QAA Accounting Benchmark Statement – Highlights from the BAFA Accounting Education SIG panel discussion

This week’s BAFA Accounting Education SIG conference in Dublin hosted a panel discussion on the QAA Accounting Benchmark Statement (published April 2025). Contributors from Chartered Accountants Ireland, ACCA, ICAEW and ICAS walked us through what the document means – and, crucially, what must now change in our classrooms.

Why another benchmark?

Chair of Accounting Education SIG, Prof Cathy Myles reminded delegates that the advisory team combined academics, sustainability and EDI specialists, and representatives of every major UK professional body. Although drafted for the UK, the statement “was built on international evidence and is intended as a global template,” she stressed.

Guiding principle: long-term public interest

Co-author Prof Greg Stoner explained the philosophy: educate graduates “for society and the environment, not just their first job.” That demands a deep grasp of theory as well as technique, and the ability to exercise professional scepticism when facing messy, ambiguous problems.

Five cross-cutting themes

Ian Browne (Chartered Accountants Ireland) unpacked the new themes designed to run through every module:

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

Accessibility – responsive to the sharp rise in reasonable‐accommodation requests and the forthcoming EU Accessibility Act.

Education for Sustainable Development

Employment, Entrepreneurship & Enterprise – curricula shaped in partnership with local industries.

Generative AI – to be embraced for richer learning, not feared.

Knowledge and skills that travel

Joe Fitzsimmons (ACCA) grouped the core outcomes into three layers:

Essential knowledge – language of business, IFRS and national frameworks, plus the full range of accounting disciplines.

Deep understanding – moving beyond rote rules to conceptual reasoning and contextual judgement.

Subject-specific skills – preparing, analysing and communicating financial and non-financial information, robust problem-solving, and digital proficiency (from Excel to Power BI and AI tools).

Transferable professionalism

Chris Cunane (ICAS) confirmed strong alignment with the Global Accounting Alliance’s competency model, singling out ethics and lifelong learning as non-negotiable. He welcomed the benchmark’s separate emphasis on digital literacy, noting that “digital natives still need to be taught spreadsheets and analytics software.”

Learning, teaching and – above all – assessment

Shaun Robertson (ICAEW) championed student-centred design: varied teaching methods, explicit discussion of why concepts matter, and assessments that mirror real professional tasks. Picking up that thread, Stoner issued the session’s challenge: programmes must adopt a balanced assessment portfolio where calculation alone cannot secure a pass. Marking schemes should credit judgement, explanation and reflection; objective “right answers” are insufficient preparation for the profession’s grey areas.

A collective call-to-action

The panel discussion closed on a note of collaboration. Regulators, institutes and universities pledged to keep working together so that tomorrow’s accountants are critical thinkers, ethical actors and digitally fluent stewards of sustainable value. If each attendee pilots even one idea next semester, the ripple effect could be enormous.