Former Edinburgh College student named in Top 35 CA Rising Stars by ICAS for 2026
When Tariq Khan arrived at Edinburgh College in 2017, he had a clear goal – to get back into education and take the first step towards a new career.
Originally from Aberdeen, Tariq threw himself into his studies and graduated in 2018. He then progressed to Heriot-Watt University, where he settled into the BA (Hons) Business Administration course and continued to excel.
Fast forward a few years, and Tariq’s hard work has paid off in a big way. He was recently named one of the Top 35 CA Rising Stars by ICAS for 2026, in the Innovators in Technology category.
The competition highlights up-and-coming Chartered Accountants who are shaping the future of the profession. The overall winner will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 4 June, who will then go on to represent ICAS at the One Young World Summit in Cape Town later this year.
We recently caught up with Tariq to reflect on his journey and hear more about his time at College:
What made you choose Edinburgh College for your studies?
It was my mum who flagged Edinburgh college to me. I left school when I was 16. I have ADHD, and back when I was in school, support for that type of thing wasn’t what it is today, they tried their best but ultimately, I felt I was stupid and acted out accordingly. When I hit 16, I couldn’t wait to leave, I spent years bouncing around colleges in Aberdeen and various jobs before I landed on my feet in a health and safety career in the oil and gas industry. It was going well, but finally with the hindsight that comes with maturity I felt unfulfilled and that I had a higher education sized itch that I hadn’t scratched. I decided I couldn’t shake it and I’d go back to college, get my Advanced Highers and go to uni. The issue was, there was a huge gap between what my maths knowledge was and Advanced Highers. So, I started using Khan Academy to learn at nights for around 6 months, then I couldn’t actually find a reasonable Advanced Highers course to join at college and my mum read about SWAP at Edinburgh College in the paper and the rest is history.
What were you doing before starting at the college?
I worked as a QHSE Coordinator at an oil and gas decommissioning company in Aberdeen, then Underwater Cutting Solutions Ltd, now called Ashtead.
How do you feel about Top 35 CA Rising Stars by ICAS for 2026?
When I heard it brought me to tears, quite literally. To have your colleagues write in to ICAS and nominate you for something like this is beyond moving. It becomes such a validation for hard work, long hours and makes all of it worth it. It speaks to that boy who left school at 16 because he didn’t think he was good enough and tells him he is. I am immensely proud of what I’ve achieved, and every year the goal posts shift but I keep pushing forward. When I first gave up my career to get on this journey my goal was just to complete college with a pass, that’s all, and we are orders of magnitude away from that now. Being able to use that as a reference point makes me endlessly grateful for all who have been on my journey and appreciate everything in it.
Can you tell us a bit about your journey after College? Did you go on to further study?
I went on to study at Heriot-Watt. I used the physical science SWAP course to get into Architectural Engineering. After first year I realised that I had a different plan, so I asked to swap into the second year of a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree. They allowed me to do so if I did my first-year classes at the same time as doing second year, which again, was about enduring discomfort. I could have said no, done the first year again, saved myself the effort and dragged it out another year but I pulled my bootstraps up and reminded myself why I was there. After I graduated, I started as a graduate accountant and pursued my CA with ICAS. I’m now a chartered accountant and an Audit Assistant Manager at AAB in Edinburgh. My work sits at the intersection of audit and technology. I’m an audit professional with a portfolio of clients spanning many different industries and sizes, and I value that part of my career very highly, the technical side, interacting with clients, solving problems, it’s fantastic. The other side is technology. The reason I am nominated for this award is because I have been a huge advocate and heavy involved in embracing technology into the profession and attempting to raise the literacy of technology across the firm and beyond. It’s my intention to ensure that the profession wields these tools appropriately and embraces technology so that we can be the architects of change rather than responding to it. Whilst I was still doing my chartership and working, I also threw myself into technology and spent my own time developing a training programme for the tools we have at our disposal to get the rest of our team involved. Alongside this I got very involved with the creators of these tools and test new products, advising on how they could be improved and developed so that they suit the profession better and encourage more use. I now head up a team of people who champion new technology across the firm and provide training to all of our offices.
What was the best thing about studying at Edinburgh College? Any highlights?
So many highlights. First and foremost, the man, the myth, the legend and force of nature that is Ian Records. If I had Ian Records as a teacher in high school Id probably be the king of the world by now. Seriously, his enthusiasm, passion and commitment to teaching is second to none. He inspired me to push my hardest and gave me the confidence that he’d have my back and help me where I fell down. He taught me lessons I’ll be thinking on for the rest of my life. I have unlimited time for Ian, I try to come every year to speak to new SWAP students in his class and guide them on their journey. I have also encouraged my firm to support his charity, Skolie Burn Meadows, and I’ve even been out there myself trimming back bracken with some of my colleagues. If you could bottle up what Ian has as a teacher, you’d be the richest college in the country. The other lecturers were great too, Davood who has since left taught me the importance of not thinking so deeply that I miss what’s right infront of me, which I’ve carried through my career, and Ellie, who passed away during our year taught me about the fragility of life. My time at college was wonderful, and I made friends for life who I see all the time. The SWAP course is fantastic and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. It was the first place I ever went in education where I felt supported, and didn’t feel like I was just some stupid kid who didn’t belong.
If you could give one piece of advice to a student starting at the college now, what would it be?
I do, regularly, and my advice has varied over the years, so it will probably different next year. However, right now, I’d say there is no substitute for hard work, or pressure makes diamonds, or discomfort breads success, any of the numerous platitudes that exist because they are true! I believe in throwing yourself with maximum enthusiasm at everything that comes your way. Try to be the best you, that you can be at everything, because if you shoot for greatness, then even if you fall short you’ll still have achieved more than not trying. Moreso, you’ll be a winner in your own eyes, which are the only eyes that matter, because you’ll know that you left nothing to chance and left it all out there on the field. College at times was hard, the SWAP course pushed me to my limits, but the next time that discomfort reared its head, I was better prepared, and the next and the next. Now I’d say that one of my defining features as a professional is the ability to endure discomfort longer than anyone else for great results. That’s really all there is to it. That and to be unendingly curious, passionate and embrace new technology like AI and all of its twists and turns because it’s here to stay and its only just beginning.
What are your plans for the future? What is your end goal?
I want to be a leader in the technology and finance space, the bridge between that advocates for a symbiotic relationship between them. I’ve always been absolutely enthralled by technology, to be in a position now to bring more of it into the career that I have forged and love as well, is why I get up in the morning. I want to continue to ensure the profession embraces AI and new technologies and goes forward as an architect of that change rather than a passenger. I’m also passionate about the next generation of CA’s, of uni students and college students, but also, to those in school, perhaps in a better place than I was at that age, or maybe in the same place, I want to encourage those who feel that they can’t and show them otherwise. I want to encourage the next generation at all levels to be curious always, and to advocate for themselves and for their futures.
What are you most proud of that you have achieved while studying at Edinburgh College?
Probably just that I achieved it at all. As I say, I genuinely didn’t believe I’d manage. If you asked people in my life what I was like at the time I came to college, they’d tell you I was confident and that would be true, I was great at projecting that image. However, when it came to education that was a chink in my armour I couldn’t reconcile. I felt fear, actual unbridled fear for the first higher maths exam I sat in college, and when I passed it with the help of Ian and Davood and my colleagues, I felt invincible and I’ve been riding that feeling, the feeling of having the world at my fingertips If I just apply myself, ever since. So that’s it, that first test, set me off on a path that has led to everything I’ve accomplished. That and my final report on RF filters which is still in Mr Records office to this day!