Recognition of prior learning

Candidates often hold a degree, a qualification awarded by another professional body, or years of practice, and ask what of it carries across to a CBA credential. This policy answers that question in two parts: what prior learning does not do, which is reduce the assessment; and what it does do, which is affect the professional experience requirement at Professional level, the preparation you need before sitting, and recertification. It applies to every CBA programme and every level. It also answers the question candidates usually mean next, which is whether a CBA credential is recognised elsewhere.

CBA does not grant exemptions from its examinations

CBA does not exempt any candidate from any part of any assessment leading to one of its credentials.

There is no exemption route, no partial paper, no credit transfer, no accelerated award and no challenge examination. This holds however senior you are, however closely another qualification appears to cover the same ground, and whichever body awarded it. It holds for qualifications awarded in any country.

It applies to CBA’s own credentials as well. Holding one CBA credential does not exempt you from the examination for another.

Why there is no exemption route

A CBA credential states one thing about the person named on it: that they were assessed against the published blueprint for that programme and reached a cut score set by a documented standard-setting panel. The public register entry says that of every holder, in the same terms, with no annotation distinguishing one holder from another.

A candidate exempted from part of that assessment was not assessed against that part. The credential would then state something about that person which is not true, and nobody reading the register could tell which holders had been assessed in full and which had not. The statement is only worth something because it is the same statement every time.

The mechanics of the paper point the same way. Examinations are assembled automatically to the published domain weightings, in single best answer format from four options. A paper with a domain removed is not the paper the blueprint describes, and the cut score, which was set for the whole paper, does not transfer to a part of it.

There is also a limit on what CBA can see. Every CBA item is reviewed and signed off by a named subject-matter expert before it can appear in a live paper, and every bank is audited domain by domain for answer cueing. CBA does not observe how another body writes its items, who signs them off, how its cut score was arrived at, or how it invigilates. Granting an exemption on the strength of another qualification would place an assessment CBA has not seen behind a register entry which says CBA carried it out.

The position also protects the people holding the credential. A credential that can be entered by exemption is worth less to everyone who holds it, including those who sat every paper in full.

What this means in practice

• No exemption from an examination, in whole or in part, on the strength of any other qualification, however recent or however senior.
• No exemption from the assessed applied workbooks at Practitioner and Professional level, which are completed in a spreadsheet and checked to a published tolerance.
• No reduction in the number of questions, the time allowed, or the cut score. Papers run from 60 to 80 questions and 90 to 135 minutes depending on the programme, and the figures for each are published on its page.
• No reduced fee on account of a prior qualification.
• No exemption granted by an Approved Learning Partner. A partner has no authority to grant one, and any statement that it can is made without CBA’s authority.

A reasonable adjustment is a different matter and is not affected by this policy. An adjustment changes the conditions under which you sit, such as additional time, an alternative format or rest breaks. It does not change what is assessed or the standard applied. Adjustments are dealt with under the reasonable adjustments policy.

Prior learning and the professional experience requirement

Professional level requires the examination, the assessed applied work, professional experience confirmed by a named referee, and an ethics undertaking. The experience requirement is where prior learning changes what is required of you, because it measures practice rather than the knowledge the examination assesses.

Each Professional-level programme publishes the number of years of relevant experience it requires. Where the programme allows it, it also publishes a lower figure for candidates holding a degree relevant to the discipline. Both figures appear on the programme page before you enrol.

Where a programme publishes no reduced figure, a degree makes no difference to the years required for that programme.

To claim the reduced figure:

• Declare the degree and the awarding institution in your experience declaration.
• Describe, in your own words, the work you actually did. The referee is asked to confirm that description specifically, so it needs to describe work rather than list job titles.
• Name a referee who genuinely knows that work, normally a line manager, client or partner.

Relevance is judged against the discipline of the programme, on the content of the degree rather than its title. CBA has not published a list of degrees it treats as relevant and does not intend to publish one covering institutions worldwide, so the honest position is that the decision is taken case by case and recorded against a named reviewer on your experience record. If you are unsure before you enrol, ask, naming the programme and the degree. Questions of this kind are answered within ten working days. An answer given before enrolment describes how the requirement is applied; the record itself is reviewed at the point you make the declaration.

Two further points on what does and does not count:

• A professional qualification awarded by another body does not reduce the years required. The requirement is years of relevant work, and the work you did while holding that qualification counts as experience on exactly the same terms as any other work.
• The Certificate and Practitioner levels carry no experience requirement, so there is nothing there for prior learning to reduce.

A Professional credential cannot be issued without a verified experience record. That is enforced as a rule in CBA’s database rather than by an administrator remembering to check it.

What you declare must be true and capable of being checked. A false declaration of a degree, or a referee acting at your direction, is a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct, and withdrawal of the credential is among the outcomes available.

Prior learning and choosing which programme to sit

A candidate who already holds a qualification covering a domain usually needs less preparation, not less assessment. That is the useful form of the question, and CBA publishes what you need to answer it.

Every programme publishes its blueprint in full before you enrol: every domain the paper draws from and the exact percentage of the paper each contributes. Its pass mark is set by a documented standard-setting panel and published on the programme page before any candidate sits the examination, so no candidate is examined against a figure that has not been settled. Read the blueprint against what you already know, domain by domain.

• Where a domain is already covered by your existing qualification or your practice, the effect is on how much preparation you buy and how long you spend on it.
• Where the blueprint contains domains you have not met, the weighting tells you how much of the paper turns on them.
• The study material is optional. You can enrol for the examination alone if you are certifying knowledge you already have.

CBA awards credentials across its programmes in finance, accounting, management and technology. Choose the one whose blueprint matches what you want assessed, rather than the one that sits closest to the qualification you already hold.

Prior learning and recertification

Credentials are valid for three years and then require recertification. Recertification requires 60 hours of continuing professional development across the cycle, reviewed by CBA before the renewal fee is charged.

Continuing professional development completed elsewhere is recognised. It does not have to be delivered by CBA, and nothing needs to be bought from CBA to renew. Hours can come from structured training, formal study, conferences and webinars, workplace projects that extended your practice, and teaching or mentoring.

Study towards another body’s qualification counts, including preparation for another body’s examination, where it is relevant to the discipline of the credential you are renewing. Hours you also record with another body count here as well, on the same terms.

What does not count:

• Hours earned outside the cycle you are claiming for, including hours earned before the credential was issued.
• Hours already claimed in a previous cycle.
• Hours with no connection to the discipline of the credential being renewed.

Log activities as you go. Evidence is requested on a sample basis rather than for every entry. Full details of the cycle, the fee and the twelve month late renewal window are in the recertification policy. Where a credential has been lapsed for more than twelve months, the route back is sitting the current examination: continuing professional development does not substitute for it.

Whether CBA credentials are recognised by other bodies

CBA makes no claim of equivalence between any of its credentials and any other qualification, at any level, under any qualifications framework, in any country. CBA holds no accreditation from another body and is not a regulated awarding organisation.

What another organisation chooses to do with a CBA credential is that organisation’s decision alone. That applies to employers, universities, regulators, licensing authorities and other certification bodies. CBA does not represent that decision in advance and cannot commit anyone else to a position.

Any person or organisation claiming, on CBA’s behalf, that a CBA credential is equivalent to, exempt from, or recognised by another qualification is doing so without authority. This includes Approved Learning Partners, agents and training providers, who are contractually prohibited from making such a claim. If you see one, report it with the web address where you saw it. CBA will ask for it to be corrected, and where a partner is responsible, accreditation can be suspended or withdrawn.

Where an organisation is deciding what weight to give a CBA credential, everything CBA has to offer in support of that decision is published: the blueprint, the domain weightings, the pass mark the holder was assessed against, the examination format, the requirements at each level, and a register entry which anyone can check without contacting CBA.

Attestation, licensing and immigration requirements

Some authorities require a qualification to be attested, legalised, or recognised by a ministry or licensing body before it counts towards employment, professional registration or a visa. That requirement is set by the authority, and only that authority can tell you whether a CBA credential satisfies it.

CBA has not sought recognition from any such authority and states no view on the outcome. CBA has taken no decision on whether it will take part in attestation or legalisation processes, and this policy does not state one: where that changes, it will be published here.

What CBA issues is a certificate bearing a unique credential ID and a permanent public register entry, which anyone can verify without contacting CBA. Whether that satisfies a particular legal or regulatory requirement in your country is a question for that authority or for a professional adviser in that jurisdiction. Treat any promise on that point from an agent or training provider as unauthorised.

Asking about your own case

CBA can answer these questions:

• Whether a Professional-level programme publishes a reduced years figure, and how the requirement is applied.
• Which programme’s blueprint covers a particular domain.
• Whether a specific activity counts towards continuing professional development for recertification.

CBA does not assess transcripts, syllabuses or certificates from other qualifications against its blueprints, because no decision available under this policy turns on the outcome. A request to review a transcript for exemption will be declined with a reference to this policy.

When you contact CBA, give the programme code, the level you are aiming at, and whether your question concerns the years of experience required, preparation, or recertification. Questions of this kind are answered within ten working days.

Changes to this policy

The date this policy was last revised is shown at the top of this page. Any change applies from the date it is published and is not applied retrospectively to a decision already taken on your record.