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CertHE

Professional Accounting

Our internally-assessed CertHE Professional Accounting allows you to claim exemptions for all modules of the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) Certificate in Finance, Accounting & Business (‘CFAB’).CFAB is both a standalone business qualification in its own right and also the precursor qualification to ICAEW’s ACA Qualification. CFAB is an internationally-recognised certificate that teaches essential knowledge in business, finance and accounting.

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Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Newport

  • Campus Code

    C

Fees

  • Home students

    £785*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

On completion you will have gained full exemptions from the globally recognised ICAEW CFAB qualification that shows you are equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to succeed in a career in business.

Module Overview

Suitable for all, our CertHE teaches essential practical skills and knowledge for today’s fast-moving business world. It can open up many new career options, help you get a job or promotion, or assist you in your current role. The key essentials of accounting, business and finance are covered across six modules.

Financial Accounting
Financial Accounting is a fundamental building block of accountancy, concerned with the profits, losses, assets and liabilities of organisations. This module provides an introduction to the terminology and practices of financial accounting, including double entry bookkeeping and financial reports. Students are taught to apply knowledge to different forms of business organisation.

Management Accounting
Management Accounting is another fundamental area of accounting. This module provides an introduction to the objectives and techniques of management accounting in a business context, including costing, budgeting and variance analysis. Understanding costs and being able to budget are vital skills for the survival of any organisation.

Business and Technology
This module develops an awareness of the business environment in which accounting and finance fits (including types of organisations and corporate governance), and the skills needed in order to thrive in this environment.

Corporate and Business Law
This module provides the understanding needed of the general legal framework that applies in England and Wales, including the sources of law, and specific areas of law relating to business and finance.

Principles of Tax
This module enables students to understand the general objectives of taxation and to calculate income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, corporation tax and VAT in straightforward scenarios. As such, the module introduces the basics of the UK tax system.

Assurance
Audit and assurance acts as the cornerstone of the financial system, giving investors confidence that companies are fairly reporting their position and results. This module aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the assurance process and the fundamental principles of ethics, including the assessment of internal controls and gathering of evidence on an assurance engagement.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

Our classes are taught in a workshop format that will contain lecture, tutorial and individual or group exercise elements, plus directed self-study.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by experienced qualified accountants and specialists who are active within the accounting and finance industry. Our lecturers also have significant experience of providing pastoral care and guidance to undergraduate students.

We pride ourselves on offering a supportive, nurturing environment where students can develop their confidence, technical abilities and employability skills. We bring accounting concepts to life using our real-world experience of: working in the industry; interacting with professional bodies and local employers; and conducting research into the profession.

Assessment

Four modules are assessed by a combination of examination and coursework. There is a variety of coursework – helping you develop your employability skills through the appraisal of case study scenarios, the use of IT and the preparation of written reports. Two modules are assessed by exam only.

Placements

While placements are not a formal part of this course, all USW students are able to make use of our Careers department facilities; Careers regularly promote placement opportunities that are available to all students.

Facilities

The CertHE Professional Accounting is taught at our state-of-the-art campus on the banks of the river Usk in Newport city centre. Newport Campus has excellent teaching rooms and computer labs, a library and an on-campus coffee shop. The campus is easily accessible from Newport train station and M4 Junctions 27 and 28 with ample safe, secure parking on the doorstep.

Careers and Employability

Possible career paths

If you are looking to increase your business skills for your current role, or are considering a career in business or want to start your own company – then the CertHE (and the ICAEW CFAB exemptions that it gives you) is ideal for you.

Popular career paths:

  • Starting your own company
  • A career in many areas of business
  • Jobs with more budgetary/financial responsibility in your current organisation, whether that be in the private, public or third sectors

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

School leavers, college or university students and career-changers can all study the CertHE. There are no set academic entry criteria.

The most popular entry route to the ACA qualification (of which the CertHE is the precursor) is a good undergraduate honours degree. However, entry is also available to people via the CertHE with no prior qualifications, A Level school leavers, AAT graduates, apprentices, and members of other Chartered bodies. 

You must apply for student membership and exemptions (where applicable) with ICAEW before joining the course. Visit www.icaew.com for more information.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Part-time Fee

£785

per 20 credits*
UK Part-time Fee

£785

per 20 credits*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

ADDITIONAL COSTS

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment. 

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

Studying at USW

Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.

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How to apply

There is an online application process for this course. Please choose the application form for your preferred start date and mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time).

International admissions

Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Next Steps

How to Apply
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