ACCA Launches its New Online Learning Venture, ACCA – X

Details of a series of digital, high quality and open access courses are announced today by global accountancy body ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) with the creation of a new venture called ACCA-X. ACCA-X’s courses will be delivered on the world-renowned edX platform, an online learning destination founded by MIT and Harvard. ACCA-X’s open access courses will feature content developed by Epigeum, a spin-out from Imperial College London whose courses are used by 95% of Russell Group universities.

At the heart of ACCA-X’s creation is the desire to provide accessible, affordable and high quality learning that provides ambitious individuals anywhere with the opportunity to obtain the skills and qualifications they can use for a rewarding career. Speaking on the announcement, Mohammed Sajid Khan, Head of International Development, ACCA says, “We are delighted to announce our partnership with edX and Epigeum which has been instrumental in making ACCA-X a reality. This new-age learning platform has been designed to offer professional accountants a set of diverse learning courses in the most convenient and affordable manner. ACCA-X will allow us to impart the next level of skill-set to professional accountants.”

Explaining ACCA-X, Helen Brand OBE, chief executive of ACCA, says: “Along with EdX and Epigeum, we believe that ACCA-X will attract a diverse range of talent to the profession. ACCA-X will broaden access to learning and allow more learners than ever before to gain valuable financial literacy skills and prepare for the ACCA Qualification. We will also collaborate closely with our existing learning partners, employers and universities through a variety of partnership arrangements to support their overall delivery and success, making ACCA-X a valuable addition to their offerings.”

Terry Sweeney, chief executive of Epigeum says: “Epigeum has extensive experience in producing courses to the highest quality standards used by learners across the world. For ACCA-X, we have developed courses that utilise a mix of media that will appeal to a range of learning styles. We have worked with ACCA-X to design courses that will deliver a more effective learning experience than self-study alone, and will complement face-to-face course delivery.”

Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX concludes: “ACCA’s commitment to innovation and to delivering business-relevant content to meet the diverse needs of professionals and learners aligns with edX’s mission to increase access to high-quality education. We are pleased to welcome ACCA to edX.org as they share their expertise in accountancy, finance and management with our global learning audience.”

Details of the course

Anyone interested in the first courses to be offered can register from today - 7 April 2015. These will then start in July and, in common with other upcoming ACCA-X courses, will be ten weeks long and will typically require around three hours of study per week.

ACCA-X’s first two free courses, which are available to anyone anywhere in the world, are:

• Introduction to Financial and Management Accounting Course, leading to ACCA’s Introductory Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting

• Intermediate Financial and Management Accounting Course, leading to ACCA’s Intermediate Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting.

Much of the course functionality will be mobile-friendly and supported by tutors who will guide learners through exciting and interactive content that is designed to support individuals gain financial literacy skills.

ACCA-X will then offer three highly affordable courses in Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Zambia, which will be open for registration in July and available from October 2015. These are:

• Accountant in Business course, preparing learners for ACCA’s Accountant in Business paper

• Management Accounting Course, preparing learners for ACCA’s Management Accounting paper

• Financial Accounting Course, preparing learners for ACCA’s Financial Accounting paper.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Success in these three papers and the completion of ACCA’s Professionalism and Ethics module will lead to the Diploma in Accounting and Business. The cost of each course will be $89USD.

Notes to Editors

About ACCA-X – More can be found here www.acca-x.com

About EdX – please refer to edX website

About Epigeum:

Founded in 2005, Epigeum provides bespoke online programmes to the professional and higher education sector, and is a leading publisher of professional development courses designed to support universities in transforming their core activities – teaching, learning and research. Its courses are developed through the global collaboration of experts and partner universities and shared by subscription – ensuring that high quality, innovative and peer reviewed courses are affordable for all. Originally a spin out from Imperial College London, Epigeum is celebrating 10 years at the forefront of online course innovation and has collaborated with 33 of the top 100 global universities in the QS world ranking to develop world class programs. Epigeum’s courses are now used by 250 universities in 28 countries, including 95% of the Russell Group.