The Chartered accountants house was ok, but the library is pretty small. The canteen was nice. Lecture hall is massive.

There were only small number of people who are doing the elevation programme when I had look at the attendance sheet(maybe it varies from different subjects). Just trying to get your thoughts on what your academic plan will be while studying for elevation. I personally will try to secure a role in a firm. While Im waiting to secure training contract, I will complete the exams along the way. Elevation students also will need to have 1 year minimum working experience to sit for FAE'S.

This course is really flexible I thought. It Gives flexibility to study and sit exams and also a flexibility to move role across employers and sectors.

tumbledown

Hi there, I'm pogressing to CAP 2 through the Elevation programme and just a few tips/observations of the prgramme:

Don't believe all the hype, the Elevation programme is beautifully marketed but as soon as the first lecture starts you are the eaxct same as every other student that is sititng the CAP1's with perhaps less accounting knowledge. Get the idea that you will be wonderfully supported straight out of your head, it's a slog and you are very much on your own.

The lectures really move along at a good pace and it is pretty important to keep up. Missing a week or two weeks worth of lectures can really hurt.

The subjects:

Mgt Accounting - if you have M Darcy as your lecturer, count yourslef very lucky. Make sure you are well prepared for the continous assesment segment as this has huge ramifications on the rest of the course as regards marks, basic understanding of the material and confidence in your own ability to deal with the subject. Its a big subject and things tend to overlap which is a good and bad thing

Fin Accounting: Again - make sure you are well prepared for the continous section (DEBK test), and try to get it done before Christmas. Getting the baisc right is so important. Its not a difficult subject by any means but practice on exam questions is crucial

Tax: Exam questions, exam questions, exam questions. Rinse and repeat

Law: Joke, just make sure your dont fall down here.

Finance, personally this was my favourite but the questions can be phrased in some strange ways so make sure you have seen all permutations

Adminsitration wise, the Institute is a joke so be prepared for emails not reaching you, prior work experince not being recognised for ever et. Basically keep ringing to ensure whatever you need doing, gets done.


Th exam results make it all worthwhile so keep slogging away and try and find a few weekends where you can play catch up during the year

danny29

Thanks for your reply and sharing your elevation experience. I am exempt from Law, Tax and Finance, just needed to do financial and management accounting.

Yeah I had Margaret Darcy before but in different college and she is absolutely brilliant as a lecturer. I did financial accounting before and everything is a recap of what I have done in previous college. Management accounting is a subject that people should never underestimate, its important to understand the fundamentals behind it and only to understand it is to keep practising quesitons.

Yeah the experience from my first day had been very different compared to third level college. There is less social interaction/activites in my opinion. There isn't clubs and societies where people could get together. I'm worried that I will be on my own and this could damage some of my morale. I request a letter from the department but had no reply yet. They can be a bit slow.

I hope the course will run smoothly, I just dont want to realise that I chose the wrong course at last minute. So far I'm happy and I hope it keeps that way.

Mickiemcfist

Hi,

Bit of a hijack, but for CAP 1's how many hours does each subject take weekly? Including classes & self study (average amount)?

Thanks,
Thinking of going the Elevation route myself.

Oafley Jones

How do people rate the Elevation programme in terms of Job prospects? Stuck in a rubbish job at the moment and need to do something about it.

I've exemptions for all of CAP1 except law - which would require me to do a module of CAP2 - and I've forgotten nearly everything in the four years its been since I did exams. Law seems grand but the prospect of going in cold into CAP2 subjects is a major worry.

The Burner

Hi Guys, im just after registering for the elevation programme, I need to do 3 CAP 1 exams Finance, Management and Law, Can I do all these in the next exam sit in 2013 or can i only do 2?

Hewhodares

I'm Currently doing the CAP2's through the elevation Programme. I had exemptions from all of CAP1 so not sure what they are like. It is not all, they made it out to be when I was talking to them about it before I signed up. I don't think the job prospects are great from it tbh and I'm thinking about leaving it. There is only a handful of people doing it from what I can see on the attendance sheet.

Other than that Lectures are fine so far. The classes are huge, but I've classmates from college doing CAP2's through training contracts in it, so its not too daunting.

The CAI don't seem too interested and are fairly slow sending emails and the replies to application and getting exemptions were pretty misleading.

UL12

Hi Hewhodares,

I am considering signing up for the CAP 2 elevation programme too for this year. I have been attending the CAP 2 lectures for the past 2 months as part of a training contract but my firm have had to let me go due to financial difficulties so am wondering should I continue through elevation or hold out for another contract? Just wondering how do you find doing it by this route and not gaining practical experience? Also (if you don't mind answering) have you been applying for jobs/talking to recruiters and if so is it seen as a positive that your showing your dedication by going it alone for the time being?

Sorry for all the questions just very confused at the moment!

Hewhodares

The feedback from interviews has been positive with regards doing it on my own. Having said that I wasn't offered any jobs. Auditing is the only tricky one so far with regards to not having practical experience. I've spoken to a qualified accountant about it and they said keep going with it. My friends & classmates have also encouraged me to stay at it. Its hard to motivate myself with regards studying and I'm finding it tough going at the moment.

UL12

Thanks for responding think ill stick with it so! Was only let go this week so at least iv 6 months practical experience that'll hopefully give me a helping hand with things like auditing. We have very supportive lecturers in my centre too and a lot of friends in training so fingers crossed itll all go ok! Yeah can imagine that motivation for study will be at an all time low especially when your trying to find a job!

Best of luck with the job hunt by the way!