MSc in Professional Accountancy

The MSc Professional Accountancy is a unique specialist course developed through a collaborative effort between Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) Malaysia and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to meet the demand for highly qualified accountants. The course is designed specifically to meet the vision and aspirations of the Malaysian government in producing more qualified accountants with professional recognition from professional institutions such as ICAEW. This postgraduate degree aims to develop knowledge and professional skills in accountancy, whilst also encompassing advanced level study in finance and strategic management.

The degree is available for full-time or part-time study for graduates seeking positions in Consultancy, Accounting, Banking and Investment.

Course members can also use the project and case study to concentrate in-depth on an approved topic in the area of accountancy or finance according to individual interests and career requirements.

As professionally qualified accountancy graduates are always in demand, this is a growing and expanding field hence graduates who complete this postgraduate degree will also be entitled to relevant exemptions for certain ICAEW Professional Level papers subject to achieving the appropriate marks for selected course modules.

Details on Course Delivery

Duration

• Full time (FT):1 year
• Part-time (PT): 2-4 years

Intakes

• February (PT)
• September (FT and PT)
• November (PT)

Location and class hours

Classes will take place at our Kuala Lumpur Teaching Centre on weekends only (9:30am - 12:00pm; 2:00pm - 5:00pm).

There will be occasional travel to the Semenyih campus for academic and non-academic workshops.

Total hours

Generally 33 hours for each module.

Exams

Exam papers will be reviewed/moderated by ICAEW external examiners.

Total Modules

• Students must complete 180 credits
  • Eight 15 credit modules equivalent to 120 credits
  • Project (30 credits) + Case Study (30 credits)
• Semesters 1 and 2
  • FT: 4 modules each semester
  • PT: 2 modules each semester
• Semester 3 (Case study + Project)

Exam Periods

January, May and August

Syllabus

Designed identically to ICAEW Professional and Advanced level papers.

Exams

Exam papers will be reviewed/moderated by ICAEW external examiners.

Lecturers

All are experienced NUBS academic staff with accounting qualifications.

Learning Materials

All participants will receive full teaching materials by ICAEW at no additional cost.

Fees payable to ICAEW

• Student registration fee.
• Credit for Prior Learning fee.
  • Available on 4 ACA Professional Level modules which might be exempted based on the conditions stated below.

Exemptions

Participants who complete the MSc Professional Accountancy modules marked with an asterisk (see 'Modules') will be given exemptions for the following ICAEW modules subject to having achieved a minimum mark of 55% in each of the similar MSc modules.

• Tax Compliance.
• Financial Accounting & Reporting.
• Business Planning: Taxation.
• Audit and Assurance.

Participants who have passed and obtained credit for prior learning from ICAEW for the Professional level papers prior to admission will be given exemption(s) from taking the MSc course module(s).

image courtesy of University of Nottingham Malaysia

Modules

September intake - Full-time pathway (1 Academic Year)

Semester 1 (Autumn) - 11 weeks (September to December)

• Tax Compliance*
• Financial Accounting & Reporting*
• Corporate Finance
• Research Methods for Accounting

Semester 2 (Spring) - 11 weeks (January to April)

• Business Planning: Taxation*
• Audit and Assurance*
• Corporate Reporting
• Strategic Business Management

Semester 3 (Summer) (June to September)

• Case Study
• Project (10,000 words; 3 months)

* Modules marked with asterisks will gain ICAEW paper exemptions subject to fulfilling the relevant academic requirements and minimum marks.

September intake - Part-time pathway (2 Academic Years)

Year 1
Semester 1 (Autumn) - 11 weeks (September to December)

• Corporate Finance
• Financial Accounting & Reporting*

Semester 2 (Spring) - 11 weeks (February to May)

• Audit and Assurance*
• Corporate Reporting

Semester 3 (Summer) (June to August) - Break

Year 2
Semester 1 (Autumn) - 11 weeks

• Tax Compliance*
• Research Methods for Accounting

Semester 2 (Spring) - 11 weeks

• Strategic Business Management
• Business Planning: Taxation*

Semester 3 (Summer)

• Case study
• Project (6 months)

* Modules marked with asterisks will gain ICAEW paper exemptions subject to fulfilling the relevant academic requirements and minimum marks.

February intake - Part-time pathway (3 Academic Years)

Year 1
Semester 2 (Spring) - 11 weeks (February to May)

• Audit and Assurance*
• Corporate Reporting

Semester 3 (Summer) (June to August) - Break

Year 2
Semester 1 (Autumn) - 11 weeks

• Corporate Finance
• Financial Accounting & Reporting*

Semester 2 (Spring) - 11 weeks

• Strategic Business Management
• Business Planning: Taxation*

Semester 3 (Summer) - Break

Year 3
Semester 1 (Autumn) - 11 weeks

• Tax Compliance*
• Research Methods for Accounting

Semester 2 (Spring) - 11 weeks

• Project (6 months)

Semester 3 (Summer)

• Case study

* Modules marked with asterisks will gain ICAEW paper exemptions subject to fulfilling the relevant academic requirements and minimum marks.

Entry requirements

An upper second class honours degree (or international equivalent) or an upper second class honours degree with a substantial component of accounting subjects. Non-UK qualifications will be assessed against this standard.

Additional requirements:

• Applicants have obtained a recognised undergraduate degree eligible for credit for prior learning from ICAEW.
• Applicants have acquired at least FOUR (4) credits for prior learning from ICAEW and substantial knowledge in subjects' equivalent in level to related ICAEW papers.

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (no less than 6.0 in each element).
• TOEFL (iBT): 87 (minimum 20 in Speaking and 19 in all other elements).
• PTE (Academic): 62 (minimum 55).
• MUET: Band 4.

IELTS, TOEFL and PTE (Academic) test results must be less than two years old and all IELTS must be the academic version of the test. MUET results are valid for five years from the date of the release of results.