Student Spotlight: Meet Bella, a Level 4 Accounting student at University Centre Rotherham
Faces of University Centre Rotherham:
Adorabella Huzzey-Jones, Level 4 Diploma in Accounting and Business (ACCA)
For Bella Huzzey-Jones, education and employment have gone hand in hand from the very beginning of her career.
Having joined a local construction firm at the age of 16 following a successful work experience placement, she has spent the last seven years developing her skills through a combination of workplace experience and employer-funded qualifications.
Now set to complete the Level 4 ACCA Diploma at University Centre Rotherham, 23-year-old Bella is testament to how employer-sponsored higher-level learning can support long-term career progression.
Bella’s journey into accounting
Accounting wasn’t Bella’s first career ambition. As a care-experienced young person, she wanted to work in social care to help other children navigating the foster care system, so she initially gone to her local sixth form college to do A levels in health and social care, law, and criminology.
However, she soon realised that this was not the route for her and she instead wanted to gain a part-time job or apprenticeship, so she set about looking for work experience placements.
A Diana Award-winning campaign she was involved in with the Looked After Children Council led her to approach Cidon Construction in Hoyland.
The company had previously donated suitcases to a bin liner campaign that Bella and other care-experienced young people in Rotherham had lobbied Parliament for. Their work brought about legislative change so that children and young people in the care system now must move between placements with their belongings in a suitcase rather than bin liners.
Bella began through a two-week placement when she was 16 where she was asked her what area she’d like to gain experience in and, having always liked maths and numbers at school, she said accounting.
“On the day before my placement ended, the CEO said they’d heard a lot of good feedback about me from staff so they offered me a full-time position in a front of house role they were recruiting for,” Bella says.
Starting in a front of house role gave Bella valuable experience in customer service, communication and business operations. As she gained confidence and experience within the company, opportunities arose to expand her qualifications via an apprenticeship.
Bella did the Level 3 Apprenticeship in Business Admin via Rotherham College where she won apprentice of the year at their annual awards event. Throughout the apprenticeship, Bella gained valuable skills and qualifications while developing an understanding of how this growing business operates.
As her role evolved and her interest in finance grew, she was given the opportunity to move into accounts and continue their studies through professional accounting qualifications.
“Work knew I still had that interest in accounting stemming back from when I first did my work experience, so they promoted me to accounts assistant and put me on the journey to do the ACCA.
“I like numbers, but accounting is quite a bit more than that. I like the attention to detail, checking for discrepancies and making amendments, and how everything comes together all nice and neat.”
She started with the Foundation in Accounting where she worked through levels 2 and 3 to get that underpinning finance knowledge, before being encouraged by her employer to progress onto the level 4 diploma at University Centre Rotherham to gain a higher education qualification.
How the ACCA diploma is devised
Unlike many other higher education qualifications we deliver here at University Centre Rotherham, the Level 4 ACCA Diploma in Accounting and Business is structured around exams rather than coursework.
Learners prepare for and undertake nine examinations throughout the course.
The course is split into three areas: Finance, Management and Business. Tutors start off with one section and complete all exams in that area before moving on to the next area.
“Finance is your past information, management is future planning and budgeting, and business is the theories and ethics behind it. I like the management side as there are lots of equations so for someone with a love of maths that’s definitely been more my cup of tea.
“There has been quite a jump from level 3. The diploma has gone into much more detail about things like group companies and how to combine multiple accounts, so you do need to have that underpinning knowledge and put in extra work at home. But the tutors are really good if you need help and Conal always creates comparisons to food – well, who can forget food!”
Although it’s all exam based, Bella says the tutors do their best to prepare all learners for what to expect in the exams. Small class sizes and a friendly, welcoming environment means they receive more one-to-one support where needed.
“There is plenty of exam practice so you know what the layout will be and how they’re marked so you’re not going into them too stressed but the two-hour exams go by so quickly.
“The good thing about the on-demand exams is that you can sit them when you want and you get the results straight away so you know if you’ve passed or failed as soon as you click exit. That means you can resit them whenever you’re ready to instead of waiting until the end of the academic year to find out the result.”
A course built around career progression
For Bella, being able to study while working has offered her the best of both worlds. Studying via ACCA provides an opportunity to gain recognised industry qualifications while continuing to build practical workplace experience.
“The course and my job role are very interlinked. It’s geared up to what skills I need in my job and how to understand what the systems I’m using every day can do, such as generate reports. But I’ve also learned how to understand what those reports mean so they make much more sense.”
As the course is delivered one day a week at University Centre Rotherham, she has been able to qualify without putting her career on hold.
The qualification is helping Bella build knowledge in key areas of finance and accountancy, while strengthening the analytical and professional skills needed within the industry.
Working as an accounts assistant means she can immediately put classroom learning into practice, reinforcing her understanding and building confidence in her role – whether that’s doing petty cash vouchers, checking statements or submitting VAT returns.
The benefits of employer-sponsored learning
The support of her employer has been instrumental throughout this journey, Cidon has continued to support Bella’s development, funding her ACCA studies and membership alongside her day-to-day role.
Bella says the finance director at Cidon also did the ACCA so he has been a good mentor at work if she has had any questions or needed help to apply her new knowledge in the workplace.
But alongside her professional development, Bella’s employer has shown a great deal of support in her personal life.
As a care leaver, she navigated further education while also adjusting to independent living after leaving the care system at 18. When she moved into her own property, Bella’s employer paid for all the paint and sent a team of their staff to redecorate it.
“I see so many car leavers who are struggling and think they won’t ever achieve anything in life. But we are just like everyone else and we can still have ambitions. We might just need a bit more support. Having those opportunities and a supportive employer to follow my own independent path has made me grow as a person even more.”
Looking ahead
Having just taken her final exam on the Level 4 ACCA Diploma, Bella is now about to become a part-qualified accountant.
Looking ahead, she hopes to continue her studies by undertaking audit and taxation examinations to achieve CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) status before considering chartership.
Although she admits she might take a bit of a break from education which, after nine exams, is well deserved.
Bella’s advice to future students interested in doing ACCA
For Bella, higher-level learning hasn’t simply been about gaining qualifications – it’s created opportunities for long-term career growth.
Her journey demonstrates how professional qualifications, employer support, and personal determination can create opportunities for growth and progression.
She says that she recommends the ACCA pathway at University Centre Rotherham to anyone else considering bettering their qualifications in accountancy.
“If accounting is something you want to do then give it a try. Start off with the level 2 to get that underpinning knowledge as it will help you throughout the rest of the years. Conal is a brilliant teacher and will offer extra help where needed. The level of support on offer has been great this year and we have this wonderful campus to come to.”
Find out more about Accounting courses at University Centre Rotherham