What is the easiest route to becoming FCA qualified? - Forum

I have been trying to understand the same thing - I have already passed IMC and the CAIA and am wondering if that gives me an exemption of any sort?

Hi both,

you are right, the FCA website can be quite hard to navigate and we have recently been in touch with them directly to try to get some clarity on the whole issue of their qualifications.

Basically, the most important thing to understand is that the FCA "does not recommend which appropriate qualification from our list of appropriate qualifications individuals should take, as we can only tell individuals which qualifications meet our requirements for which activities. Our TC [Training and Competence] rules require individuals who carry out certain "controlled functions", to hold appropriate qualifications for firms that are regulated by us. We also define competence as having the skills, knowledge and expertise needed to discharge the responsibilities of an employee's role. This also includes achieving a good standard of ethical behaviour. "

What this means is that the responsibility to assess competence and provide training where competence gaps exist is the sole responsibility of your firm.
The FCA cannot and will not (believe us, we have asked!) tell you which qualification to take - they set the standards, but you (or rather you firm) chooses the qualification.

In terms of the different qualifications that are recognised by the FCA, you can see the list in their handbook at the following address: http://www.fshandbook.info/FS/html/FCA/TC/App/4/1. What you need to do is look through the first table and note down which activities you are or expect to be performing as part of your role. You can then refer to the table further down on the page to see which qualifications provide the competence needed to perform those individual activities.

A lot of them are actually very common financial and accountancy qualifications designed by bodies such as AAT, CIMA, CISI and others. If you already have one or more of these, chances are you will not need to qualify again, though you will still need to complete a certain number of CPD hours per year.

In short: as the absolute first thing you do, talk to your employer. They are the ones who need to assess your competency and tell you if you need additional training. Ultimately, they will also be the ones who tell you whether they prefer any one qualification over another.

Then come back to us and find a provider offering that qualification!

Hope this is useful.

Best,

The Findcourses.co.uk Team

A little update on this topic: we have condensed the information given to us by the FCA into an article explaining the ins and outs of becoming qualified and a list of Approved Qualifications and Providers.

We hope this gives a clearer picture of how the process works.

Any suggestions for improvements or extra information that would be useful are most welcome!

The Findcourses.co.uk Team

Hello and happy new year from FindCourses.co.uk!

Last year we received a number of queries from people confused about which FCA qualifications are needed to progress within various finance roles. We’ve put together an FCA professional development guide to help you gain a better understanding of the process and how to work out which qualifications you need. You can find it here.

Once you’ve had a read – come back to FindCourses to find your ideal finance course!

Please let us know if you have suggestions for improvements or if any extra information is needed.

With best wishes

The FindCourses.co.uk Team