Who should complete the Ethics Learning Programme?
For all ACA and BFP students, the Ethics Learning Programme is a mandatory part of the qualification. It is also strongly recommended for all ICAEW CFAB students. You need to complete the Ethics Learning Programme and pass the assessment within the first 12 months of studies.
What does the programme include?
The format of the new Ethics Learning Programme includes:
- Six modules – covering a range of practical topics – each with practice questions and progress tests to assess knowledge and understanding. The progress tests are recorded within the training file, where results will show the following morning.
- Interactive videos, articles and questions to consider a variety of ethical dilemmas.
- Full assessment (mandatory for ACA and BFP students) – achieve 70% or more.
- Ability to change the background colour and text to suit individual needs and preferences.
Ethics in Practice scenarios
For students in an ACA training agreement, there is also an ‘Ethics in Practice scenarios’ section that must be completed. Discussions on these scenarios form part of the mandatory six-monthly reviews.
- Scenarios 1-6 mirror the content of the modules in the Ethics Learning Programme and are intended for use at the two six-monthly reviews that must be held in the first year of training.
- Scenarios 7-18 gradually increase in complexity and present more challenging and open-ended ethical dilemmas for discussion over the rest of the training agreement.
Ethics must be covered at every six-monthly review meeting throughout the training agreement. Every six months students need to discuss their progress in the Ethics Learning Programme, prepare three Ethics Scenarios, discuss an Ethics in Practice scenario, discuss a real-life ethical situation and update the ‘ethics review’ section in the training file.
Do all students have to complete all elements?
The table below shows which students need to complete which elements of the training.
| Ethics Learning Programme and assessment | Ethics Learning Programme | Practice Questions | Progress Tests | Full Assessment | Ethics in Practice Scenarios |
| ACA Student in a training agreement and apprenticeships | X | X | X | X | X |
| BFP Student | X | X | X | X | |
| ACA MoU/Reciprocal Student | X | X | X | X | |
| ICAEW CFAB Student* | X | X | |||
| ACA Independent Student | X | X |
* Highly recommended not mandatory. Access to the Ethics Learning Programme is not available to USS students.
How to access
ACA students access all the Ethics Learning Programme and the Ethics in Practice Scenarios via their training file, in the Ethics tab.
BFP students access the Ethics Learning Programme via their training file, in the Ethics tab.
ICAEW CFAB students and independent students can find the Ethics Learning Programme within the summary page of their training file.