Founded in 1904, the ACCA is one of the largest international accounting qualification bodies. Its training courses provide the cross-sector accounting and finance knowledge, skills and ethical values that are needed in many organisations and industries. The organisation has 233,000 members and over half a million students in 178 countries and is a partner to 900 universities. Its accreditation is one of the most prestigious professional recognitions.

The accreditation was awarded to the English-taught Business and Management course at the  Széchenyi István University’s Kautz Gyula Faculty of Economics after a rigorous assessment of the professional quality of individual courses. The certificate was presented to the University and Faculty management in a ceremony by Dr Pavel Procházka, representative of the ACCA. He congratulated the institution on the successful accreditation, which he called an important step in strengthening cooperation. He stressed that the certificate also brings the advantage for students that the English-taught programmes in the Faculty of Economics and Management will be recognised, so that they will be exempted from certain modules in the ACCA courses. In practice, they will be able to obtain a Diploma in Accounting and Finance by passing a single examination and, in addition to the ACCA qualification itself, they will have the opportunity to obtain a Bachelor's degree from Oxford/Brooks University or even a Master's degree from the University of London.

Dr Pavel Procházka (fourth from left) presented the accreditation certificate to the representatives of the University
(Photo: Csaba József Májer)

At the event, Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice President for Global Strategy at SZE, explained that the number of English-taught programmes at the institution has increased from five in 2016 to 37 this academic year, and eight out of nine faculties offer such programmes. She added that, with the growing number of international students now coming from around 70 countries, the "quantitative" phase of the internationalisation process has been completed and that the focus should now be on quality. "The challenges facing faculties in this respect are twofold: on the one hand, they must strive to improve their research performance and, on the other, to obtain additional international accreditations that will also facilitate the launch of double degrees," she said, noting that ACCA accreditation is another step towards international recognition and a reinforcement of the University's global visibility.

Dr László Csicsmann, Dean of the Kautz Gyula Faculty of Business and Economics, said that obtaining international accreditation is an external quality assurance of any international programme. "We are the second university in Hungary to receive the ACCA accreditation, which confirms the quality of our education and increases the value of the degree we offer. This is also important in the labour market, where we are now competing not only with other universities in Hungary, but also on the global stage," he stressed.

Dr Gábor Kovács, Associate Professor and Head of Department, said that the English-taught Business and Management degree programme was launched three years ago, building on the previous Hungarian-taught programme. "This is one of the most popular English-taught programmes at the University, with an ever-expanding international student community," he said.

Senior lecturer Dr Árpád Tóth who, together with the University and faculty leadership, and Associate Professor Dr Katalin Borbély, has worked extremely hard to achieve the accreditation, said that this is the first international accreditation for the Faculty, which will significantly increase the value of students' degrees through employability and international career opportunities. In addition, the University, as a member of a globally recognized network, has hopefully taken the first significant step in a long-term process of quality development.