How much does ACCA cost, and where the money actually goes

There are four costs, not one

People quote one figure for ACCA and it is never right, because the money goes to different places.

• Registration with ACCA — paid once when you become a student.
• Annual subscription — paid to ACCA every year you remain a student.
• Exam entry fees — paid per paper, and cheaper the earlier you enter for a sitting.
• Tuition and study material — paid to whoever teaches you. This is the part that varies most.

Fees change, so check them at the source

ACCA publishes current registration, subscription and exam entry fees on its own website and they are revised regularly. Any figure repeated on a tuition provider's blog goes out of date quickly, so budget from ACCA's own fee page rather than from ours.

The cost nobody budgets for: re-sits

A re-sit costs the exam fee again, another study cycle, and often another tuition purchase. Across thirteen papers, two or three avoidable re-sits can cost more than a year of tuition.

That is why the cheapest genuine saving is not the cheapest course — it is the course that makes you sit prepared. Timed full-length mocks and hundreds of explained questions do more for your total cost than any discount.

Where tuition costs can honestly come down

Classroom courses carry room, timetable and staffing costs. Written, self-paced material with automatic marking does not, and that difference is real rather than promotional.

At Mai Studies, membership is £29 a month or £290 a year and opens the included library; specialist papers carry their own fee from £49 with twelve months to complete. You still pay ACCA directly for registration, subscription and exam entry — no tuition provider can remove those.