AdvDip(CPD) ACCA Strategic Professional Level
Course Overview
The University of Bolton is proud to be a Gold-status ACCA Approved Learning Partner, and this ACCA Strategic Professional Level programme provides up to eight hours of specialist tuition per week (two four-hour sessions if you study full-time or one four-hour session if you choose part-time study) to help you secure ACCA Strategic Professional status.Each paper is only taught by a subject specialist who holds or is working towards a PhD in that area or a fully qualified CCAB accountant. You'll have the opportunity to learn from up to 56 hours of tuition per paper, with timetabled blocks set aside for tuition, revision, question practice and exam technique.
A personal tutor will be available to guide and advise you throughout the programme, focusing consistently on helping you acquire the essential techniques needed to pass each exam.
ACCA is one of the world's pre-eminent accountancy bodies, with members and students in more than 170 countries. If you've already successfully completed (or been granted exemptions from) papers F1-F9, this course will allow you to acquire your ACCA Strategic Professional Level in just 12 months (full-time) or 24 months (part-time).
Highlights
- The ACCA Strategic Professional Level is a key element in acquiring ACCA membership, which could improve your career progression and earning potential.
- Students learn only from specialist tutors or fully qualified CCAB accountants.
- You'll have the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge relevant to any business sector.
- You'll also have the chance to explore professional ethics in depth.
- This course explores the advanced techniques, values and skills needed by accountants working at senior levels in advisory or consultancy roles.
Key Features
- Two weeks of intensive exam revision and planning sessions are built into the programme.
- There is a consistent focus on helping students acquire the essential techniques needed to pass each exam.
- You'll be assigned a personal tutor, who will be available to guide, advise and assist you throughout your studies.
Entry Requirements
- You should have successfully completed or been granted exemptions from ACCA papers F1-F9. Exemptions can also be from undergraduate accounting degree programmes; for instance, graduates of the University of Bolton's BA (Hons) Accountancy are granted the maximum nine paper exemptions from the ACCA.
- If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need IELTS 6.5 with normally no less than 6.0 in any band (or equivalent). We also accept a range of other English language qualifications – please visit our English Language Requirements web page for more details.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Career Opportunities
Successfully completing the ACCA Strategic Professional Level exams is an essential step toward achieving the ACCA Qualification and becoming a Chartered Certified Accountant. Chartered Certified accountants can work across many different organisations that range from large, multinational companies to small, local businesses.
What can I do with this qualification?
This course will provide you with a platform to enter a range of sectors, including banking, investment and insurance, retail and sales, IT, recruitment and human resources, management consultancy and government agencies such as HM Revenue and Customs.
Once you have achieved all the elements of the ACCA Strategic Professional Level, you'll be eligible to apply for ACCA membership. You can also pursue an MSc programme. After five years as an ACCA member, and dependent on the completion of continuing professional development (CPD), you're awarded the title of Fellow (FCCA).
Alternative career options
Graduates can also use the qualification as a stepping stone into a range of other careers. Some of these roles may require relevant experience and/or postgraduate study. Some possibilities include:
- Auditing
- Risk management
- Insolvency
- Forensic accountancy
- Purchasing
- Tax and pensions advice
- Law
- Teaching, education and training
- Transport and logistics
- Stocks and shares
- Charity work
- Loss adjusting
- Credit and investment analysis
- Claims inspection
- Advertising, marketing and PR
- Investment banking
- Insurance
- Statistics and market research
Professional Recognition
The University of Bolton has Gold partner status as an approved learning partner and upon completion of the ACCA Strategic Professional stage the ACCA awarding body will recognise the student as being ACCA exam qualified.
Fees & Funding
Home/EU Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
International Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
Bursaries
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
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Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
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Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
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Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
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Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
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Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk
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Apply online: University of Bolton AdvDip(CPD) ACCA Strategic Professional Level - 27 January 2025
International Applicants
Thank you for your interest
In order to determine your suitability for this course as an international student and also to confirm you meet any initial eligibility criteria, we need you to answer a few short questions.
Teaching & Assessment
To achieve the ACCA Strategic Professional Level, you'll need to complete two modules: 'Essentials' and 'Options'. Each module builds on the technical knowledge you already possess. The 'Essentials' module involves completing two exam papers, while for the 'Options' module, you'll need to complete two papers from a choice of four.
For each paper you study, you'll attend a weekly four-hour session that includes a question-focused seminar/tutorial element. Full-time students study two papers per semester (eight hours per week), while part-time students study one paper per semester (four hours per week).
We'll offer you an exam practice session for each paper, with tutors providing prompt feedback on your performance. The final two weeks of the programme for each paper (eight hours) are dedicated towards exam revision and planning.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- Strategic Business Leader
- Strategic Business Reporting
- Advanced Financial Management
- Advanced Performance Management
- Advanced Taxation
- Advanced Audit and Assurance
- On-line Ethics and Professional Skills
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Written exams 100% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Guided independent study 22% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 78% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
