Shaping the future. A unique opportunity for today's generation to make a contribution of lasting benefit and to help shape the future of our profession.
Launched in 2007, ICAEW Foundation is helping to shape the future of the profession by creating life-changing opportunities for disadvantaged students, producing industry research that inspires business confidence and fostering closer ties between academia and the profession.
We have raised almost £2.4m but still have a challenging way to go to reach our goal of £10m by 2017. Your help and support is needed more than ever to make a real difference.
- Bursaries
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The Foundation provides annual bursaries to talented aspiring students in universities and business schools in the UK and around the world.
By offering life-changing opportunities to aspiring accountants who may otherwise miss out, the ICAEW Foundation provides a leading example of how the traditions and values of chartered accountants make a difference to individuals and societies everywhere.
Case study: Chantelle Croule
18 year-old Chantelle Croule from south west London is currently studying for a BA Hons in Finance, Accounting and Management at the University of Nottingham. As a non-A level student who achieved distinctions across the board in the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) Diploma, she is the highly deserving recipient of an annual bursary of £3,000 from the ICAEW Foundation. ‘I’ve always dreamed of going to university one day, and by studying for this degree I’m learning about a subject and profession of which I knew little,’ said Chantelle. ‘It would not have been easy to start my studies without the support of the ICAEW Foundation bursary. I was astonished when I heard I had received this award.’ She went on, ‘It’s given me greater confidence, especially as I am the first person in my family to go to university.’
Case study: Kyriakis Pattihis
21-year-old Kyriakis from Cyprus was awarded the ICAEW Foundation’s first academic bursary to help him fund his accounting degree at the London School of Economics.
The bursary is worth £5,000 a year over a three-year period and has helped ease the financial burden his education has imposed on his family.
'The financial obligations such as fees are just one of the many challenges one has to overcome when going off to study in a foreign country for the first time. Thanks to your help I feel like a big weight has been lifted that has allowed me to pour all my concentration on my studies and also enjoy my new life as a university student.”the first person in my family to go to university.'
- Prizes
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The Foundation is rewarding excellence by creating new prizes for academic excellence, establishing new prizes to recognise chartered accountants’ outstanding achievements and raising the value of longstanding ICAEW examination prizes.
The ICAEW Foundation supports prizes because intellectual rigour is essential to the professional judgements made daily by chartered accountants on behalf of business and clients.
Creating new contemporary prizes will take account of changes in the world of business. We also have an ideal opportunity to establish new awards in non-academic fields such as outstanding achievement in the community.
We aim to build a £500,000 endowment to create new prizes and restore the value of existing ICAEW prizes. Prizes often commemorate the achievements of individuals by family, friends and colleagues. Please contact the Foundation Office if you want to discuss the creation of a prize.
Case study - Yanhua ‘Andy’ Cheng
Yanhua ‘Andy’ Cheng is the only student of the 2007 intake in China to pass all the ACA exams at the first attempt. Andy achieved this excellent distinction despite considerable personal hurdles, and that is why he has been given an ICAEW Foundation and CABA Global Inspiration Award. Reacting to his Global Inspiration Award, Andy said, ‘I am sure this award will inspire other students and attract more people to join in this programme. It has really boosted my confidence and I am so proud to have been selected.’
Learn more about the Global Inspiration Award and other winners
- Research
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The Foundation is initiating new and practical research into key financial and business issues. Key issues include corporate governance and risk management, inspiring confidence in financial services and SMEs as future engines of growth in the economy.
In the wake of the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression, there is a pressing need for higher levels of funding to provide significant, groundbreaking research which is relevant to the profession, business and policy-makers in the UK and internationally.
There is also a need for more practical market focused studies. Government and regulators, for instance, welcome and benefit from high quality academic research, especially when it brings insight and understanding on issues that matter to them.
£3m would give us enough income to increase the range of research projects.
Case study - Getting It Right
Getting It Right is a comprehensive study on risk management in non-financial FTSE companies. Concentrating on board governance of risk and highlighting good practice, it complements the Walker Review which looked specifically at financial services.
A clear message from this research is the need for existing regulation to be implemented more effectively. Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman of the Weir Group plc and Scottish and Southern Energy plc, addresses this finding in the report’s foreword: ‘We need to concentrate on making our present system of governance work well, not on adding more regulation. The ICAEW Foundation is to be applauded on taking the initiative to undertake more detailed research in this area.’
We are always open to suggestions regarding proposed research projects in the fields of risk management or corporate governance, or in related audit & reporting issues. Please e-mail us at foundation@icaew.com.
- Teaching and PhD Fellowships
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The Foundation will create teaching and PhD fellowships to enable practising accountants to bring their personal business experience into universities, business schools and academic research.
Not enough professionally qualified accountants are being recruited as teachers in our leading business schools today. Practising accountants have the knowledge and experience that is absolutely essential to give students a realistic, pragmatic and balanced outlook.
While it is unrealistic to expect working accountants to move into teaching unsupported, teaching fellowships offer an ideal solution.
The lack of clear routes into academia for qualified accountants is having a negative effect on the approach and topicality of research. The foundation will therefore sponsor PhD fellowships for practitioners who want to move into academia, with funding to cover doctoral fees and suitable maintenance.
£2m would endow up to three named fellowships at key centres of learning.
What is a Teaching Fellowship?
A Teaching Fellowship is a flexible commitment that can be adapted to suit your professional specialisation and personal circumstances. Fellows have many options ranging from one-off lectures in their expert field, recurring lectures on particular topics or even teaching regularly as part of a core curriculum.
Whether you wish to share your practical experience for the benefit of future accountants or make a transition to teaching, key attributes include: a desire to teach, a passion for your subject and the ability to make lectures practical, relevant and interesting.
If you would like to express your interest in Teaching or PhD Fellowships, or require more information, please email us at foundation@icaew.com.
- Library Services and Heritage
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The Foundation aims to enhance the ICAEW’s world-leading specialist Library and Information service (LIS) and to conserve the heritage of Chartered Accountants’ Hall, the ICAEW’s symbolic headquarters.
Chartered Accountants’ Hall is home to one of the finest specialist libraries in the world.
As a global centre of excellence for accountancy and business, it provides immediate access to a first class range of up-to-date accounting, legal, market information, news and research services. The Foundation will build an endowment to ensure that the LIS continues to provide the most comprehensive service to the profession and businesses worldwide.
Designed by John Belcher in the Italian renaissance style in 1890, Chartered Accountants’ Hall is a listed architectural landmark. It is not only a place of historic and architectural interest, but a symbol of the continuity and relevance of one of the longest established professions in the world. It is a working building that reflects the position of the ICAEW as a world-leading body. The conservation and preservation of our historic home for the benefit of current and future members is therefore a duty we take seriously.
£2m would endow the income needed to enhance the superb Library and Information service, as well as contributing to the heritage of the ICAEW’s prestigious headquarters.
Rare Books Collection
The LIS is the custodian of over 3,000 archived rare books on accounting. Spanning six centuries, these volumes are the result of over 100 years of careful collection and include Pacioli’s “Summa di arithmetica”.
Written in 1494 it is the earliest known treatise on double-entry book-keeping. Another highlight is the earliest extant original text on accounting in the English language called “The maner and Fourme how to keep a perfecte reconying…" written by Peele in 1553.
The Foundation aims to fund specialist projects such as cataloguing these rare archives and making them available online. This would provide accounting professionals, academics and the public with unique access to valuable historic information relating to the development of accounting and commerce.
This is your opportunity to acknowledge the advantages benefits of being an ICAEW Chartered Accountant and make a real difference to the aspiring professional lives of current and future generations.
Sandeep Prabhu, a Masters student at Durham University, recently completed his thesis study on the ICAEW Foundation producing some recommendations on fundraising and profile raising. He is seen here presenting the report and his findings to Foundation manager, Caroline Kearns.
To discuss how you can become involved with and support the Foundation, please contact Caroline Kearns.