ICA training reforms go through council

Education reforms put forward by the English ICA executive passed their first hurdle last week despite concern that small firms will continue to reject training chartered accountants in favour of certifieds.

The reforms, voted for unanimously by the institute’s council, will allow firms to fit training in around the running of their business and should enable small firms to cut the cost of training new recruits. Institute members will now have two months to discuss the proposals before the council decides whether to push them through in time for the 1998 intake of students.

The institute’s head of education and training, Phil Armitage, said the proposals would make it cheaper to train chartereds without diluting the quality of the qualification. ‘Small firms will have greater choice as to when students sit the exams. They also allow students to take the exams in smaller, more manageable chunks,’ he said.

But accountancy trainer Jeff Wooller argued that small practitioners would continue to train certifieds because it would always cost less.

‘It is still the case that certifieds don’t need time off during their studies. So they are always cheaper to train.’

Institute plans to water down entry requirements to just A-level standard qualifications were defeated at an extraordinary general meeting in January, called by Merseyside-based small practitioner John Cook.