MBA | CIMA | Cambridge & Imperial Coaching Training | 30+ years across professional practice and education
I help students, graduates and parents navigate important academic and career decisions — particularly around finance, professional careers, university choices, degree apprenticeships and qualification routes such as ACA, ACCA and CIMA.
My advice draws on first-hand experience from PwC and British Airways, formal coaching training, and more than 30 years working with students and families, beginning with private advisory work before I founded Achieve Learning in 2004.
I’ve also seen one of today’s biggest education decisions from both sides as a parent. One of my sons turned down a Russell Group university offer to join Deloitte through the degree-apprenticeship route. Another attended LSE before joining Deloitte’s Finance graduate programme and progressing through the CFA pathway.
Neither route was automatically seen as the obvious or safest choice at the time, but each has proved well suited to the individual for different reasons.
That is the judgement I try to bring to every family I advise: there is rarely one universally correct route. The important question is which option is most likely to produce the strongest long-term outcome for that particular person.
Background
I initially trained with PwC before joining British Airways, where I completed the CIMA professional qualification with first-time passes throughout. I subsequently completed an MBA in International Management from the University of London in 2011.
Across more than 30 years working with students and families — including through Achieve Learning, founded in 2004, and Academic Coaching UK, founded in 2017 — I have supported students with university, degree-apprenticeship and graduate-career decisions.
This has included successful applications to leading universities including Oxford and Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Imperial and Warwick, as well as Big Four degree-apprenticeship and graduate-programme offers. For more than 10 years, I have also specifically supported successful degree apprenticeship applications to Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG.
What I Help With
- University versus degree apprenticeship — a genuine, evidence-based comparison rather than a default recommendation either way
- Big Four degree-apprenticeship and graduate-scheme applications
- ACA versus ACCA versus CIMA, and what each qualification can realistically lead to
- Accounting, finance and economics degree choices
- A-level subject choices where particular universities or degree routes are being considered
- CV, assessment-centre and interview preparation for finance and professional careers
- Longer-term career strategy — including how decisions made at 17 or 18 may affect options several years later
I also advise more broadly on Oxbridge and Russell Group applications where the same evidence-based, individualised approach applies.
My Approach
I’m not there to recommend the most prestigious option or simply confirm an existing assumption.
My role is to assess the individual circumstances, examine the alternatives and stress-test the decision.
Sometimes that may mean recommending a degree apprenticeship ahead of a traditional university route.
In another case, it may mean recommending university, a particular A-level combination, relevant work experience or a different professional pathway altogether.
The aim is to make a decision that stands up to scrutiny and gives the individual the strongest possible long-term platform.
If you’re facing an important university, degree-apprenticeship, qualification or career decision and would value an independent, experienced view before committing, you can book a consultation with me.
