The ICAEW has unveiled radical changes to its ACA qualification, which it believes will bring technical study and workplace learning closer together than ever before.
The changes represent the biggest change in the qualification in 30 years, and students will be studying the new look qualification from September 2025.
Students will be pleased to hear that the exams component will consist of 14 integrated modules, compared to the current 15, including a new case study paper to help students bridge to the professional and advanced levels. There will also be a new ethics and sustainability module in the certificate level.
ICAEW’s managing director of education and training, Will Holt (pictured), told PQ magazine: “The whole profession is going to change so much, and now the ICAEW qualification is ready for that change.”
The new future-proof changes include the introduction of an additional two case studies at Advanced Level, and Holt said case studies are perfect for reflecting what goes on in the workplace. And, the thought was “if case studies are so good why wait until the end of the qualification to test them!”
Holt believes the new qualification also takes a much clearer building-block approach to learning, allowing students to move from the fundamental to advanced level in more manageable steps.
He explained the Next Generation ACA will comprise three core components. These are business, finance, and accountancy modules; professional work experience; and a new specialised learning and development programme. This learning and development programme will:
- Deepen students’ competence in ethics, technology and sustainability to reflect the ever-changing world and workplace, through integration with professional work experience.
- Adapt quickly to future changes in the workplace and profession.
- Enhance students’ specialised workplace knowledge and skills through a wide range of flexible learning resources.
- Provide students with enhanced support through a comprehensively redesigned learning journey.
Alongside their professional experience, students will also complete 30 units from a flexible range of online learning modules as part of specialised learning and development, designed for early career upskilling and specialisation.
All existing students will be able to complete the ACA through either the current or updated qualification, and there will be no requirement to sit extra exams. ICAEW is already working with education providers and employers to support students during the transition period.
The ACA said its qualification will remain the only professional finance qualification that embeds real workplace data analytics software in exams. Check out more details in our two-page spread on pages 20 and 21: https://issuu.com/pqpublishing/docs/001_pq_dec24_combined.
