Qualifications needed

AAT

If you don’t want to go down the university route, doing an apprenticeship is a great way to get a qualification whilst also gaining first hand experience in the industry. For most aspiring accountants the first qualification they would take out of school is the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualification. The qualification is made up of three levels which contain a number of compulsory units. The qualification can be taken at the pace of the student and depending on the student it can take between 18 months to 3 years to complete it.  Once you have completed this, most students then go to study chartered accountancy. Find out more about the options you have if you want to pursue a career in accountancy without getting a degree.