About the exam
ICAEW ACA Certificate Exam structure
An independent guide to the current six-exam Next Generation ACA Certificate Level, using only the live Accounting Fundamentals, Assurance and Risk Fundamentals, Business Insight and Performance, Business Law, Sustainability and Ethics, and Tax Fundamentals structure.
Issuer and path
ICAEW ACA Certificate Level Study Guide is administered through ICAEW. Check official resources before booking, retesting, or relying on a stale requirement.
Accounting Fundamentals
26 scored + 0 pretest
Double-entry accounting, records, adjustments, ethics, sustainability and non-complex financial statements.
Assurance and Risk Fundamentals
50 scored + 0 pretest
Assurance purpose and process, risk, controls, evidence, regulation, ethics and sustainability assurance.
Business Insight and Performance
33 scored + 0 pretest
Costing, budgets, performance, business environment, decisions, technology, data and ethics.
Business Law
50 scored + 0 pretest
English legal principles, civil law, company and insolvency law, criminal risk and professional context.
Sustainability and Ethics
50 scored + 0 pretest
Sustainability concepts, regulation and business practice alongside public trust, ethics, safeguards and data.
Tax Fundamentals
42 scored + 0 pretest
UK tax objectives, ethics, administration and straightforward personal, company, VAT and stamp-tax computations.
Confirm the live module and syllabus year
Book one of the six current Next Generation ACA Certificate exams, confirm the syllabus and errata attached to the appointment, use the correct ICAEW learning materials and practise the official software. Do not prepare under a former exam name merely because an old pass or transition rule appears in a training record.
Official Outline Coverage Map
Coverage is mapped to official outline item counts so content depth can be checked without hard-coding a single exam.
| Topic | Official outline items | Your questions | Your flashcards | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability | 0 | 16 | 5 | Priority |
| Maintaining Financial Records | 0 | 21 | 5 | Good |
| Adjustments to Records and Financial Statements | 0 | 21 | 5 | Good |
| Preparing Financial Statements | 0 | 47 | 5 | Good |
| The Concept, Process and Need for Assurance | 0 | 19 | 5 | Priority |
| Risk, Internal Controls and Information Flows | 0 | 24 | 5 | Good |
| Obtaining Assurance Evidence | 0 | 33 | 5 | Good |
| Professional Ethics and Regulatory Issues | 0 | 19 | 5 | Priority |
| Costing and Pricing | 0 | 21 | 5 | Good |
| Budgeting and Forecasting | 0 | 21 | 5 | Good |
| Performance Management | 0 | 14 | 5 | Good |
| The External Environment of Business | 0 | 12 | 5 | Good |
| Management Decision-Making | 0 | 21 | 5 | Good |
| Technology and Data Analysis | 0 | 10 | 5 | Good |
| Ethics | 0 | 6 | 5 | Priority |
| Introduction to Legal Principles | 0 | 9 | 5 | Good |
| Civil Law in Business and Professional Services | 0 | 27 | 5 | Good |
| Company and Insolvency Law | 0 | 36 | 5 | Good |
| Criminal Law in Business and Professional Services | 0 | 9 | 5 | Priority |
| Law in the Professional Context | 0 | 9 | 5 | Priority |
| Concepts and Significance of Sustainability | 0 | 9 | 5 | Priority |
| Pillars of Sustainability | 0 | 9 | 5 | Priority |
| Regulation on Sustainability | 0 | 5 | 5 | Good |
| Sustainability in Business | 0 | 13 | 5 | Priority |
| The Professional Accountant in Sustainability | 0 | 9 | 5 | Priority |
| The Concept of Ethics and Its Significance | 0 | 7 | 5 | Priority |
| Ethics and Public Trust | 0 | 13 | 5 | Priority |
| The Fundamental Ethical Principles | 0 | 13 | 5 | Priority |
| Threats and Safeguards | 0 | 5 | 5 | Priority |
| Data Ethics and the Impact of Technology | 0 | 7 | 5 | Priority |
| Tax Objectives, Types and Ethics | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Administration of Taxation | 0 | 23 | 5 | Good |
| Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions | 0 | 26 | 5 | Good |
| Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax | 0 | 16 | 5 | Good |
| Corporation Tax and Company Gains | 0 | 18 | 5 | Good |
| VAT and Stamp Taxes | 0 | 21 | 5 | Good |
How to use this guide
How to study the ACA Certificate Level
Use the current 2025-26 syllabus and exam pages, study every module, practise the relevant objective and scenario formats and keep ethics, sustainability and professional scepticism active across the whole level.
1. Identify the requirement and evidence
Define the entity, transaction, stakeholder, period and exact information supplied or missing.
2. Select the current principle
Use the live ICAEW syllabus rule, formula, legal test, ethical principle or tax table relevant to the module.
3. Apply and challenge
Calculate or analyse in a clear order, test assumptions and use professional scepticism where evidence may be biased.
4. Conclude and communicate
State the accounting, assurance, business, legal, sustainability, ethical or tax effect and the practical next action.
Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability
The 15% syllabus area covering standard setting, the Conceptual Framework, fair presentation, ethics and sustainability reporting.
Key rules
Rule 1
Identify the authority and purpose of UK and international financial reporting requirements.
Exam cue: Define the information, person, entity and requirement relevant to accounting concepts, ethics and sustainability.
Rule 2
Apply qualitative characteristics and Conceptual Framework elements to transactions.
Exam cue: Select the current ICAEW syllabus principle, apply it to the evidence and show any required calculation.
Rule 3
Distinguish accrual, cash and break-up bases and recognise their different information effects.
Exam cue: Check the conclusion for professional scepticism, ethics, sustainability and practical consequences.
Common traps
Treating accounting concepts, ethics and sustainability as a definition list without applying the supplied facts.
Prevention: Do not use a former module name, retired rule, unsupported assumption or answer that ignores evidence quality, ethics, sustainability or timing.
Using a former ACA module label, retired scope or unsupported rule instead of the current syllabus.
Prevention: Do not use a former module name, retired rule, unsupported assumption or answer that ignores evidence quality, ethics, sustainability or timing.
Ignoring an assumption, data limitation, ethical issue, deadline or effect on the financial conclusion.
Prevention: Do not use a former module name, retired rule, unsupported assumption or answer that ignores evidence quality, ethics, sustainability or timing.
Memory anchors
Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability - Scope
Identify the authority and purpose of UK and international financial reporting requirements.
Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability - Rule
Apply qualitative characteristics and Conceptual Framework elements to transactions.
Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability - Method
Distinguish accrual, cash and break-up bases and recognise their different information effects.
Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability - Risk
Recognise ethical threats, bias and fair-presentation issues in preparing financial statements.
Accounting Concepts, Ethics and Sustainability - Action
Explain the role of the ISSB and why sustainability information matters to users.
Next best moves
Quick check-up
Use a short quiz to confirm the rule pattern is actually sticking.
Check-up Questions
Which quality makes information useful when it can influence a user's decision?
A finance director omits a probable legal claim to protect a loan negotiation. Which quality is most directly compromised?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Open another topic next
Official resources
Verify the details with the official sources
Use these links for eligibility, scheduling, handbook rules, and issuer updates. Our guide helps you study; official sources tell you what the testing partner currently requires.
Next Generation ACA Certificate and Professional syllabus 2025-26
Official module aims, assessment methods, specification weights and detailed current learning outcomes.
Certificate Level overview
Official six-exam structure, durations, pass mark and availability within the 14-exam Next Generation ACA.
Accounting Fundamentals
Current two-hour format, syllabus, errata, samples and practice resources.
Assurance and Risk Fundamentals
Current 50-question format, syllabus, samples and practice resources.
Business Insight and Performance
Current objective-plus-scenario format, syllabus, errata and practice resources.
Business Law
Current English-law syllabus, 50-question format and practice resources.
Sustainability and Ethics
Current ten-area syllabus, 50-question format and practice resources.
Tax Fundamentals
Current 42-question format, syllabus, errata, tax scope and practice resources.
Certificate Level exam booking
Current on-demand test-centre and remote-invigilation booking guidance.
Certificate Level permitted texts
Official confirmation that Certificate Level exams have no permitted texts.
ACA transitional arrangements
Official withdrawal date, equivalent-exam mapping and transition rules for former students.
FAQ
Common ICAEW ACA Certificate questions
Is this an official ICAEW study guide?
No. It is an independent resource mapped to ICAEW's current public Next Generation ACA syllabus, Certificate exam pages, booking information and transitional guidance.
Which Certificate Level exams are current?
The current six are Accounting Fundamentals, Assurance and Risk Fundamentals, Business Insight and Performance, Business Law, Sustainability and Ethics, and Tax Fundamentals. All six are represented as sections in this one slug.
Why are there no sections using the former Certificate Level names?
ICAEW withdrew the former Certificate Level exams on 31 March 2026. This guide is for the live Next Generation ACA structure, so former labels, discontinued combinations and retired learning outcomes are excluded rather than presented as current alternatives.
Does an existing student's old pass disappear?
No. ICAEW publishes equivalence and transitional rules so eligible former passes can map to current requirements. That is personal route administration, not a reason to reproduce withdrawn exams as study sections.
Is the former Ethics Learning Programme a seventh current Certificate exam?
No. Sustainability and Ethics is one of the six current Certificate exams. The former Ethics Learning Programme remains relevant only to specified transition cases and is not added as a current section.
How is Accounting Fundamentals assessed?
The two-hour exam has 24 objective questions for 60% and two long-form scenario questions for 40%. The official syllabus identifies a 25-mark company financial-statement preparation question and a 15-mark adjustment question.
How is Business Insight and Performance assessed?
The two-hour exam has 32 objective questions for 80% and one scenario-based question for 20%. The scenario covers one of costing and pricing, budgeting and forecasting, performance management, or management decision-making.
What does Tax Fundamentals include?
It covers objectives and ethics, administration, Income Tax and National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax, Corporation Tax and company gains, VAT and stamp taxes. Use the live ICAEW syllabus, errata and on-screen tax tables for the booked exam.
Can the exams be taken remotely?
ICAEW currently allows Certificate Level exams through a test centre or OnVUE remote invigilation, subject to its booking, identification, system and employer or training-provider requirements.
Does the extra five-minute survey change exam time?
No. For appointments after 1 March 2026 ICAEW adds an optional five-minute survey after the exam. It has its own timer and is not part of the stated 1.5- or 2-hour exam duration.
Why is a full qualification mock disabled?
Certificate Level consists of six independently booked exams with different question counts and scenario weightings. A single generic static mock would misrepresent that structure; use section practice and ICAEW's official practice software for format rehearsal.
Are the 601 allocations official exam weights?
No. ICAEW publishes the percentage specification for each exam, not a 601-item qualification bank. The 601 values are internal coverage-planning allocations that preserve the official relative emphasis within each section.
Do the practice questions reproduce every live exam response format?
No. The bank contains original single-choice questions for knowledge, calculation and scenario practice. It does not reproduce ICAEW questions, recalled content, numeric-entry interactions, multiple-response interactions or the longer Accounting, Business Insight and Tax scenario tasks; use ICAEW's official practice software to rehearse those formats.