The Centre for Public Interest Audit (CPIA) published its 2026 Audit Trust Index (ATI) on 13 October, reaffirming that overall satisfaction with public interest entity (PIE) audit remains very high. Of those surveyed, 96% reported they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ satisfied with the overall quality of audit.

Based on a survey of finance directors (FDs), audit committee chairs (ACCs) and UK-based equity investors, the ATI measures confidence in UK PIE audits. Beyond the headlines, the ATI gives valuable insight into the interests of these stakeholder groups and highlights trends in responses over time. 

Confidence in UK audit is reflected in 98% of respondents wanting more independent assurance from auditors on corporate reports. However, there are more mixed views on AI use. While 79% of overall respondents are satisfied with how auditors are using AI, 23% of ACCs say they have ‘limited’ confidence, and 15% of investors have ‘limited’ or ‘no’ confidence.

ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty considers three of the report’s key trends and highlights useful resources for those who want to find out more.

1. Overall satisfaction is high

The CPIA reports that 96% of respondents are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ satisfied with audit quality.

The drivers for satisfaction are:

• auditors’ industry knowledge and competence,
• their communications and responsiveness,
• the usefulness of their findings, and
• their independence and objectivity.

Stakeholders are also positive about the value of audit, with 91% being satisfied with the intrinsic value an audit provides.

Despite these strong results, there are some areas that auditors are urged to continue to focus on. In particular, the proportion of stakeholders who are ‘very’ satisfied has fallen from 74% in 2025 to 48% in 2026 (which is more in line with 2024’s 46%).

It is too early to tell if this is “noise” in the data, as CPIA’s annual ATI builds up a body of data, or the start of a trend. Auditors should keep an eye on satisfaction levels, particularly for FDs who tend to be less satisfied than other groups.

2. Uncertainty over AI

Although overall satisfaction with AI use in audit is high at 79%, this is down from 87% in 2025 and the proportion that are ‘very’ satisfied has fallen from 48% to 14%.

The decline seems to be driven by a fall in investor satisfaction, with 15% of investors having ‘limited’ or ‘no’ confidence. This suggests that changing approaches need to be communicated carefully.

There is, however, optimism that AI will have a positive impact, with 54% believing it will improve identification of control failures and misstatements.

Stakeholders see a particular role for AI in processing tasks such as reviewing large volumes of data. However, they still prefer human auditors to undertake matters of judgement, with ACCs showing the strongest preference for human auditors overall.

Evolving ideas about the role of AI in audit are reflected in changes to the key risks identified by stakeholders. Last year’s top concerns, AI hallucinations and AI skills among auditors, have been overtaken this year by over-reliance on AI undermining auditors’ professional scepticism (cited by 46% of respondents), followed by data privacy and security risks (42%).

This pivot in key risks around use of AI in audit, may go some way to explain the slightly lower overall confidence levels.

3. Calls for more assurance

Stakeholders are united in wanting auditors to have a wider role in providing assurance on corporate reports. CPIA points out that this runs contrary to trends in regulatory reforms, which have restricted auditors from providing wider assurance services. For example, the government’s ongoing Modernising Corporate Reporting (MCR) consultation suggests removing certain assurance requirements for some companies.

There are differences as to what information ACCs, FDs and investors want assurance on. These preferences reflect the elements of the report that the groups value the most, with ACCs and FDs most wanting assurance over controls reporting and regulatory disclosures, while investors prioritise assurance on sustainability, key performance indicators and leadership statements.

This appears to be a key tension as the MCR consultation seeks to focus the purpose of the annual report and financial statements on investors (and creditors) while trying to cut down some areas of reporting.

The ATI also shows some differences in how well stakeholders understand current assurance arrangements. While 51% of ACCs are ‘very’ certain that they understand what parts of the corporate report are assured by the external auditor, only 29% of investors and 31% of FDs are. This suggests more clarity is needed as to how audit interacts with other forms of assurance.

ICAEW will continue to follow closely the CPIA’s annual Audit Trust Index, and will be considering these findings in light of ICAEW’s in-train response to the MCR consultation.