South West College Omagh student Kyra Mac Mahon recently achieved the accolade of ‘top student in HLA Level 4 Accountancy Technicians Ireland’ (both in North and South of Ireland) during her employment at Calremount Chartered Accounts.

The Accountancy Technicians Ireland HLA provide students with the opportunity to “earn while they learn” and offers pathways to a career in business, accountancy and finance, where apprentices are mentored through a two-year work based learning programme.

Speaking after her success, Kyra said, ‘I would highly recommend this course, as the experience of work based learning alongside academic learning is highly sought after. We were assigned an academic mentor from the college and a work based mentor from your employment, and throughout the year my academic mentor would visit my employment, which I found very helpful.

2. Left to right: Siobhann Breen, Deputy Head of School for Business Management and Specialist Education; Carol Viney, Head of Faculty for Professional and Social Sciences; Noreen McGirr, HLA Programme Manager; Kyra McMahon; Grainne McSorely, Course Director; Mandy Milligan, former Course Director; Jonathan Seymour, HLA Programme Manager, ATI.

‘I would like to thank my lecturers, the course director and college mentors. I am grateful to have worked in Claremount Chartered Accountants for my first year and I am excited to commence employment with Cavanagh Kelly Chartered Accountants in Omagh. I am proud of my results and would encourage other students to take this pathway as a career choice.’

Dr Jonathan Seymour, HLA Programme Manager for Accounting Technicians Ireland, visited South West College to acknowledge Kyra’s success. Jonathan said he was delighted at Kyra’s success on the programme and wished her every success with her continuing studies and new employment.

He added, ‘Embarking on a Higher Level Apprenticeship in Accountancy is a major commitment for any learner, but a rewarding one that is a fast-track to a career as a professional accountant. The ability to earn while you learn is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to full time university study, and school-leavers, or career-changers, have the ability to study professional and higher education qualifications at progressive institutions such as South West College.’

If you're interested in starting a career in accounting, you can study with SWC to become a qualified accounting professional employed at all levels of finance across industry, practice and the public sector.

Places are still available on our Accounting Technicians Ireland Level 4 Certificate Course at Enniskillen, so for further information contact: Rhoda Farrelly, the Course Director, at rhoda.farrelly@swc.ac.uk