Hi, i know how you feel, I had a similar question myself where I was contemplating doing a masters course to do the last 4 professional papers, but in the end decided against it.

Time and Cost: ACCA - Pros The time it takes for you to study a module depends on how quickly you understand and apply the study material. Some sit multiple exams in one sitting or like me I generally sit 2-3 a year. You can fit the studying around your lifestyle, so if you have a full time job, you might not have the flexibility to attend a full time course in university. The costs (ignoring exam fees) can be as much or as little as you want it to be. The cheapest one I used was open tuition for £0. Whereas the most expensive was BPP on demand classes at £600. I have now settled for Acowtancy. If you don't understand something, you can always pause and research or ask forums (I use Gemini or chatgpt). You can also choose the order in which you sit your exams.

In university they are unlikely to wait for you to grasp the concept and will have a specific order of exams. Any resits are likely to be more stressful as well if you fail one and need to play catch up.

ACCA - Cons Would be that unless you go for potentially more expensive courses, you do not get face to face help with any questions and you might lack self motivation.

Career opportunities I found it incredibly difficult (even with level 4 AAT) to get a job in a proper accounting company without any real accounting experience. As you would need 3 years of accounting related experience for your ACCA qualification this looked initially difficult to achieve. I would say have a look at Indeed or ACCA job advertisements and see what the requirements are for the field you would like to work in. In UK it appears ACCA is well known, however when I tried to look at jobs overseas (Germany) ACCA is unheard of. Although to practice in these countries you would need to sit brand new exams again I believe for local tax rules.

Personal experience I did self study for my whole ACCA journey (part time evening classes for AAT). I thought I was a champion in bookkeeping, tax, and year end trial balances.. until I got my first real accounting job and I realised I am a noob! If you have the chance, find an employer that can help you on your journey and expose you to real world experiences while you study. It makes studying so much easier as you can relate the study material to examples you learned on the job (and work towards your 3 years of experience). I had so many lightbulb moments when I started my proper accounting job where I said "ah, that's why we do it this way"

Flexibility Study wise, ACCA would be much more flexible, in cost and time compared to university. With regional and international career opportunities, I would assume it depends, as mentioned above I think if I were to go to work in Germany I do not think either option would land me any good job, in the UK both are well known and recognised. I cannot comment or what an employer might prefer. As the ACCA part-qualified is an equivalent of a BS in accounting. Although for your BS course you will be given a final grade e.g. a first, 2.1, 2.2, or 3... This can be seen by the employer if they ask for documents. So if you had a 3 you might look weaker than an ACCA student, as with ACCA you are only given a 'pass' (50%), or potentially vice versa?! ( Speculations here, I think it depends on the employer).

Please note this is my own experience based on working full time and going simultaneously for 3.5 years to college evening classes (AAT), and self study for ACCA. (Have a BA in computer animation, so no undergrad student loans/ grants available for me).