Scottish analyst awarded ACCA Gold Medal for scoring highest average exam mark of almost 100,000 students

Commenting on Marisha’s achievement Craig Vickery, head of ACCA Scotland, said: “To be awarded the ACCA gold medal – to be the first in the world - is an amazing achievement. Marisha and her employers can be justifiably proud. Marisha has demonstrated the strength of talent we have within the Scottish financial services industry. She’s a fantastic example to her colleagues and other ACCA students across the country.”

BlackRock managing director and deputy controller, Michelle Daly said: “What an amazing accomplishment to pass all of her exams, but to receive the highest marks globally is a real testament to her hard work and dedication. We are proud and fortunate to have Marisha on our team at BlackRock, and we can’t wait to see what amazing things she will continue to accomplish in her career.”

“There was so much flexibility with ACCA and it was so easy to organise and book the exams,” said Marisha. “It’s very clear, there’s always information being shared about changes to exams – for example we knew about the new Strategic Business Leader case-study one year beforehand. ACCA were very supportive throughout and I always felt like I knew what was going on.”

On the reputation of ACCA and its qualification Marisha said: “ACCA has a huge amount of prestige globally, and the qualification will be recognised if I were to work elsewhere in the world.”

On the prospect of becoming a fully-fledged ACCA member next month, Marisha added: “It’s exciting, I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone. I was a bit overwhelmed in my studies to begin with, but I came to find it all very manageable and felt that I didn’t have to sacrifice too much – the commute from Edinburgh to Kaplan in Glasgow was worth the effort!”