Most B.Com graduates sit 10 of the 13 ACCA exams — not the "8" some institutes promise. Find your honest number before you spend a dirham.
ACCA awards exemptions for prior study, so the right starting point isn't "all 13 papers" — it's whatever your degree already covers. Use the table below for your typical range by qualification, then get a free, official exemption check on your actual transcript from London International, the ACCA institute behind cmacourse.ae.
You don't sit papers you've already proven you know. ACCA maps your prior qualification to its 13 exams and lets you skip the overlap.
The headline: a standard three-year B.Com earns exemptions from the three Applied Knowledge papers (BT, MA, FA), so you sit 10 exams, not 13. CA-Inter can take you down to roughly eight; a fully qualified CA, lower still. No paper is exempt at the Strategic Professional level — every member sits SBL and SBR plus their two chosen Options.
Exemptions are awarded against your specific university and degree, not a generic rule of thumb, which is exactly why a calculator on a marketing page can only show a typical range. The authoritative number comes from ACCA's own Exemptions Calculator on accaglobal.com, read against your transcript — and that's the 2-minute check our advisors run for you, free.
Indicative ranges for common UAE candidate profiles. Your exact figure depends on your university, year and syllabus — confirmed in your free official check.
| Your qualification | Typical exemptions | Papers you'll sit | Usually exempt from |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.Com (3-year, recognised) | ~3 papers | ~10 of 13 | Applied Knowledge: BT, MA, FA |
| BBA / B.Com (Finance/Accounting) | 3–4 papers | 9–10 of 13 | Applied Knowledge (+ occasionally LW or TX) |
| M.Com / MBA (Finance) | ~3 papers | ~10 of 13 | Applied Knowledge — rarely more than the B.Com base |
| CA-Inter / IPCC (India) | up to 5 papers | ~8 of 13 | Applied Knowledge + TX, AA |
| CA — fully qualified (ICAI) | up to 9 papers | ~4 of 13 | All Applied Knowledge & Skills |
| US CMA (IMA) | 0 papers | 13 of 13 | No exemptions (different accreditation) |
| CFA charterholder | 0 papers | 13 of 13 | No exemptions (different accreditation) |
Ranges are ACCA's typical awards for UAE-based candidates and can change with the syllabus. CMA and CFA holders get no exemptions because ACCA accredits degrees and accountancy bodies, not those specific charters — but the finance grounding makes the exams faster to clear. Confirm yours free →
Exemptions only exist at the first two levels. The final level is sat by everyone — so your real workload is decided here.
BT, MA and FA. This is where almost all degree exemptions land. A B.Com typically clears all three, which is the difference between 13 papers and 10.
CA-Inter and accredited accounting degrees can pick up LW, TX or AA here. A plain B.Com almost never does — anyone claiming otherwise is inflating the maths.
Two compulsory Essentials and two Options you choose. Every ACCA member sits these — and you also complete the online EPSM ethics module and log 36 months of practical experience your UAE job counts toward.
Your tuition with us depends on how many papers you actually take — so we confirm it after your exemption check, not before. ACCA UK's own charges are public and the same worldwide.
No obligation. We never quote a flat number before we know your exemptions.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Initial registration | £89 one-off |
| Annual subscription | £140 / year |
| Per-exemption fee | ~exam fee / paper |
| Applied Skills exam | ~£160 / paper |
| Strategic — SBL / SBR & Options | ~£282 / ~£208 |
ACCA's own published fees — identical for every institute worldwide. An exemption costs roughly the same as sitting that paper, so more exemptions save time, not ACCA fees. See our full ACCA course fees in Dubai breakdown.
The form below is the tool. You give us your degree; we give you a figure ACCA will actually honour — not a marketing estimate.
We run your transcript through ACCA's official calculator and send the exact paper count and exemption fees in writing — so the course length you're sold is the one you'll get.
Fewer papers means lower tuition. Because we price to your confirmed exemptions, you never overpay for a course scoped for someone with fewer credits than you.
The same advisors who built cmacourse.ae into Dubai's top-ranked CMA institute run your ACCA check. You're getting experience, not a call-centre estimate.
Tell us your degree and we'll run it through ACCA's official Exemptions Calculator and reply with your exact paper count, your exemption fees, and the tuition for just the papers you have left — usually within a working day.
Then choose your weekend classes in Dubai or evening batch for your target sitting.
Free, official check on your real transcript — no obligation.
A standard three-year B.Com from a recognised university usually earns exemptions from the three Applied Knowledge papers — BT, MA and FA — so you sit 10 of the 13 ACCA exams. It does not award a flat 8. Some commerce degrees with a strong tax or law component can pick up one more at Applied Skills, but that depends on your exact transcript, which is why we run it through ACCA's official exemption check before you enrol.
ACCA's accreditation for ICAI (India) Intermediate / IPCC typically grants exemptions from up to five papers — the three Applied Knowledge exams plus TX (Taxation) and AA (Audit & Assurance) — leaving around eight to sit. A fully qualified Indian CA can be exempt from up to nine papers. The exact figure depends on which CA-Inter route and year you completed, confirmed in the official check.
ACCA's own Exemptions Calculator on accaglobal.com is the only authoritative source, and it reads your specific institution and degree. This page gives you the honest typical ranges by qualification, then our advisors run your actual transcript through ACCA's official tool and send you the exact paper count in writing — free, usually within a working day.
An M.Com on top of a B.Com rarely adds exemptions beyond the three Applied Knowledge papers the B.Com already covers. US CMA and CFA charterholders generally receive no ACCA exemptions, because ACCA maps exemptions to accredited degree and accountancy-body syllabuses rather than to those credentials. We confirm every case against ACCA's database so you are never over-promised — see our ACCA vs CMA comparison if you're choosing between them.
Not always. Exemptions are offered, not forced — you can decline one and sit the paper instead to build a stronger foundation, which many students do for FA before tackling FR. Each exam you skip still costs the ACCA exemption fee, similar to an exam fee. Our advisors talk you through which exemptions are worth claiming for your goals before you decide.
London International runs ACCA classes in Dubai as live weekend and weekday-evening batches plus a fully online option, with one-to-one coaching for individual papers. Once your exemption check confirms your remaining papers, we place you in the right batch for your target sitting — March, June, September or December.
Once you know your paper count, line up your fees, your batch and your route — every guide built for Dubai.
Send your degree details and get your exact ACCA paper count, exemption fees and tuition — free, with no hard sell. Then decide.