These Exam Regulations apply to the AIA's Professional Qualification.
The AIA Exam Regulations are central to a student's journey towards becoming a qualified accountant and are in place to ensure that all students have a positive exam experience.
Any questions should be directed to the AIA Exams Team.
AIA examines on the following standards:
All existing International Standards on Auditing, International Standards on Quality Control, International Financial Reporting Standards and International Accounting Standards are examinable, subject to the six months rule defined under 'New Legislation.'
A comprehensive list of all standards and in which AIA papers they are examined, is issued in the syllabus which can be viewed in Achieve Academy or the Secure Document Library.
AIA will not set questions requiring a detailed knowledge of new legislation, accounting and auditing standards, guidelines and recommendations normally until six calendar months after the last day of the month in which the legislation or regulation was passed or issued. However, candidates should be prepared to answer questions requiring knowledge of the principal aspects of the legislation at exams within that period.
Regulation issued, or legislation passed may be examinable in accordance with the above dates and may be examinable even if the effective date is in the future.
Note: The term issued or passed relates to when regulation or legislation has been formally approved. The term effective relates to when regulation or legislation must be applied to an entity transactions and business practices.
From registering as a student, examination papers at the Foundation Level and Professional 1 Level and Professional 2 Level must be completed within a 10-year period. Students should aim to complete the Foundation Level assessment within a two-year period before progressing onto the professional levels, which should be completed in the remaining eight-year period. Students are required to sit the exams at consecutive online exams until all the exam papers are completed.
If you are unable to sit an exam, due to personal circumstances or ill health, then you should contact the exams department immediately. You are required to obtain written approval from AIA to defer your exam entry to the next session.
The Foundation Level Unit is made up of four component subjects which are assessed in one examination.
At the Professional Level students are required to pass five papers. Students should select between two and five papers from those available (until there is only one paper to select and pass). Flexibility at this level allows students to determine the papers in any order.
At the Professional 2 Level students are required to pass four papers. Students must take Financial accounting and Reporting 2, and Ethics and Professional Practice, and can select one optional paper from either Developments in Assurance and Accountability or Business and Financial Management. Students are required to select a minimum of two papers from the three (until there is only one paper to select and pass). Flexibility at this level allows students to select the order of the paper before progressing onto the Multi-disciplinary case study.
Students pursing the Audit Qualification (AQ) are required to pass all five papers at the Professional 2 Level.
All examination entries must be made via the website.
The exam entry deadline dates are 1 April for the May exam session and 1 October for the November exam session. Failure you meet this entry deadlines may mean you will incur a Late Entry Payment.
Examination fees for the Foundation Level, Professional 1 and 2 levels are published on AIA’s website.
Students who apply to sit an exam after the entry deadline may incur a late entry fee which will be determined upon the date the entry is received. This fee is payable in addition to the exam fees. Please contact AIA for advice.
| Qualification Level | Pass Mark |
| Foundation | 60% (in addition candidates are required to attain a mark of at least 50% in each separate component) |
| Professional 1 | 50% in each paper |
| Professional 2 | 50% in each paper |
All exams are conducted via AIA's secure online assessment platform and are invigilated.
You are expected to have read and understood the instructions on how to complete the test. You should sit the test in a quiet and private location (without others present in the room), ensuring you have a strong and stable internet connection. For more information see Online Exams Advice.
Before the exam you should set up your work area and take a comfort break.
Each exam lasts 3 hours and 15 minutes.
You must comply with all instructions issued by AIA and the Invigilator before and during the online exam. All exams are invigilated and recorded. You confirm your consent to the invigilation and recording at the point of entry to the test; should you decide not to consent then your exam will be postponed, you will be required to sit the exam at a future date and to pay an additional exam fee.
The Invigilators may need to warn you if you are suspected of infringing the exam regulations.
The following are in addition to the regulations noted above.
| Set up rules (Exam Venue) | Not permitted |
| Clear desk area | Additional monitors |
| One mouse | Additional peripherals |
| Separate keyboard | Other food/drinks |
| Glass of water / bottle of water | Headsets/earphones/ear buds/watches |
| Blank sheets of paper are permitted for making hand-written notes (the notes are not submitted as part of your answers for marking) | No non-religious head coverings - the Exams Team can provide further advice |
| Calculator (non programmable) | All mobile phones must be placed out of arms reach and should be switched to silent once the test commences |
| Use of any written/printed material/pre-test notes. |
| Set up rules (Home/Office) | Not permitted |
| Clear desk area | Additional peripherals |
| Computer with built in webcam or attached by USB | Headsets/earphones/ear buds/watches |
| Separate keyboard/mouse optional | Other food/drinks |
| Glass of water/bottle of water | No non-religious head coverings - the Exams Team can provide further advice |
| Calculator (non programmable) | All mobile phones must be used in line with the guidance provided during setup of assessment platform and should be switched to silent. |
| Blank sheets of paper are permitted for making hand- written notes | Use of any written/printed material/pre-test notes. |
If you have a temporary or permanent disability, or a recognised learning need, and the standard exam format is not appropriate for you, we are happy to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your requirements. Any adjustments made will recognise your needs and will try to facilitate your normal way of working as far as possible.
Please contact the AIA Exams Team as soon as possible to make arrangements prior to the exams.
If you become unwell during an exam, or find that your concentration has been significantly affected by an outside noise or disturbance, you should inform the Invigilator immediately. The Invigilator will complete a Special Consideration Form which is sent with a written report to the AIA. Candidates affected in any way must sign the form and confirm whether or not they wish to apply for special consideration. It may be the case that you:
After the exam you should contact the exams team within 48 hours to provide an explanation of why you paused or decided to withdraw from the exam.
Should you temporarily or permanently withdraw from the exam due to illness, you will need to obtain a doctor's certificate confirming your condition and send it to the AIA. The certificate must be translated into English and received by us within seven days of the exam date.
AIA takes malpractice extremely seriously and understands it to be 'any action which intentionally breaches AIA regulations and undermines the integrity and validity of any part of the examination process and as a result invalidates the AIA qualification'.
You will complete the test on your own and not seek assistance or collude with others.
You should behave in a proper manner during the test and understand the consequences of fraudulent test taking. It is important that you understand the categories of exam malpractice, as listed below, which would be classed as cheating in the exams.
Examples of malpractice include:
| Cheating threat | Description |
| Using test content or having pre-knowledge of content | Candidate obtains actual test questions from a reliable source prior to sitting the test |
| Receiving expert help while sitting the test | Candidate receives help from someone during the test |
| Using unauthorised test aids | Candidate uses aids during the test, such as cheat-sheets (including post it notes) written/printed material, mobile phone during the test, (and other electronic devices), programmable calculators |
| Using a proxy test sitter | Candidate uses a professional proxy testing service or a friend to take the test |
| Tampering with the answer or stored test results | Following completion of the test a person (friend/teacher) may tamper with the answers. Alternatively, where the test scoring database is amended to raise the test score |
| Copying answers from another test taker | Candidate copies answers provided by another test taker during a test |
| Leaving the exam room during the test | Candidate leaves the room during the test which is not permitted, unless it is for a comfort break. |
| Not adhering to the remote access set up rules | |
| Candidate turning off the audio or video recording. | Tampering with, adjusting or turning off the audio or video recording. |
Where a candidate is suspected of malpractice during an exam, the Invigilator will warn the candidate that their actions may constitute malpractice, and that the incident will be reported to the AIA. However, the candidate will be allowed to finish the exam. Before leaving the exam venue, the candidate will be asked to provide a statement explaining their conduct. The statement can be written by the candidate and signed by the Invigilator, or the candidate can provide an oral account which the Invigilator will write down; the candidate will then read this account and sign to confirm its accuracy. Candidates are not obliged to provide a statement before leaving the exam venue; if they choose not to, the Invigilator will note this in their report. The Invigilator will complete a Candidate Malpractice Report Form and submit it together with the candidate's statement to AIA.
If we consider further investigation is required, the candidate's results will be withheld until a full investigation can take place. On completion of the investigation, a report is provided to the AIA Qualifications Committee outlining the findings. The Committee will then decide whether the incident constitutes malpractice and advise an appropriate course of action. Possible sanctions imposed on candidates by the Qualifications Committee include:
AIA ensures exam scripts are marked to the highest standard. Any scripts showing a marginal pass/fail are automatically reviewed as part of the marking process, and will be re-marked by a second marker as part of our Quality Assurance Procedures.
If you are unhappy with your exam result please contact the AIA Exams Team to discuss the Appeals Procedure.
If you have failed a paper and you would like to query the result AIA will provide information on the Quality Assurance Procedures conducted in the marking of your exam script(s) and may undertake further checks.
If you wish to appeal against the marks awarded when a fail is recorded you should submit an appeal in writing. The appeal must state which paper the appeal is for, outline why the appeal is felt to be appropriate, and be received by AIA within six weeks of the date on which the exam results were released. Appeals received after this period cannot be accepted.
A fee of £60 per paper appealed should be included with the appeal; an appeal cannot be accepted unless the fee is paid.
On receipt of your appeal, we will confirm by email or by post that your appeal and your fee has been received. We then undertake an administrative check of the exam script prior to submitting the script for re-marking by an independent marker. You will be notified of the outcome of your appeal by letter within four weeks from the receipt of the appeal letter and fee.
The outcome of the appeal may be that the original decision is confirmed or that the original decision is overturned, which may lead to the awarding of a pass. You will be advised if the re-marked exam script(s) are awarded a pass or a fail, with an explanation on your performance in the questions. You do not have the right to view the exam script. If you are awarded a pass then the appeal fee will be refunded.
If you are dissatisfied with the appeal process then you can request that the appeal is re-opened for independent review. This request must be received by AIA within two weeks of the date on your appeal results. Following receipt of your notification confirming that you are dissatisfied with the appeal process, the script is sent to an independent reviewer to ensure that the appeal process has been conducted appropriately. The independent review is not concerned with making judgements about candidates' work in the exam; it is directly concerned with how the appeal process has been conducted. You will be notified of outcome of this review within two weeks of the appeal being re-opened. If the independent reviewer judges that the AIA has not complied with the appeal procedure, then the appeal fee will be refunded. Consideration of an appeal by the independent reviewer concludes the AIA's appeal procedure.
You are not permitted to copy, print or produce any test material whether provided in paper format or on a computer screen.
You are not permitted access to a mobile phone during the test, except for purposes outlined in the assessment setup for enabling invigilation of your test.
You should not use your mobile phone to capture screenshots of test questions, or the test contents.
