Our future-fit syllabus

Benefits of the ICAS CA syllabus

Keeping pace

Our syllabus is designed to ensure that it remains future fit and keeps pace with advances in technology, data and sustainability.

Our CA qualification fosters the ethical mindset, technical skills, professional knowledge and practical experience for a successful career.

The syllabus also delivers the non-technical skills needed for the workplace of the future, including complex problem solving, professional scepticism, communication, and agile thinking.

Those who achieve it will be empowered to make an impact in any workplace and to help create the sustainable economies of tomorrow.

Structured flexibility

The syllabus allows employers to create personalised learning journeys for their students using in-depth electives.

And our rolling three-year schedule of terms offers the ‘structured flexibility’ that enables employers to select a route through the syllabus to meet their specific business requirements and students’ individual learning needs.

Get to know the syllabus

The syllabus begins with our Ethics module, which is part of our Fundamentals onboarding course.

The remainder of the syllabus is structured over three levels:

1. Knowledge
2. Skills
3. Integration

The core courses at the Skills level are supported by four in-depth electives: Advanced Tax; Data Analytics; Innovation for Growth and Transformation; and Sustainability for Accountants.

Students also need to have worked and logged a minimum of 450 days of Relevant Practical Experience to complete their training:

Knowledge Level

The ICAS Knowledge level provides an introduction to the foundations of accounting.

Here, students build core knowledge over five essential courses:

• Assurance
• Business Management and Finance
• Business Law
• Reporting and Performance 1
• Taxation

Learn more about each course and its intended outcomes below. 

Skills Level

During Skills, students learn to take the next step and apply technical knowledge to real-world situations with these courses:

• Reporting and Performance 2
• Advanced Reporting and Performance
• Advanced Assurance
• Corporate Finance and Modelling
• Data, Risk and Technology

Employers can also create a personalised learning journey for their students by selecting one of four in-depth electives:

1. Advanced Tax
2. Data Analytics
3. Innovation for Growth and Transformation
4. Sustainability for Accountants

Learn more about each course and its intended outcomes below. 

Integration Level

Integration brings everything together. Calling on what they’ve learned so far, students will demonstrate professional and ethical judgement and develop conclusions and recommendations through two courses:

• Case Study
• Professional Ethics

Learn more about each course and its intended outcomes below. 

Where does the CA qualification sit on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)?

The SCQF is the qualifications framework for Scotland. It is used to compare and understand Scotland’s wide range of qualifications.

The SCQF Framework has 12 Levels. The complexity of learning increases from Level 1 through to Level 12. Each course and level of the CA qualification is credit rated and assigned a credit level and credit value on the framework.

The CA qualification is credit rated at SCQF Level 11 (sitting at the same level as a master’s degree). This equates to a level 7 qualification on the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales, Northern Ireland.

The CA qualification has a total of 485 SCQF Credit Points. Each credit point represents 10 hours of learning.

Further details of the SCQF Framework can be found on the SCQF website.