Thompson Jenner trainee accountant wins national accountancy exam with top score

Congratulations go to Sarah Balsdon, one of our Exmouth based trainee accountants, who came joint first in the country in her latest ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales) Professional Level ACA qualification exam ‘Tax Compliance’ with a remarkable pass mark of 96%!

Competition for the annual award was fierce and Sarah, who is in her 2nd year of training to become a fully qualified Chartered Accountant, was up against students from accounting firms of all sizes and from all corners of the country, including the top national accounting firms.

Exmouth Partner, Ruskin Wilson, said, “Winning an ICAEW prize is the top reward for any student training to be a Chartered Accountant and I would like to congratulate Sarah on her outstanding exam result. We pride ourselves on employing and retaining the very best people and strongly believe our staff are our greatest asset. We invest heavily in their development and training, and this is a fantastic demonstration that high quality training and hard work really pays off”

Sarah, who works in Thompson Jenner’s small business accounts team, commented, “I am delighted to have achieved such a great result in my ACA professional stage exams. I was determined to work hard and do well, but achieving first place above all of the talented students who took part is really amazing. It is only just beginning to sink in.”

She went on to say, “Balancing studying and working can be very demanding, but Thompson Jenner understand this and have given me fantastic support throughout my time at the firm.”

Sarah is determined not to rest on her laurels though, and is already working hard to complete the rest of her professional stage exams before going on to complete the advanced stage exams next year, when she will then qualify as a Chartered Accountant.

There will be a prestigious ACA awards ceremony at Chartered Accounts Hall in London in April, where top performing students from across the country and overseas will gather to accept their awards.

Thompson Jenner LLP is one of Devon’s leading independent chartered accountants offering a range of financial services and business advice for small to medium sized owner managed businesses across the region. With offices located in Exeter and Exmouth, the firm employs a professional team of over 70 personnel.

Our forward thinking, proactive and friendly company culture has resulted in us recruiting and developing a highly trained and motivated team of professionals. In fact many of our recruits have gone on to become department managers and even Partners within the firm. We encourage all our employees to develop their skills and qualifications and we actively achieve this through our structured training, staff appraisals and personal development schemes.