Information for overseas students
Full-time course at LCA are suitable for overseas students.
For Overseas Students - Frequently Asked Questions
1. COURSES OFFERED BY LCA
Please visit our website for information about the courses we offer and corresponding feestructures. Please click on the following link to find out more about the course you are interested in: http://www.londoncollege.org/courses
There are four intakes per year for our professional accountancy courses (ACCA & CAT) – usually January, March, July and September each year. You can choose the term which suits you best. Undergraduate and postgraduate courses have three intakes each year - in January, May and September.
2. WHAT ARE THE NEW VISA REGULATIONS
Overseas students wishing to travel to the UK on a student visa
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) requires that overseas students obtain the appropriate Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) from a Tier 4 institution in order to undertake full time studies in the UK. The UKBA monitors Tier 4 institutions and students to ensure that everyone is complying with the UKBA rules and regulations. Prospective students should visit: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/ for the latest information.
Enrolment and visa applications
Overseas students should follow the steps mentioned below to enrol for an LCA course and obtain the necessary visa:
1. For ACCA and CAT register with the exam body for student membership and / or entry. For an undergraduate or postgraduate course, LCA will register you.
2. Complete the appropriate LCA enrolment form and send it to us with the full-time course fee and/or appropriate deposit as required. Enclose copies of your passport, educational certificates and evidence of English language. Originals will be required by LCA on your first day of enrolment. Enrolment forms are available on our website or from the College. Note: LCA requires all full time students to enrol on a minimum of three professional papers per semester or be enrolled on a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate course if they require Tier 4 sponsorship. LCA requires students to book for the total length of the course if they require sponsorship under Tier 4.
3. If you meet the enrolment requirements LCA will issue you with a CAS.
4. On receipt of your CAS you should apply for your Tier 4 student visa or visa extension from the relevant British Embassy / High Commission / UKBA within three month of your course start date.
5. Arrange accommodation in London as all LCA courses are non residential. If you would like assistance with this, please contact us – we will be happy to help.
6. Arrive in London at least 48 hours before your course at LCA commences.
To apply for a student visa in your home country you will need to visit the following website and follow the detailed instructions for your country of legal residence: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ If applying from within the UK information can be found at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/
The UK authorities are very strict in relation to the required supporting documents therefore please ensure you follow all instructions carefully and always submit originals when required.
Notes on enrolment – delayed visa
Should your visa application be delayed by more than two weeks please contact us immediately. If possible, we will transfer your enrolment to the following term. Please see the terms and conditions on our website for further information.
3. FEE STRUCTURE
The fee structure of each course is detailed on the enrolment forms which can be downloaded from the website (or you can request them directly from LCA). If you would like to download them from the website, please click on the link below and select the appropriate form:
4. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE COURSE FEE?
The course fee includes appropriate study material (e.g. Study text and / or Lecturers’
Study Notes. For the full-time professional courses (ACCA and CAT), this price also includes a Revision Kit.
Examination/assessment fees are not included in your tuition fee.
The tuition fee is based upon you taking and passing the module/paper at the first attempt. If you fail a module/paper then you will incur further costs as you attempt to make good your failure.
5. ADMISSION PROCESS: HOW DO I APPLY FOR AN LCA COURSE?
Once you have chosen the course you would like to enrol for with LCA, you will need to complete an enrolment form and send it with a minimum course deposit to LCA (see
‘Terms & Conditions’ section of the website for details of deposits required). Payment can be made by bank transfer or by banker’s draft and should be made payable to
‘London College of Accountancy’ and sent to:
LCA, 200 Great Dover Street, London. SE1 4YB. United Kingdom
6. HOW MUCH SHOULD I PAY WHEN ENROLLING FOR A COURSE?
The Enrolment form for the course you wish to join will state the tuition fee, the minimum payment at the time of applying and when the balance, if any, will have to be paid.
7. ACCOMMODATION
We can help you find accommodation and have a student accommodation list which we will be happy to send out to you on request.
Should you require us to book any accommodation for you; we can also do this for you.
The price per week for shared accommodation is currently 120 GBP (this is subject to change, so please check with the College first).
Sometimes it is helpful if we book temporary accommodation for your first week and on your arrival in London you can then find a suitable place for the duration of your course.
LCA can only reserve accommodation for students where payment for the accommodation has been received by LCA before the booking is made. Once bookings have been made, they cannot be changed or cancelled at a later stage and no refunds can be given where students have to cancel or change bookings.
The College does not charge anything to the student for this service. You may include the accommodation payment with the course fee or deposit but please let us know which dates you would like us to reserve.
8. COURSE CONFIRMATION LETTERS BY INTERNATIONAL COURIER SERVICE
If you would like to have your course confirmation letters sent to you quickly by international courier, we can arrange this for you. There is a courier charge of 40GBP for this service. If sent by courier, you will normally receive your letters within a few days.
Once you have received the course confirmation letters from the College you will need to apply for your visa through the British High Commission in your area. You will need to provide various documents with your application, the details of which may be obtained from the official website of the British High Commission in your region.
9. IS THE COURSE FEE REFUNDABLE IF I AM UNABLE TO OBTAIN A STUDENT VISA?
If a student is unable to obtain a visa to study in the UK, we will refund the fee sent by the student less an administration charge of 150 GBP and any other expenses incurred at the request of the student provided written evidence of the refusal is provided to the College. Such fees are refunded to the student in the form of a sterling cheque.
10. WHAT IF I AM LATE FOR AN INTERVIEW CALL FROM THE BRITISH EMBASSY / HIGH COMMISSION?
If you are late obtaining a visa and therefore unable to join the term for which you have enrolled, you can send us a request in writing, by email or fax from your country and we will transfer you to the following term. There is no charge for such transfers provided they are deemed valid by the College.
11. WHAT IS THE COST OF LIVING IN LONDON?
One of the requirements of a student coming to the United Kingdom is that he/she must be able to support themselves without the use of public funds. Full details on the maintenance requirements are available in the Tier 4 Migrant Guidance on the UKBA website at http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk
12. CAN I WORK WHILST STUDYING?
If you applied for entry clearance or leave to remain on or after 6 April 2010 you will normally be able to work a total of 20 hours paid employment per week during term time. The 20 hours a week paid employment applies to all LCA registered students other than CAT students who the UKBA states are only allowed to work a maximum of 10 hours a week during term time. All students can normally work full time during term breaks. These requirements could change and the UKBA monitors this requirement diligently therefore please refer to the UKBA website for the most up-to-date information. Please note that student visitors cannot work in the UK.
13. CAN I WORK IN THE UK AFTER COMPLETING MY STUDIES?
After you have graduated from LCA there maybe work options available to you in the UK. For information on different types of visas please visit: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/
14. WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN LCA AND ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY?
LCA has been approved by Anglia Ruskin University to offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in accounting, business and management. The award is from the University and LCA students attend the same graduation ceremony as students who have studied at the University.
15. HOW DO I CHOOSE BETWEEN LCA AND ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY?
Campus life in Cambridge or Chelmsford is different from being located in the centre of London. There are more social facilities at the University. In many ways the difference can be likened to a plane journey, where you can either travel First Class (go to Anglia Ruskin University) or Business Class (study at LCA). The destination is the same; a world recognised academic qualification. The differences that you may wish to consider are:
1. The fees at LCA are considerably less, approximately a third of the fees charged by the University on undergraduate courses and half on postgraduate courses.
2. LCA gives between twice and three times as much class contact as the University and includes a core text as part of the course fee.
3. LCA has three start dates a year, September, January and May, the University has two; September and February.
4. LCA students have access to the electronic library at the University; University students have access to this and the Library itself.
5. LCA do not provide the same level of social facilities and other out of class activities as the University.
Overall the two organisations cater for different student needs within the context of an equivalent learning experience.
16. CAN I DO PART OF MY STUDIES AT LCA AND PART AT ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY?
Yes but when at the University you will pay University fees rather than the lower LCA fees.
17. DO I GET EXEMPTIONS FROM ACCA ON THE BASIS OF MY DEGREE?
Yes, you will be exempted from the first nine ACCA papers when you graduate with the BA (Hons) Applied Accounting and from six papers when you graduate with the BA (Hons) International Business Management
18. DO I GET EXEMPTIONS FROM MY ACADEMIC COURSE ON THE BASIS OF MY PREVIOUS QUALIFICATIONS?
Provided that your previous qualifications have been obtained within five years of joining an LCA course then exemptions are available. Exemptions for some modules at undergraduate level including the whole of Levels 1 and 2 of the degree are available for part and fully qualified ACCA, CAT, CIPFA and CIMA students. Exemptions are also available for holders of internationally recognised degrees, HNDs and other professional qualifications.
Students with a postgraduate qualification or those with a professional qualification benchmarked as being of postgraduate standard are eligible to apply for exemptions. ACCA passed finalists are granted five exemptions from the MBA.
19. HOW LONG WILL MY ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY COURSE TAKE AT LCA?
The undergraduate courses are offered over three different course lengths. There is the traditional two semesters a year course with a holiday period at the end of each academic year. There is a fast track two year degree comprising of three semesters a year with no holiday periods incorporated into the course design and there is a three year three month programme for those who do not have the entry qualifications for direct entry to the three and two year degree programmes.
The postgraduate course lengths vary from 8 months to 24 months depending on the course chosen.
20. HOW IS AN ACCA COURSE GOING TO HELP ME IN MY CAREER?
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is a well established, accounting body which was founded over one hundred years ago. Consequently the ACCA qualification is recognised worldwide and as such, if you are an ACCA qualified accountant you will find that you have many different career opportunities open to you in the accountancy sector which is generally known to be a highly paid profession. On completion of the ACCA qualification, you will be able to choose whether you wish to work for a company or be your own boss and set up your own practice.
21. AS ACCA COURSES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE IN MY COUNTRY WHY WOULD I WISH TO STUDY ABROAD?
LCA prides itself on the superior standard of lecturing and boasts a superb team of experienced lecturers who have been helping accountancy students pass their ACCA exams for many years. You may be familiar with lecturers such as Doug Beardon, Steve Lumby, and Dave Sexton. The quality of tuition on offer at LCA is the reason why so many overseas students choose to study in the UK at LCA as they are often unable to encounter this standard of tuition in their own country.
22. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF STUDYING AT LCA?
We at LCA think that we offer high quality affordable education and training in great surroundings. There are now three sites in London to experience the LCA total learning experience. The latest development is our new flagship building in Central London. The new Charterhouse Street campus is approximately twice the size of our current accommodation. The emphasis in designing the new Centre has been to create a state of the art classroom environment with more space for group and private study outside of the classroom. There are free internet and Wi-Fi facilities for students and prayer facilities.
These are recent comments from current and past LCA students obtained by external advisers:
“Overall, I am grateful. I am not the same person who landed in London in 2007. I have such confidence in the business and corporate world. I have discovered abilities that I didn’t know were in me. I am an Engineer by profession. Now I can do good marketing and am able to do deals with financial institutions. BRAVO LCA.” – LCA Alumnus,
“I wouldn’t be doing this job if I hadn’t got my MBA” – Alumnus
“95% of my ACCA colleagues found jobs they wanted” – Alumnus
“I studied economics in Belarus before, but I never properly understood the concepts because none of the faculty had any experience in the real world. In a developed country and city like London, this is where it actually happens and the lecturers have really experienced it. It makes it much more practical and easier to understand the concepts” – Focus Group participant, from first group,
“The lecturers are amazing. They’re really helpful and supportive, and really generous with their time.” – Focus Group 1
“We have really easy access to advice at all levels of the school, right up to the top” – Focus Group 1
“I’ve made a lot of good friends, there are nice people here” – Focus Group 2
“Compared to my previous experiences, it is all much more practical and applied” – Focus Group 2
“I will be able to earn £30,000 when I leave here on a graduate scheme and that can be £70,000 in a while.” – Interview
“The teachers are really good and it’s cheap – that’s why people come to LCA.” – Interview
“The first priority is education quality and contact hours. I get twice the teaching hours here compared to what we had at my University in the UK” – Focus Group 1.
Current Students – response to questionnaire
Students rate Teaching Quality 3.45 out of 4.
Students rate value for money 3.0 out of 4
92% of students would recommend the college to friends
91% of students feel the college has prepared them well for their career goals
Alumni – response to questionnaire
95% of students feel the college prepared them well for their career goals
93% of students would recommend the college to friends
94% of students enjoyed their time at the college
96% of students not still in education were employed
23. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME TO COMPLETE THE ACCA QUALIFICATION?
It takes 3 – 4 years for an average student to complete the full ACCA programme which consists of 14 papers, each of which is examined.
24. WHAT CAN ACCA STUDENTS DO AFTER THEY FINISH THEIR STUDIES?
After you complete your ACCA qualification, you will have numerous career options open to you such as working as accepting a job as a practicing accountant or an accountant in business.
NEW VISA REGULATIONS
Overseas students wishing to travel to the UK on a student visa
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) requires that overseas students obtain the appropriate Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) from a Tier 4 institution in order to undertake full time studies in the UK. The UKBA monitors Tier 4 institutions and students to ensure that everyone is complying with the UKBA rules and regulations. Prospective students should visit: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/ for the latest information.
Enrolment and visa applications
Overseas students should follow the steps mentioned below to enrol for an LCA course and obtain the necessary visa:
1. For ACCA and CAT register with the exam body for student membership and / or entry. For an undergraduate or postgraduate course, LCA will register you.
2. Complete the appropriate LCA enrolment form and send it to us with the full-time course fee and/or appropriate deposit as required. Enclose copies of your passport, educational certificates and evidence of English language. Originals will be required by LCA on your first day of enrolment. Enrolment forms are available on our website or from the College. Note: LCA requires all full time students to enrol on a minimum of three professional papers per semester or be enrolled on a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate course if they require Tier 4 sponsorship. LCA requires students to book for the total length of the course if they require sponsorship under Tier 4.
3. If you meet the enrolment requirements LCA will issue you with a CAS.
4. On receipt of your CAS you should apply for your Tier 4 student visa or visa extension from the relevant British Embassy / High Commission / UKBA within three month of your course start date.
5. Arrange accommodation in London as all LCA courses are non residential. If you would like assistance with this, please contact us – we will be happy to help.
6. Arrive in London at least 48 hours before your course at LCA commences.
To apply for a student visa in your home country you will need to visit the following website and follow the detailed instructions for your country of legal residence: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ If applying from within the UK information can be found at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/
The UK authorities are very strict in relation to the required supporting documents therefore please ensure you follow all instructions carefully and always submit originals when required.
Notes on enrolment – delayed visa
Should your visa application be delayed by more than two weeks please contact us immediately. If possible, we will transfer your enrolment to the following term. Please see the terms and conditions on our website for further information.
Visa extensions
To apply for an extension of stay in order to continue studying at LCA you will require a CAS from LCA. CASs will only be given if the student meets the requirements of the CAS and has been complying with LCA's terms and conditions. Information on the student extension process can be found at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/quickguideforstudent/adultstudents/applyingforanadultstudentvisa/
Work
If you applied for entry clearance or leave to remain on or after 6 April 2010 you will only be able to work 10 hours per week during term time if your course is below degree level (NQF Level 6). The 10 hours per week rule applies to students on a CAT course. All other students will be able to work 20 hours per week during term time. All students can work full time during term breaks. These requirements could change and the UKBA monitors this requirement diligently therefore please refer to the UKBA website for the most up-to-date information. Please note that student visitors cannot work in the UK.
Working in the UK after completion of studies
After you have graduated from LCA there maybe work options available to you in the UK. For information on different types of visas please visit: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/
