A Brunel graduate of Finance and Accounting BSc who achieved the top ACCA exam scores in the world was honoured for his achievement at a black tie ceremony in central London on the 3rd November.
Faizan Abdul Sattar who studied with the Department of Economics and Finance between 2011 and 2013 on an ordinary year without placement, achieved the highest aggregate score across the globe in his ACCA finals in 2016.
Ambitious from the start, Faizan signed up for ACCA study as soon as he finished his Level 3 exams and took a day off work to attend graduation. “I made up my mind I wanted to be an accountant at an early age and numeric work was always a strong point,” he said. In spite of his inherent gift for numbers, Faizan is quick to credit his work ethic for his success. Faizan lost his father at a very young age and hence faced huge responsibilities as he became the breadwinner of the family. "I don’t like to waste time. Being on top it, that’s the main thing.”
Faizan placed his social life on hold for several months, dedicating long hours to his ACCA revision to ensure he was fully conversant with the seven additional modules required to qualify as an accountant. Fortunately he selected the right combination of electives during his Brunel degree and received seven paper exemptions from ACCA out the required 14.
Faizan strongly advises students on Brunel accounting degrees do their ‘homework’ before choosing their electives. “Make sure you select your modules wisely, don’t just go where your friends are going. I had friends who did the same modules their friends were doing and now they have to take another exam to get the accreditation.” The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is one of the leading professional accountancy bodies in world, educating thousands to qualified accountant status every year.
Confident that he was on track to pass his ACCA exams well, Faizan was unprepared for an e-mail from ACCA Global announcing he had achieved the top results in the world. Thinking it was spam he ignored it for some time, but eventually decided to look into it. Every year ACCA Global looks for three finalists: bronze, silver and gold who achieve the top aggregate exam scores across five papers. Not only had Faizan achieved excellent results in all his exams, he'd achieved the top results globally making him the ACCA Global Gold Winner of 2016.
Faizan, who is already a senior accountant, is keen to give back to Brunel and enjoys coming back to campus to talk to students at Applicant Days and one-off events like the Professional Development Centre’s Accounting Uncovered. Faizan’s advice to any student on their way up is this:
“You don’t have to go for the top 10 or even the top 20 names, you can still make a success for yourself in a smaller company. It’s all about getting experience and being confident. I come from a very humble background, but stuff like that can make you stronger, it means you need to aim for so much more to get yourself out there and establish yourself.”