Level 4 Diploma in Accounting and Finance

Where its OTHM cousin splits the year between accounting and general business, this Qualifi diploma keeps the discipline in view from the first unit to the last. Accounting in a Business Context opens it, Financial Accounting and Management Accounting form the technical core, and Leadership and Management in Accounting closes it by asking how a finance team is actually run. The economics and accounting methods units in between supply the theory that the technical work leans on.

In our experience this suits applicants who have already decided on finance and are impatient with anything that is not. The assignments are more numerical than on most Level 4 programmes, though each still asks for a written interpretation, because a set of figures nobody can explain is not yet accounting. Qualifi does not publish individual unit credit values for this diploma in the way OTHM does; the whole carries 120 credits, and you should treat the six units as roughly equal in weight. As with every accounting diploma at this level, it confers no membership of a professional body and no automatic exam exemptions.

Qualifi sets the entry requirements for this qualification and LSPM, as the approved centre, applies them when it assesses your application. As published by the awarding body:

• Approved Centres are responsible for reviewing and making decisions as to the applicant’s ability to complete the learning programme successfully and meet the demands of the qualification. The initial assessment by the centre, will need to consider the support that is readily available or can be made available to meet individual learner needs as appropriate.
• The qualification has been designed to be accessible without artificial barriers that restrict access, for this qualification applicants must be aged 16 or over.
• In the case of applicants whose first language is not English, then IELTS 6 (or equivalent) is required. International qualifications will be checked for appropriate enrolment to UK higher education postgraduate programmes where applicable. The applicants are normally required to produce two supporting references, at least one of which should preferably be academic.

Source: the Qualifi specification. If you are not sure whether your qualification counts as equivalent, send us the details and we will put the question to LSPM's admissions team, who make the decision.

Qualifi asks centres to judge each applicant on their ability to complete the programme, and the age floor is 16. In practice LSPM looks for a Level 3 qualification or a finance-related job, and for applicants whose first language is not English, IELTS 6 or equivalent.

Written assignments for each unit, several of which include calculations or prepared statements alongside the commentary. Nothing is examined under time pressure. Whether feedback on a draft comes before the marked submission is LSPM's practice to confirm; ask before you enrol.

Assignments are set and marked by LSPM's tutors, moderated within LSPM and sampled by Qualifi before LSPM claims certificates. Draft feedback and resubmission arrangements are LSPM's own practice; confirm them at enrolment. How assessment works in full.

Level 5 Diploma in Accounting and Finance from Qualifi, the second stage of the same route.

An application for advanced standing on an accounting and finance degree; each university decides whether and how much credit to recognise.

Finance assistant and trainee management accountant posts where a Level 4 is the qualification the job advert asks for.