Digital learning materials

We take pride in the fact that we publish our own learning materials, which are highly recommended by universities and tuition providers, who use them to delivery academic and professional education programmes.

As the syllabus, exams and learning materials are reviewed and approved by our examiners each year, we only recommend that the latest editions are used to study with.

You have the flexibility to access our digital-only learning materials from any location using the device that suits you best, whether it's a mobile, tablet, or desktop. Moreover, you can view the materials on up to three devices simultaneously, providing added convenience.

The digital workbooks work much like printed books in that you can still write notes on them and highlight them, but with the additional benefits of being able to search for key terms, change the settings to make them easier to read, and have the book read itself to you with the text to speech function.

The new ICAEW workbooks combine our skills and syllabus learning with study manual all in one publication, making it easier for you to study.

Digital delivery is better for the environment: books no longer need to be shipped globally to be delivered to you, saving time and fuel. What’s more it saves 262 tonnes of paper each year.

All ICAEW Learning Materials are digital only and can be bought from the ICAEW Bookstore yourself or on your behalf by your tuition provider. Tuition providers may also provide their own course notes which are developed using the ICAEW Learning Materials and used to deliver their tuition. These are often printed but may also be available in the tuition providers’ online learning platform.

Visit the bookstore to purchase your ICAEW Learning Materials or contact your tuition provider if they are buying the materials for you. Once your tuition provider has 'enrolled' you within their bookstore account, you will receive an email with a link to redeem access to your ICAEW Learning Materials. While the links will be emailed from digital.learningmaterials@icaew.com, we are unable to send or resent these emails, so please contact your tuition provider with questions around receiving links to your learning materials.

The price of your learning materials depends on which level you are studying - view prices. As part of the digital learning materials, we are able to offer our materials in bundles which include the relevant permitted texts.

You must use your ICAEW account login details to access the ICAEW Bookshelf via the Bibliu app or browser.

If you cannot see all your learning materials within the bookshelf this might be a connection error so logging out and logging in again should stop this from happening. However, if the issue persists then contact support.

If you purchased the wrong workbook you will need to contact student support, and we will refund the purchase and mark the order as cancelled. This information will then be passed to the ICAEW Bookshelf and the workbook(s) will be removed.

New development: Archiving learning groups on the bookstore.

When buying learning materials for others, you may find it more efficient to archive groups that are no longer active. See more information. 

Registering correctly

All students who have a 2023 edition will also automatically receive the corresponding 2024 edition unless they have passed the exam relating to that module. This will not apply if you received the 2023 edition for free. There is a short delay between publication of results and population of bookshelves, so if you need the new edition urgently, please contact the Student Support Team. Find out how you can  get in touch. Or if you are with a tuition provider please speak to your tutor on how you can get the new edition.

You must ensure you register for your ICAEW Bookshelf using your existing ICAEW credentials. When first registering for your bookshelf select 'Already registered' and log in using your usual ICAEW credentials.

If you selected ‘new user’ at the registration stage your account will not be linked to your ICAEW account. This will result in your learning materials not being available via the ICAEW Bookshelf during open book exams.

You can check if you have registered correctly by logging into your ICAEW Bookshelf using the account details you use to access areas on icaew.com such as your training file. If you are not able to log in using those credentials, or you can log in but find your bookshelf is empty, please contact student support who will investigate moving your learning materials. Moving your learning materials will result in losing any notes and/or highlights you have made, however it will ensure you can access your learning materials within your open book exams.

If you own a 2023 edition of the learning materials on your ICAEW Bookshelf and you have not yet passed the associated exam, you will receive a free update to the relevant 2024 edition.

Dates to receive in bookshelf

Certificate Level*

• Monday 18 December 2023
• Tuesday 16 January 2024

Professional Level

• Monday 5 February 2024

Advanced Level

• Monday 8 January 2024

*Certificate Level has two dates to allow those who have exams booked in early January 2024 to study.

You will receive the bundle of materials as sold on the ICAEW Bookstore, so all components including the permitted text, apart from the following exception of the IFRS Blue Book.

IFRS permitted text

If you are eligible to receive the 2024 edition of the IFRS permitted text for the Professional Level Financial Accounting and Reporting: IFRS, Business Planning: Insurance, Business Planning: Banking or Advanced Level exams, please contact your tuition provider who will check your eligibility and supply you with a digital copy.

If you do not have a tuition provider and you are eligible to receive the 2024 edition of the IFRS permitted text, please contact the student support team who will check your eligibility and supply you with a copy.

As well as working like a traditional printed book that you can highlight and make notes on, our digital learning materials come with a number of additional benefits. 

• Explore the benefits of digital learning materials

When studying and reading through the materials in your ICAEW Bookshelf you will be able to use it much like any other textbook including annotating and highlighting. However, what you can’t do in ordinary textbooks is to search and filter via your notes or highlights.

It will depend on what exam you are sitting whether or not you will be permitted to use your own materials, but we will allow you to access the permitted and recommended texts as shown on icaew.com/permittedtexts

• Studying using digital permitted texts

For open book exams, you will be able to take in any hard copy materials, if you wish, subject to space restrictions.

A link to your ICAEW Bookshelf account will be available in the open book exams. This will then give you access to all your books, including any notes/highlights. 

• Read our guide to using the digital learning materials
• Watch our video on how to use the digital learning materials
• View the frequently asked questions about the digital learning materials

Errata

We update the learning materials annually to reflect changes to the syllabus, current legislation and technical standards. Occasionally, errors may appear in the material. We publish details of any errata on the relevant exam resources page for each exam.

Live webinar

• Q&A from the digital Learning Materials live webinar on 16 February 2021

In this webinar we will show you around the various functionality that sits within the ICAEW’s digital bookshelf.

Our aim with the bookshelf is to enhance accessibility for students with specific learning difficulties and other medical conditions or disabilities.

So, if you have already been awarded access arrangements or are thinking about making an application – we hope the following presentation will show how flexible and intuitive the bookshelf is – and how it might help you in your studies and during your open book exams.