If you’re a high achieving student and want to kickstart your career in the business world, then applying for a Bachelor of Accounting Cooperative scholarship at UTS could be for you!
This degree has so much to offer so let’s get straight into it!
What is a Bachelor of Accounting at UTS?
Course Structure
How to Get into a Bachelor of Accounting at UTS
What’s the Teaching Format?
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
What is a Bachelor of Accounting at UTS?
A Bachelor of Accounting at UTS (BAcc) is a Cooperative scholarship degree that provides you with the skills, experience and a network to take the business world by storm! You’ll put into practice what you learn in the classroom during two 6-month internships with leading Australian companies — that’s a full year of experience in a professional environment before you graduate.
You’ll learn alongside 30-35 other young, motivated and aspiring future business leaders so you’ll already have a great network!
What can you expect from this degree?
You’ll complete core Accounting units and a compulsory first major in Accounting which gives you foundational business and finance management knowledge. After that, there’s more flexibility and you can choose what other areas of business you’re interested in either for a second major, two sub-majors or four electives and a sub-major.
As a BAcc scholarship student, you’re sponsored by a company (there are some pretty impressive ones!) and in return, you complete your internships with that company. You’ll receive funding of up to $51 500 over the course of the degree so you can really focus on your studies and make the most of the program.
Now, this degree is pretty full on and there’s a lot squeezed into the three years, but it’s totally worth it since the majority of UTS Bachelor of Accounting students are successful in getting those grad jobs!
Honours
There is the opportunity to complete an Honours year in Accounting if you have an overall credit average mark of 70. You can find more information right here!
Career Paths
“All of the subjects in the Accounting major teach you the fundamentals of how a business operates and set you up to enter the corporate world with an understanding of how a business operates — whatever career you end up pursuing, the knowledge is not going to go to waste” – Megan Loone.
There’s no doubt that this degree sets you up to enter the business world however, the skills you learn from it are very sought after and can be taken into most jobs! These are some jobs that directly relate to the degree:
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- Accountant
- investment manager
- financial analyst
- forensic account (that’s pretty interesting)
- Stockbroker
- tax adviser
And so on…
Course Structure
Now, this is a pretty jam packed degree which means to fit everything in, you’ll have some summer semester classes during the first and second year which start mid-January.
You’ll complete nine core subjects for UTS Accounting in the first year. What’s cool is that you’ll get to know your cohort (30 people!) in these classes really well because it’s just the BAcc Co-op students in them.
You’ll complete your first 6-month internship in the Spring semester of the first year and the second internship in the Autumn semester of your final year! Alongside the internships, you’ll complete two UTS subjects.
The compulsory Accounting Major subjects (this is where you mix with other students who are doing A Bachelor of Business) are spread throughout the second and third year. Alongside those subjects, you get to choose whether you want to do a:
- Second major
- Two sub-majors
- One sub-major and four electives
You can check out the degree structure right here!
In your final semester (yay!), you can choose four electives and do them overseas as part of the UTS Global Exchange Program — what a way to finish a degree!
Core Subjects (Accounting)
As mentioned previously, you’ll have nine core Accounting subjects all taken in the first year! You can expect the core subjects teach you the fundamentals of accounting and the financial management of a business.
Accounting for Business Decisions A is an introduction to accounting where you learn the basic principles and then Accounting for Business Decisions B focuses on applying what you’ve learnt to make decisions based on the numbers for various business scenarios.
The subject Australian Corporate Environment is completed alongside your first internship and looks into management theory and practice in the workplace. You’ll complete a research project looking into your sponsor’s company and the management there.
You’ll also get a taste of Business Statistics, Economics for Business and even Marketing Foundations. In Integrating Business Perspectives you’ll look at the relationship between business and society, focusing on the legal aspects of business along with issues surrounding ethics and sustainability.
Get more the details on the core units here!
What’s the Accounting Major like?
More Accounting? That’s right — there’s a compulsory first major for this degree. 8 subjects to be precise.
In this major, you go into even more detail about all the ins and outs of Accounting, building on from what you learnt in the core subjects.
In the subject Cost Management Systems, you’ll learn about cost estimation, budgeting, management accounting and more! Applied Company Law introduces students to the law and regulations that govern businesses and their actions.
In Accounting Standards and Regulations, you’ll learn how to interpret financial reports and cover that technical kind of stuff such as revenue, assets and liabilities. The final subject of the Accounting Major is your Capstone: Financial Statement Analysis, basically a project to apply those skills you’ve learnt along the way.
Have a look here for more info on all the subjects!
Majors
Well, Accounting as a first major is compulsory for you! However, you can choose a second major later on in:
Sub-Majors
There are 34 different sub-majors to choose from which you can look at right here! There are some really cool ones like Management Consulting, Financial Reporting, Sustainable Enterprise and way more.
Electives
There are Business electives but you can also choose to do almost any of the electives UTS offers — Cross disciplinary electives. There are all kinds of interesting ones like Global Cinema, Climate Justice and Climate Policy or even Academic English: Communication Fundamentals.
Built-in Internships
This has to be one of the best parts about the degree! You finish your degree having already worked for a full year in the business world through your two 6-month internships.
That means, you’ve gained experience, made connections and have worked in a professional business environment before leaving university — so, you’ve already got your foot in the door. Now, the internships are full-time, so we’re talking Monday to Friday which means you’ll also get a taste of daily work life.
You’ll intern in the finance sector at the company of your sponsor — whether that’s an accounting firm, insurance, property, payments processing… you get the picture. These are some pretty big and well-known companies including Allianz, KPMG, Foxtel, Commonwealth Bank, Lendlease and more!
Opportunity for Exchange
So, you want to go on exchange? How does spending your final semester abroad doing electives that count towards your degree sound?
Three words: A fun time! Check out the UTS Global Exchange Program to see where you could end up going.
How to Get into a Bachelor of Accounting at UTS
Let’s face it: this scholarship degree is pretty awesome and really sets you up to excel! So, it’s not surprising that there is a rigorous application process.
You’ll have to complete an online application where you’re asked questions about your academic achievement, leadership, work experience, extra-curricular activities and why you’re interested in a career in accounting.
If your application is successful, you’ll be invited to an interview where you’ll get to show your soft skills as well. Taking into consideration your ATAR and how you did in all the other stages, a final decision is then made.
It’s important to know that the decision isn’t just made on your ATAR — however, students who have received the scholarship in the past usually had an ATAR between the 80s and 99.95.
Check out the online application here and keep an eye out for the cut-off application dates so you don’t miss out!
What’s the Teaching Format?
The first two years will have summer school (it’s worth it though) followed by the Autumn and Spring semesters. In your final year, there’s just the two semesters (one of them which can be spent abroad!).
Lectures
These can have between 80-100 people in them depending on the subject. In the lectures, you learn the content and take lots of notes — lucky for you, some of the lectures are even online!
So for some of your classes, you’ll have the freedom to just study from home or wherever’s convenient for you. While lectures aren’t super interactive, make sure you’re paying attention so you’ll have things to contribute to class discussions in tutes!
Tutorials
The tutorials are smaller with around 20-30 people. These are more discussion-based; you’ll reflect on the lecture, complete various activities and do group work.
It’s important to be switched on during your tutes because this is where you’ll actually get to apply a lot of the concepts you learn in the lectures. If you’re struggling to grasp certain aspects, you can always ask your tutor!
How many hours do you go to university?
The course structure is different for each semester — sometimes you’ll just have Accounting subjects, other times you’ll have your internship alongside a few UTS subjects… you get the idea. So, that makes it a little difficult to tell you exactly how many hours a BAcc student spends at uni.
In saying that, you’re looking at a one hour lecture and two hour tutorial for most subjects so the contact hours are fairly minimal. There’s a lot happening outside the classroom though — assignments, exam prep and of course, those internships!
What are the assessments like?
Of course, it depends on the subject however you can expect a mix of mid and final session exams, lots of quizzes, reports and presentations. There are also a fair few group assignments!
But there’s no need to worry because all the BAcc students are motivated, want to be there and excel (lucky for you — these are going to be some high quality group assignments that get those grades!)
Skills That You Learn and Refine
“The number one benefit of the program would definitely be the internships — it’s a fantastic opportunity to develop professional skills beyond the classroom” – Megan Loone.
There’s no doubt that you’ll gain a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of accounting. You’ll also learn how to communicate in a professional work environment during your internships which will prepare you for the future.
You’ll develop your oral and written communication skills with a lot of presentations and report writing. Since there are group assignments in most subjects, you’ll learn how to work effectively in a team and refine your leadership skills — important for any future business leader.
Now, did we mention that this degree is jam packed? Yes! So, that means that you’ve got to be focused and be able to juggle a lot of things happening at the same time. If you haven’t already learnt how to manage your time, this degree will teach you!
What’s the Faculty & Culture Like?
Since the BAcc cohort is so small (30-35 students), you get to know everyone really well — these people become your friends, your support network and study buddies. Because the degree attracts like-minded people who are hard-working, focused and ambitious, everyone motivates each other to do their best!
You’ll study together, learn from each other and have a lot of fun along the way, and there’s a healthy level of competition involved in a very supportive environment. As it’s a three year degree, you’ll also get to know the other BAcc cohorts pretty well so by the time you graduate, you already have a great network.
UTS Business Society
You should also check out the UTS Business Society (BSoc) because they have lots of fun! There’s a two day first year Business Camp where you get to bond with new people who and it’s a super inclusive environment!
They even hold Industry Panel evenings where you can talk with experts in the field and of course, the annual Business Ball where you get to boogie with all your pals.
UTS Women in Business
Now, for all those boss business women out there, do yourself a favour and check out UTS Women in Business! With Welcome Drinks, an International Women’s Day Breakfast and various workshops and panels throughout the year, you’ll learn from and meet some pretty awesome Business Women!
Support Programs
So, say you’re finding some of those accounting subjects a little tricky and need some more help? You can sign up for a UPass class for that specific subject.
Past students who have completed the same subjects will take you through everything you want to know. You can ask as many questions as you want and take your time to really understand the subject.
And guess what? It’s free and all you have to do is sign up for what time suits you best!
Keen to learn about what it’s actually like studying UTS Accounting? Have a look here!
Tanna Nankivell is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently in Germany completing a year of study for her double degree in Communications (Journalism) and Bachelor of Arts (International Studies). She has had articles published on Central News – the UTS Journalism Lab and wrote a feature piece for Time Out Sydney during her internship. Tanna has a love for travel and the great outdoors, you’ll either find her on the snowfields or in the ocean, teaching aqua aerobics or creating short films.
