Professional Exam Exemptions

Information about the exemptions you can earn through our Accounting and Finance degrees

Many of the modules studied during an Accounting and Finance degree will help you gain exemptions from your professional accounting exams.

For those interested in qualifying as accountants, this will mean far fewer exams to take when you are working and will give you more time to become an expert at work.

Accreditation bodies

Our Accounting and Finance degrees are accredited by five major accounting bodies.

  • ICAEW

    Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

  • ICAS

    Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland

  • CIMA

    Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

  • ACCA

    Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

  • CIPFA

    Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy

Overview

ICAEW

For those wanting to qualify with the ICAEW (to get the ACA qualification), exemption is for up to 6 of the first (certificate) stage and for Financial Management at the second (professional) stage exam.

ACCA

For those interested in ACCA, exemptions are available for up to 7 papers at the Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills levels.

Exam exemptions by degree

The set of exams from which you can earn exemptions varies depending on your degree.

BSc Accounting and Finance
BSc Accounting and Management
BSc Accounting, Finance and Mathematics
BSc Finance

BSc Accounting and Finance (and Industry variant)

Eligibility criteria ICAEW ACCA CIMA ICAS CIPFA
Anyone with this degree All Applied Knowledge level and Applied Skills: Corporate and Business Law All Certificate level Knowledge level: Reporting and performance, Business Management and Finance Exemptions: Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Business Planning & Financial Management, Business Reporting
Students who completed specific modules within this degree Accreditation for all certificate level and Financial Management at professional level Applied Skills: Performance management, Financial Reporting and Financial Management All Operational level Knowledge level: Business Law, Assurance and Taxation Exemptions: Tax and Law

BSc Accounting and Management (and Industry variant)

Eligibility criteria ICAEW ACCA CIMA ICAS CIPFA
Anyone with this degree All Applied Knowledge level All Certificate level Knowledge level: Reporting and performance, Business Management and Finance Exemptions: Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Business Planning & Financial Management
Students who completed specific modules within this degree Accreditation for all certificate level and Financial Management at professional level Applied Skills: Corporate and Business Law, Performance management, Financial Reporting and Financial Management All Operational level Knowledge level: Business Law, Assurance and Taxation Exemptions: Business Reporting, Tax and Law

BSc Accounting, Finance and Mathematics (and Industry variant)

Eligibility criteria ICAEW ACCA CIMA ICAS CIPFA
Anyone with this degree All Applied Knowledge level All Certificate level Knowledge level: Reporting and performance, Business Management and Finance Exemptions: Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Business Reporting
Students who completed specific modules within this degree Accreditation for all certificate level (except Law) and Financial Management at professional level Applied Skills: Performance management, Financial Reporting and Financial Management All Operational level Knowledge level: Assurance and Taxation Exemptions: Business Planning & Financial Management

BSc Finance (and Industry variant)

This information is accurate for the 2025 entry BSc Finance and BSc Finance (Industry) courses. The exam exemptions described do not apply to the 2026 entry instances of these courses.

Eligibility criteria ICAEW ACCA CIMA ICAS CIPFA
Anyone with this degree All Applied Knowledge level All Certificate level
Students who completed specific modules within this degree Accreditation for all certificate level and Financial Management at professional level Knowledge level: Reporting and performance, Business Management and Finance, Business Law, Assurance and Taxation Exemptions: Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Business Planning & Financial Management, Business Reporting, Tax and Law