AIA has two key objectives in designing and developing the AIA Professional Qualifications (Accountancy and Audit). The first is to provide a solid foundation of knowledge, competencies and professional conduct and then incrementally build on this to meet the demands made of accountants throughout their career. To ensure this, the qualifications were developed in close collaboration with businesses and academics to deliver the accountancy and business skills employers are looking for, and they are reviewed on an ongoing basis. The second objective is that the qualifications we provide are of an appropriately high quality and standard.
AIA is a Recognised Qualifying Body (RQB) for statutory auditors under the UK Companies Act 2006 and is regulated by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). AIA is also a Prescribed Body under the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2014 in the Republic of Ireland and is regulated by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA).
As a regulated organisation we meet the rigorous standards and requirements set by our regulators. We are extremely proud of the quality of our qualifications, and are constantly pursuing excellence, making sure they are fit for purpose, and continue to improve and develop.
In addition to the ongoing monitoring by our regulators, the qualifications have been independently assessed and benchmarked by the UK National Information Centre (UK ENIC) for global qualifications and skills, providing assurance of their high specification.
The aim of this benchmarking exercise was to facilitate wider understanding of the comparable educational levels of all AIA qualifications. The assessment used a well-established methodology for benchmarking qualifications to examine each qualification’s entry requirements, duration, structure, content, learning outcomes, modes of learning, assessment, and associated outcomes.
Our quality assurance procedures ensure the integrity of the exam process at every level. The process is overseen by the Chief Examiner and Exams Board, a team of moderators, examiners, test sitters and e-tutors, and the Qualifications Committee, at board level, which has overall control. The appointment of the academic team is subject to the approval of the Qualifications Committee and their appointments and performance are reviewed annually. They are all highly qualified, have a wealth of experience between them, and work in senior positions at leading universities both in the UK and overseas.
It is the role of the examiners to update the syllabus for each session and to prepare the question papers, model answers, and outline marking schemes, ensuring that they meet our stringent quality standards. The moderators oversee a ‘stream’ of related papers, assessing the standard of questions and ensuring high quality content and coverage of the syllabus. Finally, the Chief Examiner and moderators liaise with the examiners to review and approve the question papers and associated documents, and after each session evaluate the marks, candidate performance, standards, and pass rates.
All exams are conducted online in the AIA's online assessment platform, powered by Rogo. The system utilises industry-leading data security to provide students with an easy to access, safe and secure form of invigilation. All exams involve both automated and human invigilation, alongside supervision of candidates’ assessment through live proctoring, which allows access to real-time technical advice if required.
AIA Achieve Academy is a fully integrated online learning platform which provides students with a structured programme of study for all AIA exams. The programme was designed in conjunction with BPP Learning Media, the benchmark for quality in professional education study materials, and utilises a range of teaching and learning tools that align teaching to the qualification and assessments. Students benefit from the guidance and experience of subject experts and have access to extensive support with exam relevant workbooks, questions, lectures, and study guidance.
The relevance and the high academic standards of the AIA professional qualifications as outlined guarantees that AIA qualified candidates have the skills and attributes it takes to succeed in the world of accountancy and finance.