Institute reminds Class of 2022 of variety of routes into the professional qualification
Almost 1 in 2 new student accountants now choose ACA
31 August 2022 – As the Class of 2022 awaits the publication of Leaving Certificate results on Friday, Chartered Accountants Ireland has highlighted the growth of accounting as a subject choice, particularly at higher level, while also reminding students of the wide range of routes into the accountancy profession.
Figures from CareersPortal.ie show that the numbers studying accounting for senior cycle in 2021/22 were the highest they have been in a decade, with a 70% increase in those studying the subject at higher level since 2011. The Institute, the longest established accountancy body on the island of Ireland, educates over 7,000 students in an academic year, and now has over 31,000 fully qualified members on this island and around the world.
Commenting, President of Chartered Accountants Ireland, Pat O’Neill said
“It is fantastic to see that the number of students studying higher level accountancy has steadily increased. This is very encouraging in terms of cultivating a pipeline of bright students to pursue a career in accounting, especially as Ireland is experiencing a real shortage of professionally qualified accountants. While demand for accountants continues to grow, the pipeline of new talent entering the profession is not sufficient to fill the job opportunities available.”
Accounting has been listed on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s Critical Skills Occupations List since 2016. These are employments in respect of which there is a shortage of qualifications, experience or skills required for the proper functioning of the economy.
Pat O’Neill also reflected on the routes into the profession for students receiving examination results this week, noting that to meet demand for Chartered Accountants across the economies on this island, the Institute’s training offering has evolved.
O’Neill said
“Accountancy has never been as accessible as a profession, and we would like to remind students receiving their Leaving Cert results this week of the wide variety of routes into it. There are many options for the next generation to join the profession, whether directly out of school via Accounting Technicians Ireland or after university or college. In addition to the well-established Training Contract pathway familiar to many, since 2009 Chartered Accountants Ireland has offered a flexible route, working and training with one of the many
companies in different sectors that train Chartered Accountants through their dedicated graduate programmes.”
Statistics published in recent weeks by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) in its annual ‘Profile of the Profession’ report, show that Chartered Accountants Ireland now occupies 36.4% of the student market in the Republic of Ireland, increasing its share by 5.6% in the last decade. Notably, the report also showed that the Institute recorded strong levels of new student intake in a competitive market, attracting over 46% of new student accountants in the Republic of Ireland for the academic year 2021/2022.
O’Neill continued
“I am delighted to see almost 1 in 2 new student accountants opting for the Chartered qualification. In addition to optimising this qualification, we have also been working to continue to build the talent pipeline to support growth across all sectors of the economy. A fundamentally important part of this however is ensuring that the Leaving Certificate Accounting syllabus is modernised for developments since the 1990s when it was first introduced, and engaging, to ignite interest in the subject as a career choice for school leavers, which we continue to liaise with the Department of Education on.”
To support engagement with Accounting in schools, in 2019 Chartered Accountants Ireland launched the Boot Camp programme for Transition Year and Senior Cycle students. Now in its third year, the programme is used by almost 4,500 students in all 26 counties. Collectively, these students have completed over 63,000 online lessons.
ENDS
Notes to editor
The Institute is currently enrolling for the upcoming academic year. For more information, visit https://www.charteredaccountants.ie/Prospective-Students/Entry-Routes
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