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.
- Current students will be provided the opportunity to finish the current ACA or alternatively transfer to the Next Generation ACA, subject to the transition rules.
- Students with a training agreement start date from 1 July 2025 will commence their studies on the Next Generation ACA route.
- 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. It has been refreshed to include a future-fit syllabus that will launch 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.
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.’
And finally…
To summarise, we understand that upcoming 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.