Deciding what to do after receiving exam results can be difficult for students, parents and guardians. For many students across Northern Ireland A-Level (14th August) and GCSE (21st August) results day can be a critical time. However, ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Ireland is reminding students that there are plenty of options available to them.

Ronnie Patton, ACCA Public Sector Panel member and senior lecturer at the University of Ulster said, “For many young people across Northern Ireland getting exam results can be a worrying time and many students are faced with tough decisions about their next steps. There is a lot of pressure on young people to succeed; however, we are reminding students that exam results are just the start of your future career and there are lots of options available if you didn’t get the grades you wanted.”

As the global body for professional accountants, ACCA believes that in order for students to take control of their futures, it is important that they are properly informed of all the career opportunities at the appropriate stage in their learning and how best they can access them.

“It can be a challenging time for most young people as they are unsure what to do next and we want to remind students not to panic as there are numerous routes to skilled employment including the full-time university education route or professional career focused alternatives.

“For students choosing the education route it is encouraging to see a willingness to learn from young people with many opting to go to University. The latest figures from UCAS for July highlights that there has been an increase of 0.6% in the number of local students applying to Northern Ireland Institutions since the same period last year. However, full time education is not the right approach for everyone, many young people will choose to work part-time because they need to work and can’t afford full-time education.

“ACCA offers flexibility for young people and those who have obtained three GCSEs and two A-Levels including Maths and English are probably unaware that they are already on the path to becoming an accountant and can use these essential skills as a stepping stone to the professional qualification. With globally transferable skills and a range of study options including full-time, part-time, evening and weekend courses as well as distance learning, the ACCA accredited qualification represents immediate earning potential to all students.

“Accountancy is a profession that plays a pertinent role here in Northern Ireland in helping to drive our economy and we must continue to equip our young people with the skills required to fulfil demands of employers and help towards building a prosperous economy.”

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For more information, please contact Shane Finnegan or Katrina Frazer at Aiken PR on 028 9066 3000 or email: firstname@aikenpr.com

Notes to Editors:1. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.2. There are over 20,000 members and students in Ireland.3. We support our 170,000 members and 436,000 students in 180 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of 91 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.4. Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.