What’s new to the ICAEW syllabus?

The new ICAEW syllabus has been redesigned to enable a smooth, supportive and attainable progression. It will provide more of a “step by step” journey whilst teaching students the fundamentals of business, finance and accounting. 

The syllabus now has three central themes throughout the course to support future chartered accountant careers: Sustainability, Technology and Ethics. 

What you need to know about Next Generation ICAEW syllabus ACA:

• The changes to the ICAEW syllabus commence in September 2025, with the dual running of both the current ACA and Next Generation ACA.  
• Changes to Professional Level commence to the March 2026 exam sitting.  With old syllabus professional level being examined up to and including September 2026.
• Changes to Advanced Level with come in for July 2027, where there will be a reduction from 3 exams currently to 2 exams.
• There will be one less exam at the Advanced Level, with some exams replaced and others merged to support a future-fit syllabus, including three case study exams.
• There will be the introduction of ‘Specialised Learning and Development’ to facilitate early career specialisation. 
• A new Sustainability and Ethics exam will replace the Ethics training program and Business Technology and Finance exam at the certificate level.
• At the Professional level, the Business Planning: Taxation (and optional Insurance & Banking) exams will be replaced by a case-style exam called the Fundamental Case Study.

Next Generation ACA exams  

The Next Gen ACA includes 14 business, finance and accountancy modules (down from 15 due the reduction of exams from 3 to 2 at Advance level in 2027). It has been refreshed to include a future-fit syllabus launched in September 2025 for certificate level first.  

The exams will remain across three levels: Certificate, Professional and Advanced in the new ICAEW syllabus. 

Certificate level

The certificate level will remain with 6 exams and has very little changes on the surface.

Moreover, the main change is that the Business Technology and Finance (BTF) will be replaced with an exam dedicated to Sustainability and Ethics. Some of the content of the BTF exam will be brought into the new Business Insight and Performance (BIP) exam which replaces Management Information (MI).

The certificate will focus more on fundamentals so should support improved attainment on a new student’s journey.

Professional level  

The professional level will remain with 6 exams, but will have more significant changes.

The current Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) and Audit and Assurance exams will be merged. Therefore, creating two hybrid exams covering both Reporting and Audit in each exam. In addition, the ‘UK GAAP’ variant of FAR will be removed in the new ICAEW syllabus, but will be available as part of the Specialised Learning and Development platform.

Furthermore, the Business Planning suite (Taxation, Insurance and Banking) is being replaced with a Case Study style exam at the Professional Level called Fundamental Case Study (FCS). The content of the FCS is not a specialist exam, but instead applies the skills from certificate level in an applied written context. Removing the planning suite of exams supported the creation of the ‘Specialised Learning and Development’ suite, available to newly registered students from an ICAEW platform to gain exposure to specialist knowledge.

Advanced level 

In addition, the advanced level will change to two exams, with one Advance Information per exam sitting covering both exams.

The new ‘Technical Case Study’ will replace the Corporate Reporting exam. Additionally, the Strategic Business Management and Case Study exams will be combined to form a new ‘Strategic Case Study.’

Specialised Learning and Development

The ACA qualification is evolving with the launch of Specialised Learning, a ground-breaking addition designed to enhance the student experience. Delivered through a cutting-edge interactive platform, Specialised Learning combines engaging activities such as quizzes, videos, voice recordings, and articles to bring topics to life.

As part of their training agreement, students will complete a minimum of 30 units of Specialised Learning. Each unit represents around an hour of study, with courses typically lasting between one and four units.

Through the platform, students can easily browse, select, and enrol on courses that fit their interests and development needs. Their progress is automatically recorded and connected to the online training file, ensuring everything is tracked in one place. You can read more here.

And finally… 

To summarise, we understand that these changes to the ICAEW syllabus can be daunting. Your team at First Intuition will be here to help advise and guide you through any questions you may have.

If you are an apprentice, we will work with you and your employer to ensure your route through the qualification is carefully managed.

Moreover, if you are not an apprentice and would like some advice on what to study and when, do get in touch with your local centre and we will be happy to help.

Want to find out more about the changes to the ICAEW syllabus? 

We have produced several blogs to cover all the information you need to know to help make your ICAEW journey easier. Click on the buttons below to find out more.

This information was reviewed and updated in August 2025.