About the ACA-CTA Joint Programme
ICAEW and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) have developed a joint programme which enables students to achieve both the ACA and the Chartered Tax Adviser qualification (CTA) in three to four years.
This is a unique route that allows your students to specialise in one of three areas of tax: taxation of larger companies and groups, owner managed businesses, or indirect tax. You can support your student in finding the right specialism for your workplace, taking into account their experience and training.
The programme has been designed to maintain the rigorous standards of both ICAEW and CIOT, while offering students a fast-track route to become a specialist in tax.
Benefits of the joint programme
As this is an opportunity for your students to gain dedicated expertise, your organisation will benefit from gaining a qualified chartered accountant with specialist tax knowledge, helping to future proof your workforce.
In addition, the training time on this route is significantly reduced in comparison to studying the two qualifications individually.
Like other routes to the ACA, the ACA-CTA Joint Programme offers flexible training options. This means your students can frontload exams, study remotely, hybrid or take block leave, and put learning into practice in real time, all to fit business needs.
The ACA-CTA can also be taken through the Level 7 apprenticeship route to benefit from government funding for eligible apprentices.
ACA-CTA tax specialisms
The ACA CTA Joint Programme gives students the opportunity to achieve both the ACA and the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualifications simultaneously.
They can then apply for membership of CIOT once all parts of the ACA and CTA qualifications are completed.
There are three specialist routes available:
- Larger companies and groups: designed for students specialising in the tax affairs of FTSE 350 companies or other large corporates.
- Owner-managed businesses: designed for students specialising in the tax affairs of owner-managed or private businesses.
- Indirect taxation: designed for students specialising in indirect taxation.
Get started with ACA-CTA today
If you’re interested in extending a tax specialisation to your students, your organisation could benefit from offering the ACA-CTA Joint Programme. Register your interest to speak to our dedicated support team who can guide you through your options.
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Last updated: June 2026