最近几天翻了论坛上近几年的帖子，也看了UKVI还有一些英文论坛上的讨论，将我目前的发现归纳如下，如有错误请各位多多指教（帖子略长，我尽量长话短说）。
基本上最大的疑问集中在两点：
（1） 如果没有其他的英国学位，只在英国境内学习通过了ACCA的头9门考试或全部14门考试，是否等同于获得英国的学士学位或硕士学位，从而可以转Tier 2?
（2） 如果之前持有其他签证（如T4/T1/PSW等）并已获得受认可的英国学位，现在持有Tier 4 ACCA签证，可否转为Tier 2？
为了解决这两个疑问，首先得贴一下UKVI的Tier 2 Point Based System Guidance 2015.04.版本的关键条款。（https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-application-for-uk-visa-as-tier-2-worker）
Page 8-9
16. If you are switching from one of the following categories:
• Tier 4;
• Student;
• Student Nurse;
• Student Re-Sitting an Examination;
• Person Writing Up a Thesis;
• Postgraduate Doctor or Dentist;
• An Overseas Qualified Nurse or Midwife; or
• Student Union Sabbatical Officer.
You can only switch into Tier 2 if you meet the following criteria:
• you must have successfully completed and passed a UK recognised bachelor’s or master’s degree, Postgraduate Certificate in Education or Professional Graduate Diploma of Education or have completed a minimum of 12 months study in the UK towards a UK PhD during your current period of leave or a period of continuous leave which includes your last grant of leave; and
• you studied for the eligible award at a UK institution that is a UK recognised or listed body, or an education provider which holds a licence for sponsoring students under Tier 4 of the Points-Based System; and
• you are applying from inside the UK.
要回答第（1）个疑问，光有这部分条款还不够，啥叫UK recognized bachelor’s or master’s degree，又有另一个条款（同一文件Page 29）：
UK recognised degree
-
For a qualification to be considered a UK recognised degree, it must have been awarded by a UK recognised body. A qualification will have been deemed to have been ‘obtained’ on the date on which you were first notified in writing, by the awarding institution of the award.
-
A UK recognised body is an institution which has been granted degree awarding powers by a Royal Charter, an Act of Parliament or the Privy Council. All UK universities and some higher education colleges are UK recognised bodies.
-
Further information on the UK recognised bodies can be found on the Gov.UK website at www.gov.uk/recognised-uk-degrees-recognised-bodies.
根据这部分条款，假设我拿Tier 4全科通过ACCA，我的理解是我获得的qualification是ACCA给我发的（而并非BPP或Kaplan），那么此时问题转变为：如果要qualification被认为是UK recognized degree，则ACCA必须为UK recognized body。ACCA到底是不是UK recognized body呢？
根据https://www.gov.uk/recognised-uk-degrees上的说明，UK recognized body可通过两种途径验证：
一是The Education (Recognised Bodies) (England) (Order) 2013通过的，列举了学校的清单，可见于http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/2992/made，当中并没有ACCAGLOBAL（也没有Kaplan，但有BPP）；
二是有在The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)登记的higher education (HE) providers，可以在http://www.hefce.ac.uk/reg/register/search/搜索具体大学的名字，这里也搜索不到ACCAGLOBAL（此处有BPP也有Kaplan）。
小结：按照这样的搜索结果和UKVI的定义，其实ACCA qualification不会被认为是UK recognized degree，因为授予这个qualification的ACCAGLOBAL并非UK recognized body。由此，第（1）个疑问本来可以结束了，就是ACCA本身并非认可的学位，如果没有其他的英国学位，无论过了多少门考试，都不能直接用ACCA的Tier 4在英国国内转成Tier 2。当然，这并不代表不能申请Tier 2，只是等同于普通人从英国境外申请，同时需要雇主进行RLMT，并且适用的是Restricted COS而非COS。
补充疑问（3）：似乎总有流传的说法，说ACCA F1-F9考完了则相当于UK bachelor degree，14科全过相当于UK Master Degree，这跟第（1）问的结论好像有点矛盾啊，为什么呢？
特别想说说ACCA自己的态度。一开始没有从上面的角度查的时候，我从ACCAGLOBAL上看到他们自己关于这个qualification的认可程度说明，更新时间是2014.09.（详见http://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/learning-provider/learningproviders-exemptions/recognition-acca-qualifications.html下ACCA Education Recognition Status的pdf）。个人认为ACCAGLOBAL如果不是存心误导的态度，也是有意采取暧昧的说法。
疑点一：ACCA说UK National Recognition Information Centre (NARIC)，政府认可机构，是会为ACCA qualification出证明以示通过多少门考试等同于何等学位（Page 9），然后在附录中（Page 12）直接给了个表说，你看，通过F阶段9门的就等同于bachelor degree，全部通过14门就等同于master degree。
于是在上述Tier 2 Point Based System Guidance里面，还有这么一条（Page 29）：
Qualifications that are not acceptable
105. Qualifications that cannot be used for the award of points include:
• Foundation degrees;
• Honorary degrees;
• Qualifications awarded in the UK by overseas awarding bodies;
• Qualifications undertaken solely at an overseas campus of UK institutions;
• Postgraduate certificates and diplomas (except PGCE/PGDE);
• Professional qualifications (whether or not they are of an equivalent level) that are not degrees.
个人认为这基本直接打ACCA的脸。在2012年曾经有个哥们专门去跟政府打官司争这件事，最后输了。基本情况就是：他过了头9门ACCA考试，认为自己有Bachelor degree了，然后准备换PSW，还找NARIC出了证明说这ACCA就是等同于Bachelor，结果申PSW被拒了。他专门去argue，最终的行政裁决文件结论仍然是“The ACCA does not have degree awarding powers and the qualifications which it awards are not UK recognised degrees.”（裁决文件可参见https://tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk/utiac/2013-ukut-41）
疑点二：ACCA又说，“UKVI assesses immigration applications for the UK and assigns points to qualifications for assessment of applications. The ACCA Qualification is assigned to the level of ‘taught masters degree’”，然后分别给了两个link，但我点这两个link并不能找到任何相关的证据。
疑点三：ACCA还列举了它的Qualifications and Credit Framework，是被Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator认可的，同时又有一张表格列示说professional level的考试对应于UK Framework Level FHEQ 7（page 11）。这个一度非常让我疑惑，因为Tier 4的申请要求上确实提到另一个概念National Qualification Framework，要求申请人学的课程得是NQF Level 6或Level 7，分别对于bachelor degree和master degree。目前我的理解是，仅仅课程难度被认为是level 7，并不意味着课程证书就等同于硕士毕业证书。
以上，虽然并没有完全理解ACCA的结构，但第（1）问的结论，我的理解仍然是：ACCA单独并不被认可为UK学位，因此单独用Tier 4 ACCA签证想转Tier 2并免掉RLMT是不可行的。
于是，就到第（2）个问题了：如果先前有在英国完成被认可的学位，然后换成了Tier 4 ACCA签证，在这过程中如果找到工作了，是否可以直接转为Tier 2并免除RLMT呢？
这个问题的核心在于一个概念，continuous leave。
在第（1）问一开始贴的条款后（page 8-9），关于continuous leave有给如下定义：
A period of continuous leave includes grants of entry clearance where you applied no more than 28 days after your previous leave lapsed and/or any periods of overstaying in the UK of no more than 28 days.
也就是说，只要之前完成学位时所拿的签证与现在所持有的签证有效期并未断开超过28天以上，则仍然是符合从Tier 4转为Tier 2要求的。
比如说，之前拿Tier 4完成了一个Master degree，签证有效期2013.9.-2015.1，只要在这个签证失效28天内换成了Tier 4 ACCA签证，后来又找到了工作换Tier 2的话，之前的master degree是被认可的，所以可以免RLMT在英国境内直接申请。
相反的，如果之前拿了同样的学位，但是在那个签证到期后3个月了，又换成了Tier 4 ACCA，那转Tier 2时之前的学位就不被认可，因为断开的时间超过了28天。
以上，终于写完了，不知道有没有错漏，还请有经验的各位指出，也希望对有类似需求的同志有帮助，谢谢！
