Abbey Cambridge Students are Accounting Competition Finalists
25th May 21
We are thrilled that the Abbey College Cambridge Business and Accounting Team has been awarded one of the 24 places in the final of the Institute of Accountants BASE competition. The competition is for 16-17 year old business and accounting students and offers an exciting experience where students take part in team challenges; giving them an understanding of what it’s like to be an ICAEW Chartered Accountant whilst developing their key employability skills to help with the next stage of their career.
The Abbey College Cambridge team started working on their entry in Spring 2020 as part of their Pre Degree Diploma. They were assisted by an external mentor as part of the competition, and we were lucky enough to be allocated Katherine Townsend from PEM Chartered Accountants, a local Cambridge firm, who herself had entered and got to national finals as a student when she was in school.
The competition was centred around making a video presentation with solutions to a senior management team on a supply chain / warehouse expansion project for a growing export led business, that is experiencing rapid growth, but wishes to invest significant money to maintain its competitive advantage for the next decade whilst cutting costs and improving efficiency.
Sessions started in late January, and unfortunately, things became rushed as Covid-19 developed. We were fortunate that John and Jason remained in school and were able to complete the task and record their 5-minute “presentation” video, with early input from their third team member Mahdiar.
We were all delighted to hear that they have been selected to compete in the online final, especially as they produced their entry under such difficult circumstances. The final is on 16th June and we are waiting details of what this will involve.
Stuart Walton, Teacher of Accounting, commented, “This competition has provided the students with a valuable insight into the working world of Business and Accounting and has allowed them the opportunity to apply their classroom skills to a real business problem. They have worked really hard and it is great to see this recognised and I wish John, Jason and Mahdiar good luck for the final.”
