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MINUTES of the ACCA Course Board held on Wednesday 25th November 2015, 1.15pm, Room
M132.
Present:
Nigel Padbury (Chair), Pauline Coverdale, Rasha Kassem, Graham Clifford,
Maryna Irzhanenko (Full-Time Professional Papers P1 – P3, P6 and P7),
Sandra Holmes, Anastasia Khanina, Gillian Williams, AJ Cilliers and
Elizabeth Robinson (Full-Time Fundamental Papers F4 – F9).
Louise Letchford in attendance.
1.
Welcome and Apologies
The chair welcomed everyone to the first Course Board of the academic year, in particular
the new Course Reps, Maryna and Liz and our new teaching staff Anastasia and Rasha.
Formal apologies were received from Asher Rospigliosi, Trish Coffey, Peter Stock,
Andrew Grantham and Joanna Armstrong.
2.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 22nd April 2015 were agreed to be an
accurate and true record of the meeting.
3.
Matters Arising
Some students were unhappy that the F5 and F7 coursework were due to be submitted
the same week as the F4 exam and felt that staggering this would be better.
Nigel noted that this feedback has been taken into consideration when scheduling
assessments/deadlines for this academic year. Part-Time Fundamental Stage students
have no weeks with more than one in-class test or assignment submission. Liz
commented that this is not the case for the Full-Time Fundamental Students, however, this
has not been raised as an issue.
Secretary’s note: Subsequent to the meeting it was agreed to defer the F9 coursework
submission date by two weeks so as to spread the coursework submission dates more for
full time students.
Students are keen to know the exam dates. Louise explained that, due to the mammoth
task of scheduling exams for the entire University, the dates will not be available until
much nearer the exam period of Monday 18th May to Friday 12th June 2015. As soon as
Louise has any news, she will communicate this to students.
The confirmed exam timetable was sent the day before the Course Board.
Liz commented that students are already asking about exam dates. One student in
particular is very worried about getting time off work. Nigel explained that the exam period
is usually the last two weeks in May and first two weeks in June, with the ACCA exams
usually being scheduled in the first two weeks of the exam period. Louise added that the
exam period is in the Course Handbook and the team will be aiming to get the timetable
out earlier, however, they are somewhat restricted by the scheduling system for the whole
University.
4.
Student Comments
Professional Stage (P1 – P3, P6 + P7)

Students are not happy with the two hour break between the P6 and P7 classes on
Thursdays. Nigel agreed that this was something to take in consideration for
scheduling next year. It was agreed that Louise would ask about the possibility of
moving the sessions for the next term. Rasha confirmed that she had no other
teaching on Thursdays from 9.00am – 11.00am so is happy to move. Louise to check
on availability of rooms and Joanna.
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Secretary’s note: Louise checked with timetabling. Unfortunately there were no rooms
available to accommodate the proposed changes.
Fundamental Stage (F4 – F9)
 A couple of students had concerns regarding invoices. Louise explained that these are
dealt with by the Fees Department, however, anyone having issues should email
Louise and she will liaise with Fees.
 Several students commented that Louise had been very nice and helpful.
 Regarding enrolment, students felt that this was very smooth and there were no
problems. Some students enrolled a little later than others, but this was not an issue.
Students seem very happy with how everything is going.
5.
Staff Comments
Anastasia Khanina – F9
 Going well. A good cohort who are working hard and making good progress.
Anastasia is very pleased.
AJ Cilliers – F5
 A really nice group; engaged and working hard. Nice people. No complaints.
Rasha Kassem – P7
 A small group. No problems.
Sandra Holmes – P1
 Very nice group. They do their homework and are keeping up to date by listening to
relevant radio programmes, reading papers etc, so that they may apply the theory
relevantly.
 It is a 9.00am start and some students come a long way, so can be up to half an hour
late. Generally attendance is good, but there is one student who does not attend very
often. Another has missed three sessions, but has been attending after speaking to
her employer about the importance of attending her classes.
Gillian Williams – F4
 Very happy, all on schedule and students are engaged and enthusiastic. Gillian is
optimistic of good grades.
 Gillian commented that the BPP manual seems to have been cut down significantly
this year. There is not a lot of detail and Gillian is finding it insufficient. She may
consider another manual for next year. Sandra commented that she always uses
Kaplan as she finds them more detailed.
 Nigel commented that we may need to communicate this to our contact at BPP.
Graham Clifford – P3
 Students are engaged, prepared and attentive.
 Graham commented that he and Andrew had changed the order of delivery of the
course content this year to follow the chapter order in the manual. However, they have
found the ordering of the topics in the manual to be strange and the link between
topics unclear.
Nigel Padbury – F7, F8 and P2
F7

A very pleasant cohort who are very engaged in the topic/subject and want to learn.

The first in-class test took place last week. Results are mixed, which is a slight cause
for concern.
F8
 The F8 students are mostly second years. It is a nice class with a mix of those who
are happy to contribute and ask/answer questions and those who are quieter.
P2
 A good cohort who come prepared. They are attentive and ask/answer questions in
class. Very encouraging and Nigel is hopeful for better results this year.
6.
Information Services Update
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Pauline provided an update on Information services.New students had an introduction to
the Library and Information Services as part of their induction, however, if they have any
further questions they may contact the Aldrich Library via aldrichbbs@brighton.ac.uk.
The Library is incredibly busy, but three rooms have been set aside especially for
Postgraduate/Professional study. These rooms are accessed using your Unicard.
Unicards must be initialised. This will also allow access to the Queensdown School Road
(out of hours) entrance.
The laptop loans (for use in the library) system is now up and running.
The Library tab in Student Central will take you to the Accounting and Finance Subject
Guide with recommended resources.
7.
Any Other Business
Rasha queried if guest speakers could be invited, as this needs ACCA cooperation, and
mentioned professional conferences. Sandra added that she has guest speakers every
year, including Tove Sorensen (on Audit) on 20th January and John Harley (the new Chair
of the Board of Governors) on 10th February. Nigel agreed that we should think
about/develop this.
Sandra commented that there is a lot on the ACCA website that students can make use of,
such as, exam trends, External Examiner feedback and reports.
Sandra advised that she was holding a Speed meeting for undergraduate students in
conjunction with the ICAEW the following Tuesday. This is the third year Sandra has done
this with undergraduates, but wondered if this is worth opening up to ACCA students from
next year (it is full for this year). Students meet employers and some students have gained
employment through this. Nigel agreed we should give this consideration for next year.
Liz mentioned that some students had complained about car parking, however, she
recognised that this was an issue outside of the Board’s remit.
The meeting was officially closed.
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