Ahead of the inaugural ICAS National Induction Day, Gail Boag, Executive Director of Learning, reports on the transformational impact of the new syllabus and delivery model

On 9 September, ICAS will host our first-ever national student induction at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). The event marks a first for the profession, welcoming our new CA students as they embark on their ICAS journey.

Since the pandemic, a typical student is now unlikely to be in the office five days a week. With the move to interactive digital content as part of our new syllabus, one of the worries was whether they would still have the opportunity to meet others and build a network early on in their training. So now, all the people starting in September 2024, and January and March 2025, will have the opportunity to come to the EICC. By bringing so many students together we hope to have an exciting, informative but above all inspiring event. (See full schedule below.)

Fresh syllabus, greater engagement

September also represents the largest intake of the year and we’re excited for these students to experience the new syllabus, with its innovative approach to learning, in full.

Institutes, employers and universities globally have faced a challenge in the post-Covid world. Engagement levels in class dropped and firms reported students were generally less confident, vocal or collaborative. As a result, pass rates fell and student deferrals grew.

To combat this, ICAS spent a significant amount of time examining how academia and bodies such as the International Association for Accounting Education and Research were dealing with new ways of improving student engagement. We are in the fortunate position of having years of data, enabling us to compare student outcomes with different delivery models which show us that having more in-class days does not necessarily lead to better student outcomes. It varies by course. We’ve used this to shape and guide our tutor interventions and classes. The new syllabus and delivery model feature engaging, digital-first course content with interactive modules, animations, demonstration videos, expert talks, quizzes and practice questions.

Making the transition

We’ve also seen that many UK universities and professional bodies worldwide have successfully transitioned to an active-learning method, based on a flipped-classroom approach with added interventions – with very positive outcomes.

Therefore, when we launched our new syllabus, we also changed our delivery model. Our new content is designed to be digital-first and more engaging, intuitive and structured, featuring animations, demonstration videos, expert talks, quizzes and practice questions. Students work through the content, learning, applying and testing their understanding as they go, before attending interactive workshops to further embed that learning.

The days of attending traditional classes or tutorials, and sitting passively while a tutor takes the students through slide after slide of course material, is gone at ICAS. Students are encouraged to contribute, discuss and collaborate to solve problems, ensuring they are fully prepared for their assessments.

Speaking personally, being responsible for the success of learning at ICAS brought me a healthy level of anxiety this year. That’s only to be expected with that level of innovation and transformation. You do your research and consultation and mitigate against failure as much as possible to ensure our students are not disadvantaged by change. But until you have a couple of terms of delivery and assessment results under your belt, you always worry about the “what if”.

That’s why I was delighted with the post-launch feedback. Early indications suggest the new syllabus and experience are delivering positive results. Students who completed our first Knowledge courses achieved an average pass rate of 94%, a 14% improvement over assessments this time last year under the previous syllabus. Our first cohort of Skills students also performed well, with an average pass rate of 85.6%.

Why such a big improvement? First and foremost we must protect the level of challenge, robust standards and the integrity of our qualification. Our assessments come under close scrutiny and we are held to account by our external moderators.

With this in mind the key factor has been changing how ICAS students learn. They will do the self-study, then come to class. By the time they participate in the interactive workshops they already have a level of understanding of the topic. They can discuss, interact, test and complete practice questions with the tutors, who have been delighted as the students have been so much more engaged.

“The days of attending traditional classes or tutorials, and sitting passively while a tutor takes the students through slide after slide of course material, is gone at ICAS”

As we are still in early days, we will continue to monitor progress carefully, evolving as required so we deliver the best possible experience for students and employers. We are constantly engaging with our authorised training offices to gather feedback, and we have planned student focus groups to ensure they have a voice.

We’ve already acted on some early feedback. For example, where students told us they would like an additional in-person workshop for one of our Skills courses, Reporting and Performance 2, that is being brought in from this month onwards.

In-centre assessments

Students and employers also told us they would like to be able to sit their assessments in-centre rather than online. We piloted a new approach to the strategy for Knowledge assessments, allowing students to choose whether they sit in an assessment centre or online.

Feedback from students and employers suggests this new approach is working well. The option to sit in-centre will remain for Knowledge-level assessments and we look to expand this to Skills and Integration in 2025.

The new model means students received their results in Advantage just two weeks after sitting their assessments. This quick turnaround provides certainty and allows students to quickly progress to the next stage of the curriculum.

We are now welcoming record numbers of new students through the introduction of new pathways. This year particularly sees growth in graduate apprenticeship numbers and school leavers as we remove barriers to entry and provide an unrivalled level of support for different learner needs.

Inevitably, there have been some challenges. We spent a lot of time with the students who had to transition to the new syllabus and delivery model, having started learning with us in the “old world”. We have also introduced online inductions every term for our continuing students – another first. These serve as a reminder of what they can expect as they move up a level.

Continuous improvement

The syllabus was developed in consultation with employers, other bodies, academics and the profession. We’re well ahead in the areas of sustainability data, tech and AI that we’ve embedded already.

But it has to be a process of continuous improvement. We are determined not to fall into the trap of having an exciting new syllabus, which is then left unchanged other than for obvious new developments in tax and law. We will continue to update every subject on a rolling basis as needed to make sure ICAS and the CA qualification stay ahead of the game.

ICAS Induction Day
Monday, 9 September, EICC

Students will have a packed schedule at the induction, with keynote speakers as well as interactive breakout sessions, panel discussions and workshops covering topics such as ethics, academic integrity, work readiness and study skills. It’s all designed to maximise engagement and enable a vibrant learning environment – something we have worked hard to do in every aspect of our learning transformation. There are sessions for everyone, regardless of how they’re studying the qualification.

Learn more about the new ICAS syllabus