Hi All,

I am currently in my final year of AAT and plan to go on and study CIMA at New Campus Suffolk in September.

At the moment my current employer are paying for my AAT, but as I am in a Sales Ledger role with no space for movement it appears they will not be offering to fund CIMA.

My question is whether there is any help I can get with the funding of my course, I have tried to do a search online but came up against a brick wall. My only option seems to be to take a bank loan, which ideally i don’t want to do. I really don’t mind paying for the course, I’m just unsure whether I can afford the £2000 a year plus outlay at the moment.

Do you want to move jobs?
If so I’d suggest now is a good time to find a job that offers study support.  They’ll give you time off for college, possible extra time off to study at home and it’ll be paid for.

If your current role won’t support you for CIMA, then try to move to one that will!

In the meantime, be prepared to start CIMA of your own back, but maybe go more slowly than you could with employer support? 

You can find cheaper ways of working your way through: all you really need is the official textbook and the exam entry fee!  I don’t recommend this, but you should be able to work out budget study options, maybe put a little aside.

Alternatively, a Career Development Loan (google it) could be what you’re after, as you get favourable interest treatment.

Thanks for the replies, I have thought about moving on from my current role but am struggling to find anything. Im in the funny position where I feel I have done the ledger side to death and want to move into financial/management accounts but don’t have the practicle expierence. I need to move out of my current role because frankly its a dead ender and im not using my skills learnt during aat.

I think the career development loan is the way to go.