Has anyone heard of ‘First Class Accountancy’?

geek84

They are a training organisation which trains would be accounting technicians in software packages such as Sage and Book keeping. After the training, they put you on a paid work placement for up to 4 weeks working alongside an accountant or someone else in a similar role. All of this would cost around £300.

Do you think it would be a good idea to enrol on this or do you think it is a bit of a rip off?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

coojee

Looks like a total rip off. The fees are £3000 not £300, that's just the registration fee and all you get is a Sage certificate which I think you can do for free (or at least fairly cheaply) yourself via Sage. They don't guarantee you a job or a work placement, they just "help" you with finding one. My guess is they take your money and run. For £3000 you could do the whole AAT course and get a proper recognised qualification at the end.

geek84

Hi coojee

Thanks for you reply. However, they said it will only cost me £295 + vat, since I am a graduate. I just need to double check about the work placement - if in fact it is guaranteed.

Anyway, I already have qualifications in Sage & Book Keepig, but still can't
get a job!! LOL

coojee

geek84 wrote: »

Hi coojee

Thanks for you reply. However, they said it will only cost me £295 + vat, since I am a graduate. I just need to double check about the work placement - if in fact it is guaranteed.

Anyway, I already have qualifications in Sage & Book Keepig, but still can't
get a job!! LOL

Maybe I was looking at something different then, this is what I was looking at:

http://www.firstclassaccountancy.co.uk/accounts-career/programme-fees/

Is this not the same firm?

geek84

coojee

Those are the right people but they did say they will only charge me £295 + vat

Jo Clark

If that is what they say, get it in writing or you could be in for a nasty shock!

Jo Clark

Just took a look myself...

There is a Registration Fee of £295 on ALL payment options listed below, this is to cover to cost of processing your application.


Train Now, Pay Later Option – candidates will be eligible to enrol into the programme without having to pay the course fees in advanced. You only pay the remaining fees once you have completed the course, are in full-time employment and have been working for 6 months. It couldn’t be simpler.

A Registration Fee charge of £295 is also chargeable.

Deposit Option – With our Deposit plan you put down a deposit of £495 towards your course, and you repay the remaining amount balance once full time employment. The monthly repayments will be £200 per month once your are in full time employment and have been working for 6 months.
A Registration Fee charge of £295 is also chargeable.

Pay in Advance – You pay the First Class Accountancy Training Programme fee in one go, and there is no monies to be repaid thereafter. The course fee is £2,995 in advanced.
A Registration Fee charge of £295 is also chargeable.

With our Sponsorship plan, Graduates from any University or those with a Level 5 qualification or higher, will be eligible for a sponsorship to cover their course fees. There is no monies to be repaid whatsoever, the only fee payable is the registration fee.

A Registration Fee charge of £295 is also chargeable.

Please note that NO FEES are charged until you have completed the enrolment process and you decide to undertake the training programme at First Class Accountancy

Jo Clark

So they will charge £295 minimum if I read and understood it correctly.

geek84

Jo

Thanks for you response.

But they did say only £295 since I already have a degree. However, I will double check on Monday.

Jo Clark

Please do check Manjinder.

It looks like £295 as a registration fee no matter which 'package' you follow....

UNLESS

you have a degree and you follow the Sponsorship plan. Graduates from any University or those with a Level 5 qualification or higher, will be eligible for a sponsorship to cover their course fees. There is no monies to be repaid whatsoever, the only fee payable is the registration fee.

Do you know where the Sponsorship comes from and if there are any clauses/tie ins?

Only wanting the best for a fellow student and don't want to see you get 'ripped off' as per your original post.

Let us know the outcome.

Jo Clark

geek84 wrote: »

Anyway, I already have qualifications in Sage & Book Keepig, but still can't
get a job!! LOL

Have you looked at the syllabus? Are you hoping to get a permanent job or just a placement for a period of time?

I think if you are wanting to do level 1, 2 and 3 of Sage as per the syllabus details on the website you may be better reading a thread by NPS which provides details of reasonably priced Sage qualifications, granted it does not give a work placement.

Are you still looking for voluntary work? What jobs have you applied for recently? How did the second interview for credit control go?

geek84

Hi Folks

I will double check costs with them on Monday- it looks like they may be talking about the sponsorship programme. However, it is more about the work placement that I am concerned with. It seems as though it is only for 4 weeks - which does not seem enough to me. What are your thoughts?

Jo - I am no longer doing voluntary work., I have had a few temporary credit control positions - the last one finished ending in January. I have been to a number of interviews after that & on 2 occasions I have been called back for 2nd interviews. I did not get pass that stage - on both occasions the feedback was simply 'not successful'.

blobbyh

This has SCAM, SCAM and more SCAM written all over it. Even the name - First Class Accountancy - seriously? - sounds typically dodgy. No training company can guarantee you a job or work placement with another company unless said company is associated with the first company... in which case... it sounds like yet more SCAM.

From their website:
First Class Accountancy is the nation’s leading accountancy training provider specialising in the personal career development of entry level and experienced accountancy professionals.

Leading training provider? Well, how come we've never heard of them before? In fact, having just looked at their Locations tab on their website, I'd say they're actually little more than a small time rogue recruitment company - of indeterminate age - making ridiculous claims to get money out of candidates. Personally, I'd steer a very, very, VERY wide berth of this...

The fact I can't see their company registration number on their website as required under the Company Act additionally makes me wonder exactly what their legal status is.

blobbyh

If you Google First Class Accountancy, you get this webpage.

http://www.192.com/atoz/business/stevenage-sg1/accounting-activities-primarily-bookkeeping/first-class-accountancy/cd6de16dcb600510de9cd39773568199189c5cf9/comp/

If you look that post code up in Google maps, it's actually a residential address yet one that's linked to yet another, supposedly separate, distance learning provider... just mere coincidence? Barely the premises for a thriving nationwide business, I'd have thought.

My final bit of detective work: that domain name is only just over a year old, registered March 2012. So they allegedly became bigger than BPP and Kaplan in less than a year. It's blatantly all bull5hit...

I know you will ignore this Geek, you always do, but be very very careful... I'd suggest dropping this before they get to know too much information about you and/or you hand money over to what, IMO, are some transparently clear rip off merchants. From the moderate sophistication, this could even be OC.

geek84

Good morning folks

Thanks for all your opinions - I do agree with blobbyh that even the name of this organisation sounds a bit dodgy - First Class Accountancy !!

And blobbyh, I am grateful for your detective work , and NO I will not ignore what you are saying. As stated earlier, I am speaking to the guys at this organisation tomorrow with everything you guys have said at the back on my mind.

I will let you know of the outcome.

Once again, many thanks for your opinions.

geek84

Good Morning folks

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I did speak to these guys yesterday. Although they did tried their upmost best to sell this programme to me, they said they couldn't absolutely guarantee a work placement for me - he said they will put in a 150% effort to get me the appropriate work placement. but like all things in this World, they could not absolutely guarantee the work placement.

I told them that I will think about it and let them know if I am still interested!

Jo Clark

Geek, I take it you are not interested after the various posts above, or are you still considering it?

geek84

Good morning folks

I did have a feeling that this training company was not all that it seems to make out to be, before posting my query to your folks on this forum. The responses I got from you guys only reinforced my suspicions.

So, in all honesty, I will not be going on this programme.