Applying change management models to the revalidation of an undergraduate Accounting Finance programme – a study in the UK higher education

Obtaining exemptions from professional bodies’ examinations has become important for institutions in the higher education sector and there is a growing attention to provide such exemptions to graduating students. However, incorporating necessary changes to the teaching syllabus and meeting the required changes in assessments and other areas of teaching and the related syllabus, can be difficult, hence learning from cases will add to the body of knowledge. This paper uses several change management (CM) models to analyse the context and then highlights the CM problem, which was ‘resistance’ to a major curriculum change programme experienced in a higher education institution in the UK. Key stakeholders were identified in this process together with potential outcomes and salient conclusions. Despite resistance and refocusing, the eventual outcome was a new accounting programme which simultaneously satisfied. Faculty requirements and offered future students potentially nine professional exemptions (the maximum exemptions available) from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK and the opportunity to pursue conceptual accounting studies, which would improve their skills and employability.