IN DEMAND: More students pursue ACCA at Sunway College Kuching.
KUCHING: Sunway College Kuching is experiencing an unprecedented increase in intake for its ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) programme.
The college’s January 2013 ACCA intake saw record numbers of students enrolling for all Fundamental and Professional level papers, each class having an average of 60 or more students.
“We even have over 30 students for our optional papers,” said Sunway Kuching CEO Joseph Lim.
According to Lim, the increase in ACCA enrolment is due to Sunway’s growing reputation as the most
trusted tuition provider in the region.
“We are the only tuition provider in East Malaysia to be awarded Platinum Approved Learning Partner Status by ACCA which we have maintained for the past five examinations,” he said.
He disclosed that collaboration with parent company Sunway-TES enabled Sunway College Kuching to implement an academic system that produced high pass rates and prize-winning students.
Located at Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Sunway-TES has sustained its Platinum Status 10 years in a row since 2003.
It has over 5,000 students on campus and is the single largest ACCA tuition provider in the world.
“Thanks to our partnership with Sunway-TES, we have been able to introduce a curriculum that incorporates visiting lecturers, progress tests, mock exams and intensive revision courses.
“In addition, we have built various tutorial sessions into selective papers to help students with application as well as theory,” said Lim.
Meanwhile, Sunway Kuching operations manager Tang Ing Sia announced that the college’s ACCA retake programme will commence the week starting Feb15.
Sunway’s re-take programme is targeted at ACCA students who failed their December 2012 examination and wish to re-sit the paper in the June 2013 examination.
“Announcement of the December 2012 examination results is on Feb 8. We will start accepting students for the retake programme as soon as college reopens after the Chinese New Year break,” Tang said.
Papers covered under the re-take programme include F4 to F9, P1 to P3, P5 and P6.
“For your information, we still have at least 75 percent of classes remaining after the announcement of results on Feb 8,” she said.
Tang revealed that Sunway College Kuching will be offering an ACCA revision package for outstation students in April and May this year designed specially for students from places like Sibu or Miri, and inclusive of accommodation and airport return transfer.
The revision programme will cover all six papers in the ACCA Skills Module (F4 to F9) and all three papers in the ACCA Essentials and Option Modules (P1 to P3, P5 and P6).
Each revision class comprises seven sessions and will focus on examinable topics, practice and past year questions.
“Students will sit for mock examinations and be taught answering techniques and how to revise effectively,” said Tang.
Sunway College Kuching has a student population of 1,500 and is the largest tuition provider of accountancy courses in East Malaysia.
The college has produced more ACCA and CAT graduates and prize-winners than any other institution in East Malaysia.
To date, Sunway Kuching has nurtured a total of 220 ACCA Affiliates, 67 OBU (Oxford Brookes University) degree holders, 490 CAT finalists, as well as 3 CAT World Prize Winners and 20 ACCA and CAT Malaysian Prize Winners.
The college offers students the opportunity to read for and complete the entire ACCA programme locally at an affordable fee.
The whole ACCA qualification can be completed at Sunway Kuching campus for under RM40,000.
SPM school leavers who pursue ACCA via the college’s CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) route can graduate as ACCA Affiliates within three to four years, that is when they are 21 years of age.
To register for the ACCA course at Sunway, a student must have completed and passed one of the following: STPM (two credits in STPM plus five credits in SPM, including in English and Mathematics); The Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) qualification; or a diploma or degree from an MQA (Malaysian Qualifications Agency) accredited university or institution.
ACCA offers exemptions to students who have studied relevant accountancy qualifications prior to starting ACCA’s accountancy qualifications.
This means they may not have to take all the exams in the ACCA qualification or at Foundation level l.
Each semester, Sunway Kuching gets a good number of graduates from local and foreign universities who enrol for ACCA at Professionals Level (P1 to P3 and P5 to P7).
These students receive maximum exemptions from all Knowledge and Skill level papers and proceed directly to study Essentials and Options modules.
They only have to sit for another five papers to qualify as ACCA affiliates.
To claim exemptions, candidates must send official proof of any qualifications, such as academic transcripts or award certificates, along with their registration form so ACCA can assess if they are eligible for exemptions.
Online printouts of academic transcripts are not acceptable.
Only copies of official documentation, signed and stamped by the awarding body can be accepted. Any documents not in English must be officially translated before they are sent to ACCA.
ACCA can only award exemptions for qualifications from recognised institutions (those recognised by the local Ministry of Education).
If the candidate’s institution is not listed on the exemption enquiry database, the candidate must ask his or her institution to send copies of their documents to ACCA for review.
Members of the public who wish to know more about the ACCA programme can contact Sunway College Kuching at 082-451221 or visit the college’s campus at Song Plaza, Jalan Song from 9am to 9pm.