The Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone Campus, swept the board at this year’s National Accounting Competition, bringing home the gold and silver and the coveted Educator award for a second year in a row.
Second year BA (Hons) in Accounting students Chenlu Lin and Alexandra Kuran, awarded first and second place, respectively, competed against third-level students from first year to master’s level across Ireland and Northern Ireland to scoop the top prizes.
The competition, which began in February 2023, saw entrants answer accounting questions released over a 10-week period on Quitch, a game-based learning app.
A spokesperson for CPA Ireland, the sponsor of the National Accounting Awards, said the competition standard over the 10 weeks was “impeccable”.
This is the second year in a row that a TUS Athlone Campus student has won the competition, with Dylan Donnelly, a first year BA (Hons) in Accounting student, winning the inaugural competition in 2022.
Tao Cui, Head of Department of Accounting and Business Computing at TUS Athlone Campus, congratulated Chenlu and Alexandra on their success in the competition, calling them “well-deserving winners” and “excellent students”.
“It is truly a moment of pride for our accounting department to have our students win this competition for a second year in a row,” he said.
“Furthermore, the fact that our students have placed top two in the competition is a testament to the quality of our accounting programme.”
TUS Athlone Campus, as the university of the overall competition winners, has also been awarded the National Accounting Awards top prize – the coveted Educator award – for the second year running.
“This is an excellent achievement for the university and for lecturers in the Department of Accounting and Business Computing who have worked hard to promote the competition to students and encourage them to participate,” Mr Cui added.
TUS Athlone Campus’s newly revamped accounting programme is accredited by all four of Ireland’s main professional accountancy bodies – ACCA, ACA, CPA, CIMA – and offers near maximum exemptions upon successful completion.
Students have the option of undertaking the level 8 honours degree course in three years without placement or four years with an integrated year-long work placement.
Undertaking the placement counts towards the three-year training contract required of graduates to become qualified accountants, reducing the contract to two years.
Students also have the opportunity to undertake embedded professional accreditation in cloud accounting software through SAGE, a leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology in Ireland with whom TUS Athlone Campus has a partnership.
Gary McClintock from ATU was awarded third place.