To train ACA students, your organisation needs to become an ICAEW authorised training employer (ATE). Becoming an ATE is a free and straightforward process. You’ll need to make sure your organisation can meet our training standards.
ATEs
There are more than 2,500 ICAEW authorised training employers around the world covering practice, public sector as well as commerce and industry.
There are a few steps which are usually performed through an authorisation visit(s).
To arrange an authorisation visit(s) to become an authorised training employer (ATE), contact us at training@icaew.com or call +44 (0)1908 248 038.
Meet training standards
To ensure best practice and consistency of training to all ACA students across the world, all authorised training employers (ATEs) must comply with ICAEW universal training standards. The five main principles include:
- operate with professionalism and commitment to ACA training;
- provide students with a suitable training environment;
- offer students appropriate supervision and support;
- offer students the opportunity for personal and professional development; and
- offer students appropriate training in professional ethics.
Arrange for an authorisation visit
At this visit, one of our training team will guide you through the process of authorisation. You’ll need to be ready to:
- Appoint an individual to oversee student training
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We call this individual a qualified person responsible for training (QPRT). They have overall responsibility for the delivery of ACA training within your organisation. They do not have to be an ICAEW member. They could be a member of CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or CAI or internationally recognised equivalent.
- Get the work experience right
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You’ll need to offer work experience in at least one technical area: Accounting, Audit and Assurance, Tax, Insolvency, Financial Management or Information Technology. You do not have to offer audit experience to students (although audit is covered in the exams). Work experience needs to increase in depth and scope as your student progresses through their training.
- Register your organisation with ICAEW
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You can register as a single office/organisation with us or as a training office group. This is where a group of offices operate as one business unit and adhere to common training policies and working practices. Registering as a training office group can often help students gain a wider range of work experience.
- Provide an ACA training agreement and register your student
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Training agreement
An ACA training agreement is a formal written agreement between you and your student that relates solely to ACA training. It requires you to agree a period of approved training for your student and sufficient time for them to gain 450 days of technical work experience.
For a graduate, this will typically be achievable within a three year training agreement, however, you can vary the length of a training agreement according to what type of trainee you have recruited. If you recruit school leavers, you may prefer a five year period of training to allow them enough time to gain the full range of skills and experience.
Some students from other professional bodies or with professional qualifications may be eligible for a two year training agreement and 300 days of technical work experience.
The training agreement does not replace an employment contract which you will also need to supply to your students.
The ACA training agreement must be issued at the office where the student is based.
To help you, we have created a sample training agreement which you can adapt to suit your needs. Alternatively you can use your own separate version.
Registering a student
Ultimately it is your students’ responsibility to register as an ACA student. However, they should not register themselves (and their training agreement) until your organisation has done any necessary employment checks. Once you have performed any of these checks, you should then instruct them to register with ICAEW.
Please ensure that your student registers as soon as they begin their training and well in advance of any exam entry deadlines. Your students can either register online or send us a completed application form.
To remain an authorised training employer (ATE), your organisation must continue to meet ICAEW training standards and pay any/all appropriate student fees. ICAEW conducts review and support visits to monitor training compliance.
Keep in touch with us
We need to know of any activity/event that may affect your students or your ability to meet the training standards. This includes change of QPRT, change of counsellor or other roles, change of office status (eg, into a LLP), amending a training agreement (eg, redundancies, suspensions, extensions), secondments and/or a change in work experience available to students.