Need help on my career route ><

shadowmancer

Hi i'm 16 years old and i am currently doing my GCSEs.

I'm really stuck in what to do after i finish my GCSEs because everyone recommended me to go for A Levels but my parents told me to do AAT.

Here are my predicted grades for my GCSEs:
Maths- A
English lit and lan- A
Double science- A
History- A
Geography- B
Religious Education- A*
ICT- A
Spanish- B

Recently i had a college interview for my Alevels. The man who interviewed me told me that i shouldn't do AAT because A Levels is the best course for me as i am capable to get good grades in my A Levels. he told me that i should go for university, get my degree and join an accounting firm and become a chartered accountant. He said i should go for the best route(A Levels) and not for the second best(AAT). He also said that i won't go far with AAT and i won't become a highly qualified accountant. Here's a quote from(i remembered every single thing he said that time): 'God gave you brain and yet you are not using it which is a waste'.

I am really confused. I even talked to my career advisor and that also proved to be useless. She told me that i should go for A Levels because i am capable.

However, my parents are determine for me to do apprenticeship because they said that this route will gurantee me to get a job as i will climb up the ladder faster than anyone else and nowadays employers are looking for professional education and experience, not degree.


So now, i do not know what to do. I;m really messed up because everyone's telling me to do A Levels but my parents told me to stick to AAT so i'm having a hard time deciding.

Any suggestions guys? And i don't mind to choose either route but i'm looking for a route that can help me achieve my goals and will benefit me in the future.

richardw

You can do both.

A-levels take 2 years, so youll be finished by the time your 18/19.
AAT apprenticeships are available until your 21, or 25 in some areas.

If the college does a/s or a-level accounts, you can do that as part of your a-levels, & you can then probably start at the 2nd year of AAT, if you still want to do it.
A few years after doing my a-levels, i went back to college. I did a/s level accounts at college in the evenings, & their was another student on the course who was at the college doing their a-levels full time.
Couple of years later I started on the 2nd year of AAT.

Based on your predicted grades, I would do a-levels, as it will give you a wider range of options afterwards.
Is it now start with 4 a/s, then take 3 to a level?
If so, I would go for the maths & ICT to a-level, plus pick another subject your interested in, out of the sciences or geography. If your interested in, & any good at physics, choose that, as it is a good fit with maths & ICT, & its likely that you cant do physics without the maths.
For the a/s level, you could pick spanish or english language, or accounts if they offer it.

That would leave you with university or AAT as an option afterwards.

Nich

I agree with RichardW, I took my A- levels then had a year break while i worked before starting my AAT. I am 23 now and have a great job as an Accounts Manager which i have been in for 4 years now and have 1 exam left at Technician Level.
Doing your A Levels definately keep your options open for the future, at 16, you still have your whole life to decide on a career.
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

Oy_mate

Again I agree with both Nich & Richardw.

I did my GCSE's with a fairly similair result to what you are predicted went on to do A-levels getting an A, 2 B's and a C (Picked up a certificate in greek on the way too but thats another story). Then I decided to join an accountancy firm straight after A-level's were over and am now doing AAT as part of the apprenticeship scheme. The plan is that me and the other trainees will have finished AAT - Technician by June 09 (When i'm 20). Doing A-level accounts really helps with the AAT as there is nothing new at foundation level that you hadn't already learnt. Even most of intermediate is A-level work.

So go for it enjoy the two years you have at college and part way through your second year start thinking about what you want to do. I applied for both University and the apprenticeship course and didn't have to decide until I saw my results.

Good luck

kendall17

Firstly Wow!! nice predicted grades! dont let yourself down on the final hurdle like i did in my GCSEs got 2 Bs and 9 Cs (summer 2007) and went straight into the AAT course, for me i saw 2years at college/6th form a waste because there wasn't much i was interested in doing apart from Accounting. i didn't want to go to uni as i wouldn't gain the work expirience that im getting from the AAT course therefore doing accounts at college would (as already said) be a repeat of the start of the AAT course.its a big step up going straight from school and abit of a shock at 1st but should come out advantageous on your behalf.

steveborner

im 20, studying AAT I done A levels before hand. My suggestion is A l;evels and go to Uni, i REALLY regret not going, life experience, qualification and 3 years of independance. Also with a degree there are so many open doors in to the city. With a good degree you are able to apply for any job that comes up. Also you may start accountancy and fond you dont really like it that much, with AAT you have boxed yourself in already. Go and do your a levels, i would recomend a degree aswell and you will be in a far better position to choose your career

LondonMatt

When I was your age, I wish my head was as screwed on as yours seems to be! I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do after GCSEs - I was half forced into a-levels and really despised it, all I saw was two more years of school, just so I go on and do 3/4 more years school at university - I just wanted to work for crying out loud! So I ended up in dead end jobs almost until I came across AAT. I think it simply depends on you, though. If you know you want to work in accounts, then AAT is the way to go. But I would add that there is no rush to do AAT, you can start at 16, 26 or 46, doesn't really matter as long as you put the effort in. So why not do a-levels for two years, get some more experience on life, and then decide if you want to go on to uni or do AAT? Just make sure you pick 'proper' courses though, no drama or arts classes, lol

jorja1986

I done A levels and then studied the AAT (from Foundation) as soon as I finished.

I would gain a bit of "life experience" do sensible A levels that relate to topics you wish to learn if you are still interested look into the AAT - Also start looking now into jobs. Many are now taking on college students so that they work a few days a week around college gaining practical experience and then they have knowledge when the start they AAT - Worth a look?

shadowmancer

hiya!

thank you for responding. I found really good advices.

I am thinking of doing a work placement so i can get the insight of the field that i'm going in. Many people has warned me not to do accounting because it's hard and boring so i'm kinda afraid of taking AAT in case if the field isn't right for me.
I somehow find A Levels and uni are a big waste of time because it's takes 5 years of education and i really want to start working when i'm young so that i can get promoted and get higher jobs by the time i'm 20 or something. It's true though i'm going to miss my college life and i really badly wanted to join in clubs and activities in colleges or uni but if i do AAT, i might not be able to do so.
Won't it be a waste of 2 years if i go and do my A Levels and then start off my AAT after that because if i'm doing AAT, i might as well start it off when im 16.


@jorja: i can't take on jobs for few days a week if i do A Levels or my timetables will clash no? Also, if i do A Levels, i want to fully concentrate on my studying because A Levels are really hard even my teachers said that it's even harder than the first year in uni.

@kendall17: Hiya i see that you are doing AAT straight after school. Is it good? I mean, do you get promoted and get good job satisfaction by going through that way? So you don't really have to get A Levels or degree in order to get good employment?


By the way, here's one i'm applying for my A Level courses. Any suggestions on what courses i should take are welcome here.

I'm doing: For AS: Chemistry, Biology, Maths(pure and statistics), Critical thinking and maybe accounting.
For A Levels i'm going to stick for chem,bio and maths. Good choice?

Nich

Your choices look good if you want an accounting future!

I have been working at this company for 4 years now and have only been manager for the past year (i'm 23) and still have 1 exam left at AAT so you don't have to have completed the AAT to get a good job, just be a hard worker and get some experience behind you.

EmAngier

Hi!

Well done for being so focussed at 16!

I have just turned 40 & am about to complete Technician this summer. I wish I had been told about AAT at your age! Instead I did A'Levels & joined a retail Management Training scheme at 18. Only stumbled across AAT after having a career break to be a full-time mum!

Anyway I digress!

Can I make another suggestion?

Contact the AAT department at your local college for some advice.

I have done two years full time in which I completed Foundation, Intermediate, Payroll level 2 & 3, Technician Cash Management & the two tax exams. Just left me the 3 core Tech exams & project to complete this year!
There was also another option to complete Foundation & Intermediate in one year.

Find out if there is a possibilty of studying AAT alongside A'levels. It will depend on the timetabling but is worth consideration. AAT is often taught part-time one afternoon/ evening a week as day release. You should be able to fit this round some A'Level choices! One problem would be if the exam times clashed!

Some students last year studied AAT Foundation & Intermediate & went on to Uni this year as AAT now counts as UCAS (is that the term these days? lol) points.

As for taking the accountancy route rather than Uni. One of my tutors who used to work for Total People uses the example of someone your age starting AAT. You could be a qualified Accountant by the age of 21 when everyone else is just finishing Uni! So I think your considerations are valid!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

twd

When I left school I wanted to study accountancy, but with no previous knowledge of accounts I didn't want to study AAT as I thought it would be like placing all my eggs in one basket and if I didn't like it I would be stuck.

So, after achieveing great GCSE results I enrolled at college to start my A Levels, one of which was accountancy (this was before people were calling it a micky mouse subject, which I don't think it is!)

After the first year and after passing my As Levels, I decided A levels were not for me so I enrolled on the AAT course and gained employment with a local practice. This was the best thing I have ever done. I am now AAT and ATT qualified and half way through my Chartered qualification.

Not having a degree does not hold you back in my opinion. Obviously I feel as though I missed out on a good experience by not attending university, but I now have a really good job and loads of experience.

The AAT is a good stepping stone, and if you want to work in accounts then I believe this is the best route. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Bluewednesday

EmAngier wrote: »

Hi!

Well done for being so focussed at 16!

I have just turned 40 & am about to complete Technician this summer. I wish I had been told about AAT at your age! Instead I did A'Levels & joined a retail Management Training scheme at 18. Only stumbled across AAT after having a career break to be a full-time mum!

That's my story to a tee (except I'm 40 next year). AAT is fantastic for career changes!

I am (hopefully) on my last ACCA papers and although I can do the Oxford Brookes degree, I will always feel that it is not a proper degree. It has taken me this long to regret not doing that degree at 18.

You can always pick up your degree later in life if that's what you want, I had had enough of studying after A levels and I had applied for law and psychology at Uni but was accepted for Pure chemistry (my least favourite subject of my Alevels) so going on the management training scheme was right at the time. Only you know how you feel about further study.

Go with your gut instinct I guess

kendall17

shadowmancer wrote: »

hiya!

@kendall17: Hiya i see that you are doing AAT straight after school. Is it good? I mean, do you get promoted and get good job satisfaction by going through that way? So you don't really have to get A Levels or degree in order to get good employment?


By the way, here's one i'm applying for my A Level courses. Any suggestions on what courses i should take are welcome here.

I'm doing: For AS: Chemistry, Biology, Maths(pure and statistics), Critical thinking and maybe accounting.
For A Levels i'm going to stick for chem,bio and maths. Good choice?

hey there, yeah went straight out of school, into a summer job in a finance dept. and never looked back. It's good enough to get my feet on the ladder and gain expirience although im not in the greatest establishment for promotion there is the occasional payrise :thumbup: Nope, most colleges which run the AAT course offer to help you find a work placement, mine was really helpful and turned out i had a handful of interviews arranged for me! If you're going into a job which offers training (on or off site) then you don't really need any qualifications.

as for your AS/A level choices ive kept in contact with most of my school friends and get updates on the courses etc. I think Bio/ & Chem will be good back ups for you if you want a career change. My mate who got A*-B in his GCSEs is struggling with maths i think but if your a hard worker go for it. I have doneStats and really enjoyed it albeit confusing lol. If the college you applied for does double business i'd take that because it involves alot of accounts work and its meant to be pretty easy (must be if other half is getting 2 Bs in a practice AS exam 3month before end of course)


ps i think this is my longest post on the AAT forums :laugh:

Cudey

shadowmancer wrote: »

Hi i'm 16 years old and i am currently doing my GCSEs.

I'm really stuck in what to do after i finish my GCSEs because everyone recommended me to go for A Levels but my parents told me to do AAT.

Here are my predicted grades for my GCSEs:
Maths- A
English lit and lan- A
Double science- A
History- A
Geography- B
Religious Education- A*
ICT- A
Spanish- B

Recently i had a college interview for my Alevels. The man who interviewed me told me that i shouldn't do AAT because A Levels is the best course for me as i am capable to get good grades in my A Levels. he told me that i should go for university, get my degree and join an accounting firm and become a chartered accountant. He said i should go for the best route(A Levels) and not for the second best(AAT). He also said that i won't go far with AAT and i won't become a highly qualified accountant. Here's a quote from(i remembered every single thing he said that time): 'God gave you brain and yet you are not using it which is a waste'.

I am really confused. I even talked to my career advisor and that also proved to be useless. She told me that i should go for A Levels because i am capable.

However, my parents are determine for me to do apprenticeship because they said that this route will gurantee me to get a job as i will climb up the ladder faster than anyone else and nowadays employers are looking for professional education and experience, not degree.


So now, i do not know what to do. I;m really messed up because everyone's telling me to do A Levels but my parents told me to stick to AAT so i'm having a hard time deciding.

Any suggestions guys? And i don't mind to choose either route but i'm looking for a route that can help me achieve my goals and will benefit me in the future.

Alright mate,

I left school at 16 two years ago, and certainly haven't looked back! The hardest part I found was getting my foot on the ladder so to speak. I left school with 13 A-C grades at GCSE and no one would take me on, but I kept plugging away and got a job as a junior and am now an Accounts Assistant. I left doing the qualifications for a couple of years until I was a 100% sure that accounting was the thing for me. Got my first lesson tonight, and can't wait.

The way I look at it, by the time people my age leave Uni at 21-22, I'd have 5-6 years of vital experience, along with a qualification, and will hopefully be plugging away at either ACCA, ACA or CIMA, which ever one I decide to persue.

Sure you look at your mates pictures and think "wow! Looks like a cracking time" when you see there club pictures etc, but what is stopping you doing that? I certainly don't hold back from partying with mates. Only difference I see is that I don't have debts building up.

Main advice to you would be don't let parents/teachers/school mates etc influence you. Listen to the advice on here and others, but the ultimate decision should come from you. My mates said I was screwing my life up and would be stuck on 12k a year for the rest of my life.... Christ how I laugh at them now!

Good luck in choosing!

shadowmancer

yay my AAT propectus(or info pack whatever u call it) just came in today and i had a good look at it and i do find it really interesting.

Thing with me is, that i don't know whether accounting is the right choice for me. I mean i haven't experience the field of work so i can't really guess what my career would be like and i'm afraid that i might find it boring because i'm very outgoing and i love to mess around and hate studying coz i'm lazy lol(but still worked hard to get my grades).
I also love travelling. Does accountancy involves travelling?
I'm also thinking twice about doing A Levels because i heard that it's different from GCSEs coz it's really hard. My big sister had A* for her subjects in GCSEs and in A Levels she got Cs and Bs for her modules lol I've also checked university courses and sadly cambridge and oxford(top leading unis in UK) don't do accountancy even imperial college is not doing so im thinking forget it then if good unis don't do them then might as well not do it. <<

@Cudey: wah u mean no colleges won't accept you? A-C grades are average grades so they should accept them. Or is it that you wanted to go straight to jobs?Lol that's exactly what my mates said to me?! They said i'm gonna messed up my life and i should use my brains to further my study and get professional qualifications. probablyy making my own decision about my life is the hardest for me coz i normally would go with the flow.

@EmAngier: Thanks for your advice. I don't think A Levels alongside with AAT is a good idea for me coz i don't want to be burden with too much of studying. I don't really mind not going to college but i will miss going to clubs because i'm club-holic and i like going out to residential trips and that lol.

Thanks for all thr advices guys! I found them all to be very helpful and your experiences really making me think lol

richardw

AAT can get you far, but if you do a-levels first, it gives you a wider range of choices, & gives you 2 years to make a decision on whether you want to do the AAT after.
You can then also decide whether you want to go to uni.
It is possible to go to uni after AAT, however it does restrict you on courses & which uni.

Based on your predicted results, youd be better off taking maths & ICT all the way to a-level. If they do accounts to a-level, do that as well. a/s-level, you can pick up anything that interests you.

As for good university's, cambridge, oxford & imperial are not the only good ones, their just the most famous. One of the best uni's for business & accounting is Aston University in Birmingham. It has one of the highest graduate employment rates in the UK, & the business courses have a placement year, so you get experience & can earn some money.
http://www.aston.ac.uk/about/rankings.jsp
Aston undergraduate courses

Cudey

shadowmancer wrote: »

yay my AAT propectus(or info pack whatever u call it) just came in today and i had a good look at it and i do find it really interesting.

Thing with me is, that i don't know whether accounting is the right choice for me. I mean i haven't experience the field of work so i can't really guess what my career would be like and i'm afraid that i might find it boring because i'm very outgoing and i love to mess around and hate studying coz i'm lazy lol(but still worked hard to get my grades).
I also love travelling. Does accountancy involves travelling?
I'm also thinking twice about doing A Levels because i heard that it's different from GCSEs coz it's really hard. My big sister had A* for her subjects in GCSEs and in A Levels she got Cs and Bs for her modules lol I've also checked university courses and sadly cambridge and oxford(top leading unis in UK) don't do accountancy even imperial college is not doing so im thinking forget it then if good unis don't do them then might as well not do it. <<

@Cudey: wah u mean no colleges won't accept you? A-C grades are average grades so they should accept them. Or is it that you wanted to go straight to jobs?Lol that's exactly what my mates said to me?! They said i'm gonna messed up my life and i should use my brains to further my study and get professional qualifications. probablyy making my own decision about my life is the hardest for me coz i normally would go with the flow.

@EmAngier: Thanks for your advice. I don't think A Levels alongside with AAT is a good idea for me coz i don't want to be burden with too much of studying. I don't really mind not going to college but i will miss going to clubs because i'm club-holic and i like going out to residential trips and that lol.

Thanks for all thr advices guys! I found them all to be very helpful and your experiences really making me think lol

Didn't mean colleges mate, I meant jobs. Was a struggle at first, but trust me I'm not on 12k, i'm quite a bit above that at 18. So I can laugh at them Is a very hard decision indeed, I had to make the same one, personally I think I made the right one. Think long and hard about it, and don't rush into a decision. If you want anymore info etc feel free to PM me.

burg

I was predicted similar results and chose to go away from A levels and into pharmacy. The NHS declined over the years and I ended up on AAT intermediate and am due to qualify this June.

Only you can make the decision. Why not try writing down all the postives and negatives about each option and see what stands out as a better option.

In the past AAT would have somewhat limited your chances of alternative careers but now they have evaluated AAT intermediate (NVQ level 3) is worth 160 UCAS points which is 40 more points than an A at A level.

You could possibly do some AS levels to top this up and have an option of university.

For me I do not regret not doing A levels but I do regret not doing AAT earlier.

You get generous exemptions from Chartered and certified and could be completely qualified as chartered in 5 years from now versus aprox 8 years by doing A levels then uni then chartered.

The major question for doing AAT is do you want to work in accounts?

andrewtdk

I am currently in the middle of AAT intermediate but did a levels before hand. To be honest im glad i did as its made aat much easyer and it helped me decide what i wanted to do. I choose AAT after because i figured after aat you generaly go on to ACCA, ACA or CIMA and after uni you still need to study the same so i figured i may as well get some work experience and earn some money seeing as though it will take about the same lenght of time to complete and leave me in a similar place.

Granted you dont get the degree or student lifestyle but im happy with my decision especialy because a lot of my friends who go to uni cant go out all the time simply because they dont have the money.

Dont let anyone push you into going down a certain route just look up the different options.

p.s if you go for a levels i think you should probably do accountancy as this will help you decide better than other courses whether or not you want to be an accountant

George Tse

Hey Shadowmancer

I see this post is very popular n thinking y aint i participating lol

Any wayz lets get to the point..... AAT is highly looked up on and the intermediate level is equivalent to an A level which also awards 160 Ucas points in most cases you may be able to join AAT from the intermediate level if you have 5 GCSE grade A- C hence thats is what i have done this year joined intermediate level without doing foundation.

After the you have finished the intermediate level providing you have passed some unitversities accept AAT intermediate for a BA(Hons) degree in accounting and finance.which means u are able to go to uni after one year of study at college in stead of 2 if u do A levels.

Another alternative is to do AAT all levels providing you pass the exams first time it will take around 2 years if u join from intermediate, and around 2.5 years if you join from foundation. After the you get the full qualification you can continune on to ACCA, ACA, CIMA etc... as mentions by other members, which are professional accountancy bodies. As from completing the whole AAT qualifications you may gain some exemptions for these bodies which means some exams you are exempt from. ACCA will take around 3 years and ACA will take around 2 years for the fast track route ... im not sure about CIMA tho. So in total if you join from intermediate AAT then to ACCA it will take you 5 years to become a qualified accountant.

Overall you will probabaly become a fully qualified accountant in around 5 years.

If you go uni and do accounting that will take you 3 plus you will have to do 2 years of A-level before uni. this has alredy taked you 5 years. after uni if you want to become a qualified accountant you will have to go for ACCA.ACA ,CIMA etc... which will take around another 3 years. in total if you take the A-level route and then uni and then ACCA it will take you 8 years.

Not trying to say there is a rite way to walk and a wrong way in the end its really up to you what you do .uni has a good social life that i think everyone wants but going from AAT may be faster

I am 18 and i was considering going to uni after this years intermediate course and still confuesed rite now lol u get what i mean lol !

n e wayz i hope this helps you dude

Gentle Jesus XD

shadowmancer

Hello!

Thank you for all of your good advices. My GCSEs exams are coming soon and i will be finishing school after that so i really need to decide on what i should do -.-'

Yes i see what you guys mean. AAT sounds very convenient for me if i want to get qualified fast and earn my money lol but the disadvantage of that is that i won't be able to enjoy my college life with the people around my age.
I'm also thinking of another route for me to take. Recently, i had a college interview with Solihull 6th form college about IB and it was great. The tutor told me that i should go for IB because it is equivalent to 5 A Levels and there's loads of trips and that lol so i'm also considering that.
If I take AAT after i finish college that would take a longer time before i can be qualified won't it?

richardw

If you start the AAT at intermediate after college, a-levels + AAT would take 4 years. AAT by itself would take 3 anyway, so 1 extra year & you get a wider range of qualifications.

The IB is not very recognised in the UK, dont know how well it is known by universities.

Your in the Birmingham/Solihull area then. Solihull college has a good reputation, so does Sutton.

shadowmancer

richardw wrote: »

If you start the AAT at intermediate after college, a-levels + AAT would take 4 years. AAT by itself would take 3 anyway, so 1 extra year & you get a wider range of qualifications.

The IB is not very recognised in the UK, dont know how well it is known by universities.

Your in the Birmingham/Solihull area then. Solihull college has a good reputation, so does Sutton.

well i was told that IB has an equivalent of 5 A Levels and the interviewer encouraged me to take it. i've checked local universities like Birmingham uni and it does accept IB depending on what subjects you take i think. I know it's not very recognised but alot of overseas unis accept it i think. She told me that A Levels in like UK standard whilst if you take IB then unis from all over the world will accept you something like that.

Jimmy1588

Mate

First off good on you for checking all the options. I remember being in your position and I remember it felt like drowning in a sea of information.

I went to a grammer school and ever since I got there I was told I WOULD do A-Levels and I WOULD go to Uni. Thing is I now work for the largest independant firm of accountants in my area now and haven't looked back. I went to college for a year after deciding not to stay at me 6th form, thinking a change of scenery would help me, but it didn't. I did Law, Maths (pure and stats), Business Studies, ICT and Physical Education, and obviously met alot more people.

But you talk about your social life!!!! If you take this seriosuly, you won't have a social life. You have stacks of extra work, reading, Maths esepecially was about 12 hours a week extra outside lessons. You will i assume also get a part time job in a supermarket or the like to earn some of your own money, and then with sleeping you don't have much time spare.

I won't tell you do this do that, I was told that and then dropped out and took a year out.

I started AAT at the age of 18 at foundation and this December should finish my Technician and i'll only be 20. That means if you can do it like that, you'll be 18 and have enough UCAS points to go to a University if you wish, but also have experience in a job and go another route. I have full support, all courses paid for and all my expenses of travel, and a salary as well. I get home at 5.30 and I have Saturday and Sunday off. What more do lads our ages want. I play football a lot and it gives me time to train, and I progressed up the ladder quickly enough.

I think its great that you are looking at all options, but careers don't rely on professional exams. You can study AAT and then go and work in a bank as a manager selling pensions, take IFA exams, it opens doors, as long as you like figures, and are not so good with the words (as you are probably able to tell through this post, words are hard lol)

Don't think that if you do AAT you are an accountant for life, because that is not the case, There are also many different areas of accountancy as well, and it opens doors for Tax.

Hope this helps, and good luck in your GCSE exams!!!

Beth

If you're that smart, DO YOUR ALEVELS!!!

When you've done at 18, get a job and do homestudy (either AAT or if you'd done an Accounting ALevel, you could go straight onto ACCA), get the experience WHILST working and you're parents would probably be right, you would progress faster.

You don't need a degree to be an accountant, BUT if you decided in a few years time accounts really wasn't what you wanted to do, as long as you have your A-Levels you'll have options :-)

sraziabid

Hey,
I'll be the odd one here, but finding such great advices in this thread, i guess my problem will be solved too. Well, i did my gcse and then my A-levels in Pakistan, and after which i enrolled with ICAP for CA, which is completely affiliated with ICAEW. Late last year i came to know about the fast track to ACA by doing AAT. So i started working out to leave for UK for AAT. But i dont understand the route., i mean for this fast track thing, are we supposed to be enrolled with a firm first? I cant do that because i wont have a work permit before enrollment with a firm, or admission in an institute. Please people, do help, i just dont want to miss it.

goonerb

When I was sitting my GCSE's I thought that I wanted to do accounts but was persuaded by teachers and career advisors to go on and do my A-Levels.
For me that was a mistake, I didn’t enjoy doing my A-Levels and that reflected in my results. After I was finished I found it hard to get a junior role within accounts as I had no experience and no relevant qualifications. I took a job in an office to get some experience and at the same time started the AAT. I'm finished now and it took 14months in total.
If I was in your position now I would consider 2 options if you don’t think uni is for you.
1. - Go straight into the AAT, with your predicted grades I’d start at intermediate, you can complete that in 6 months then move onto Technician depending on the options you take you can complete this stage in 6 -12 months. With the AAT complete you shouldn't have a problem finding a good job to support you onto ACCA / ACA, with the exemptions you'll have gained from AAT you could be qualified AAT and certified/charted in 4 years.

2. - Do your A-Levels, continue to do as well as you have in your GCSE's and you can then look at getting a job straight from your A-Levels into one of the big 4 and skip uni altogether.