Hi, I am interested in knowing if anyone from practice has transitioned into teaching or lecturing in accounting and if it is even possible to do on a casual basis? I really would like to be involved but there seem to be very few opportunities to teach accountancy in the open jobs market and most teaching training providers have a blank face when I say, I just want to teach accountancy (or related subjects, economics, business studies) not maths or science or any other subjects. Thanks
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Professionally qualified individuals do/did sometimes transition to academic positions, but I do suspect it is something done reasonably early post qualification and it maybe is more a thing of the past.
As an example I was taught in the 1980s by a lecturer at Aberdeen University who was an ICAS member (in fact I think she had won the Gold Medal) who appears to have pursued an academic career in the main post qualification (plus holding various professorships/sitting on various financial reporting bodies over the years)
A partner in a firm where I worked (CA, ATII) had also lectured part time in tax for ICAS when he was younger, and some of my ICAS lecturers in the 1980s appeared to also work in practice, though not sure if that is still the case.
I do recall that one of the professors of Accountancy and Finance at Heriot Watt was ex practice (I think he had been a partner at Peat Marwick) as he was known to my father professionally.
I think with schools a teaching qualification will certainly be required; plenty of people know their subject but cannot teach.
Where/ at what level did you envisage teaching?
Thanks for your reply, I'm not really sure, maybe it's not possible now, I would like to teach A level accounting or maybe lecture or something in that area, happy to do a teacher qualification to do that, but not wanting to change careers completely.
I was speaking to some year 12s about pursuing a career in accountancy the other week and the teachers there were like, you should be a teacher, you are really natural at it, the kids were really engaged by you (but maybe they say that to everyone lol) but I've always said if I ever wasn't an accountant I wouldn't mind giving teaching a go, so just wondered how people got into it really.
You say you don't want to change careers completely.
Teaching, if you are doing it properly and as a vocation, is so energy-sapping - qualifications, syllabus, lesson plans, classroom, homework, marking, pastoral, politics, meetings - that you would need to be super-human to combine the two, unless you were just playing at it.
Well, I suspect for a route in at University you would need to be published in various journals and for schools a teacher training qualification would likely be required.
Not sure re colleges and down south do ICAEW etc not attend courses by providers?
ICAS certainly traditionally did far more in house, we had block release, attending either in Edinburgh or Glasgow, and I used to post my work in to have it marked and returned (no idea who did the marking)
If you have children at secondary maybe asking at their school might give some pointers (Flee, run for your life might be the tenor of the responses received)
Accountancy training bodies often use freelance tutors, which might enable you to mix p/t teaching with practice. There are lots of jobs here: https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/bpp/displayjob.aspx?jobid=77
Thank you all for your replies - it was just one of those things I've wondered if anyone else is doing in practice and how they got into it - will follow up with suggestions below and get a better understanding of what is involved before making any further decisions.
I qualified (ICAEW) in 1971 and went into teaching full-time
a few years later after working in industry. I taught all accountancy related subjects (Accounts, auditing, company law, tax) at my local College of Technology. I then lectured in Management and mangement Accounting at Leeds Poly (now Leeds Becket University) until setting up my own businesses in 1986. There certainly used to be opportunities for part-time teaching at FE Colleges - I suggest you try contacting heads of Business Studies, etc. Noewadays, they probably require some kind of basic teaching qualification, but may take you on on the understanding that you study for one of these in your first year (there are plenty of online courses for recognised qualifications).
Have a go - it can be a rewarding and satisfying part-time career option.
Having spent more than a few years in teaching my suggestion would be to look at the tertiary sector. Your local FE colleges are likely to offer AAT and/or ATT at levels 2, 3 and 4. Most of these courses are likely to be taught by part-time lecturers and some will be in practice. I know from my local college that teaching opportunities arise quite regularly as teaching contracts tend to be issued on a temporary basis. Good luck.
I taught for one of the major accountancy/professional education providers for just over two years, I’m now back in industry, but freelance on a part-time basis.
When I joined, tutors came from industry and practice, they weren’t necessarily new or recently qualified, but it was rare to have a “seasoned” professional transition to tutoring. I taught particular disciplines but this ranged from first stage AAT through to “last-but-one” stages of the chartered qualifications (ACCA/CIMA/ICAEW). There was also some marking, providing student support (although the need for this by students was much less than you might imagine) and other duties (like helping with open evenings).
The advantage of working for the professional education providers is that that they usually have a route in and/or are flexible on who can join - as long as they can do it! Also, the courses are very structured, making prep more straightforward than traditional teaching/lecturing. They also employ part-time and on a freelance basis, when I did my initial training there were people still working in practice/industry (one was even a lecturer at a university) who were joining as freelancers. Daily rates for freelancers started at around £375, but the individual sets their rate. The work load can fluctuate from being very intense to being very light, depending on time of year/exam periods (although this is shifting with the move to computer based exams).
The requirements of universities seems to vary – some will take professionals, other are only interested in experienced academics, some take recent graduates and/or those undertaking post-graduate work. As I mentioned, I do some freelancing as I enjoy the teaching and the extra money is nice. When I left full-time teaching, I investigated options with various providers including further education colleges and home study providers. All had something suitable to offer an experienced tutor (part-time/freelance), but I’m not sure what their requirements would be for a “rooky”.
If it appeals, contact your nearest BPP, Kaplan Financial or First Intuition, the least they can do is tell you how to get started. They all use freelancers to support flexibility, BPP are often looking to add to their freelancer lists https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/bpp/displayjob.aspx?jobid=77.
I have been teaching AAT 4, whilst in practice. I enjoyed it and it helped me to keep myself update with all the changes. If you have the time I would strongly recommend. Also teaching is much more relaxing compared to working for a practice.
I have been working for Kaplan as a marker on exams in my spare time which is one thing you could do. I know not teaching but does give feedback to students.
Most of the tutors at Kaplan I deal with are qualified and some have their own practice they run on the side.
They are often looking for tutors so I would suggest they are the type of company you want to contact if you want to know more. Or BBP or First Intuition. The specialist accountancy providers.
As one of your older contributors (now 75 and feeling it...), I remember qualifying through H Foulks Lynch correspondence courses, with regular lectures. It worked for me. They had some first class lecturers, and some not so good, but you soon learnt which ones to avoid.
Preparation by lecturers is obviously all important, with proper notes and references, but of course in my day Spicer & Pegler books were the main reference point in our essential reading matter.
