MORE high-flying women graduates are opting to train as chartered accountants each year.

The number of female entrants to the profession is increasing annually by around 2-3 per cent, and latest figures show that 42.7 per cent of new recruits were women.

Women are also receiving a larger share of the best exam results.

In the final admitting exam towards the end of last year, 20 of the top 34 places went to women.

In the North West, more than 350 new recruits who began their studies in the Autumn of last year were the first to work to the Institute of Chartered Accountants' new ACA syllabus.