FAQS

• ICA Certificates: suitable for those with no prior experience or looking to upskill.
  
  
• ICA Specialist Certificates: designed for anyone wanting a focused yet accessible knowledge in specific areas of risk.
  
  
• ICA Advanced Certificates: for those already working in this space at analyst level as well as managers working in the first line of defence.
  
  
• ICA Diplomas: designed for managers with existing experience who want to enhance their skillset to the next level.
  
  
• ICA Professional Postgraduate Diplomas: expert level courses for those in senior roles such as Heads of Compliance and AML, with over ten years' experience.

All designations are available on the ICA website via the following link:-

http://www.int-comp.org/membership/benefits-of-ica-membership/membership-designations/

If you are studying in a jurisdiction where we run workshops or you are on an in-house course then there will be elements of the workshops that relate to your jurisdiction.

The international online learning courses are not jurisdiction specific – by design they reference a number of globally significant jurisdictions and/or use various examples from around the world to underpin a particular piece of content. The AML programmes in particular also recognise the parts played and the impacts made by international applicable bodies (like FATF) and policies within the global framework.

Part of the wider research and reading for the International Diploma will be to investigate the specifics of how the subject matter and concepts covered are embedded & applied in a student’s home jurisdiction. This is commonly reflected in the assessment questions, as you will find you are asked as an international student to respond based on ‘a jurisdiction of your choice…’

We do not exempt you from any part of the course based on other qualifications that you hold. However, if you can demonstrate sufficient experience then you may be approved for the 'exam only' route.  It should be noted however the assignments allow students the opportunity to achieve up to 50% of their final mark outside the exam environment, and also embed knowledge / necessitate wider reading (also helpful for the final assessment) so the decision to study by exam-only needs to be carefully considered.

In order to apply for this route you would need to send us a CV which will be passed to the relevant Course Director to approve.

Some universities may recognise ICA qualifications and provide exemptions on some of their courses accordingly e.g. London Metropolitan University provides exemptions on their International MSc in Banking & Compliance for holders of the ICA Diploma in Compliance.

The University of Law requires entrants to its MSc in Law, Governance, Risk and Compliance to already hold the ICA Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance.

You will need to contact your university/college of choice to ask them about this kind of arrangement and if there is not one already in place, we are happy to provide them with supporting information. Exemptions from courses are based upon the level of the course and the content of the modules.

All ICA qualifications can be studied by online learning wherever you are in the world. The Certificate are delivered fully online anyway. For Advanced Certificate and Diploma courses, you will be provided with additional online materials including recorded webinars and a workbook which contains useful exercises and relevant case study examples.  You will also benefit from interactive virtual classrooms covering some of the key workshop content.

We recommend three month's study time for each assignment and for your exam –  effectively making the Advanced Certificate course about 6 months long and a Diploma course 9 months long. As assignment due dates and exam dates are only on set dates of the year, the duration of your course may vary slightly from this 6/9 months timescale.

We will arrange a venue for your exam which will be relatively local to where you live. Wherever possible this will be the nearest British Council or a local centre of learning such as a university.

ICA qualifications are recognised, benchmarked qualifications used by regulators, education authorities and services as evidence of competence and ‘fitness and properness’ to undertake compliance roles.

ICA qualifications are awarded at Certificate level (assessed at level 2), Advanced Certificate level (assessed at level 4), Diploma level (assessed at level 6) and Professional Post Graduate level programmes (assessed at level 7).

The Certificate level qualifications align with benchmarks established for the UK’s National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The qualifications at levels 4 - 7 align with benchmarks established by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), which are mapped in accordance with the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

All qualifications are quality assured through and awarded in association with Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester University of Manchester.

Visit http://www.int-comp.org/quality for more information on accreditation and recognition including a list of regulators who recommend the qualifications.

There are opportunities out there in compliance, anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention at the moment but there are also an increased number of people taking an interest in this field as the profile and image of these careers has developed. Experience is undoubtedly important, so you need to keep an eye out for opportunities to develop and not to be afraid of the odd knock-back.

Qualifications will help you. If you can demonstrate your desire to enhance your subject knowledge & progress your career, this will shine through on your CV, meaning you stand out compared to other non-qualified applicants. It also means that when you get to an interview stage, you will have the understanding of the key topics and be able to talk about them lucidly which is a good way to impress.

If you don’t have any experience, you generally need to tailor your CV to focus on transferable skills and make the most of the knowledge you have gained through your qualification – keep up to date with case studies, regulatory changes etc and then even though you can’t speak from ‘experience’ you can demonstrate you understand the environment and show you are keen to put that understanding to good use.

Other useful links:

Career in compliance

Career in AML

Career in financial crime prevention

Will an ICA qualification help me get a job?

Check out this blog :- 5 reasons why your employer should sponsor you to do an ICA qualification

We offer an interest free instalment plan for Professional Postgraduate Diploma, Diplomas and Advanced Certificates to make the cost more manageable.

The course fee can be divided over four payments for the Advanced Certificate level, eight payments for the Diploma level and ten payments for the Postgraduate level.

Please note that if payments are late or bounce, an admin fee may be incurred.

Payment can be made by credit card, bankers draft/cheque or via a wire transfer (bank details available on request). We are happy to take credit card details over the phone if for security reasons you would prefer not to send them electronically or in the post.

We advise that you enrol as early as possible so you have enough time to study before the first workshop (if these are available in your jurisdiction) however we will still accept enrolments up until the first workshop.

Course fees stated exclude VAT or local tax, this will be added to your basket at the checkout if applicable. 

If you are funding the course yourself, we offer an interest free instalment plan of four equal monthly payments.

If you are an ICA professional member you will get a 10% discount on all qualifications.

If you are a Fellow you will get 15% discount on all qualifications.

The availability of funding varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Funding is available in some jurisdictions for programmes of study leading to ICA qualifications. Examples are given below that illustrate where funding is available.

Students enrolled on to Advanced Certificate, Diploma or Professional Postgraduate programmes are eligible to apply for an NUS card.  Email icainfo@int-comp.org for your voucher code.

We will happily replace a lost certificate for a charge of £50.

When you select your course on the learning platform you will find a menu item called Workshop Preparation. This will give you an indication of which modules will be covered within each workshop. It is strongly recommended that you review the topics to be covered so that you get the most out of the workshop. 

Dress code for workshops is smart/casual. 

Workshops always start at 9.30am to allow people to travel to the venue.  If it is a full day workshop, it will finish at 4.30pm with about an hour for lunch, where food will be provided.

A copy of the handouts will be emailed to you following on from the workshop and if anything is unclear or you would like to discuss any particular points you can contact us to arrange to speak to you tutor.

There are a few ways to get help with your studies:- 

• You can email the admin team at icainfo@int-comp.org with any queries and we will ask a tutor to respond by phone or email.
• you could join the ICT Network and Study Group on LinkedIn where you can be put in touch with other students on your course and from all over the world: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4246170

You can also join the ICA LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=122458

You can also take a look at some of our blogs for some general guidance :-

Writing Assignments - Top 5 Tips

How to Write a Better Assignment or Exam

Dave's Top 5 Exam Tips

Getting around to Study

How to get the best out of the learning platform

Interpreting ICA assignment feedback

We always recommend wider reading as this will improve your understanding of the subject area and allow you to gain higher marks in your assessments.

Follow ICA and ICT on twitter https://twitter.com/intcompassoc https://twitter.com/ictcompliance and join our LinkedIn groups for updates on current industry news

ICT Network and Study Group on LinkedIn   http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4246170

ICA LinkedIn group:   http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=122458

Other great resources are available once you have signed up for Affiliate Membership. If you log into the ICA membership area - https://www.int-comp.org/my-membership/membership-home/ there are a number of resources available to you including the Knowledge hub which contains information regarding important International Legislation and also links to some of the regulators.

We do our best to keep these links up to date but if you do come across a broken link that we have overlooked, please email us to correct it.

If you have any queries about the technical content of your course materials, please email icainfo@int-comp.org and the team will forward your email to the relevant tutor for them to respond.

We recommend an average of 3-6 hours per week study time depending on experience; this is assuming 3 months for Certificate and Specialist Certificate courses.

We recommend an average of 6-8 hours a week study time depending on experience; this is assuming 6 months for Advanced Certificate courses and 9-12 months for Diplomas and Professional Postgraduate Diplomas.

This is an average and you should plan to increase the amount of study time around assignment and exam times.

If you are unable to continue with your studies due to mitigating circumstances you will be able to defer to another cohort to complete your studies.  A deferral fee may be charged see Terms of Business.

Once you have received your exam results, you will be eligible to be upgraded to the next membership level. You will not be automatically upgraded so you will need to apply to upgrade here https://www.int-comp.org/upgrade

Contact Membership at membership@int-comp.org if you have any questions regarding upgrades.

We have five different levels of individual membership. Whether you are just starting out in your career, have gained an ICA professional qualification or are an experienced practitioner, there is a level appropriate for you. Apply here https://www.int-comp.org/become-a-member

Membership of ICA is compulsory for anybody wishing to study towards an ICA certification or qualification.

Once you have received your exam results, you will be eligible to be upgraded to the next membership level. You can apply to upgrade here https://www.int-comp.org/upgrade

Contact Membership at membership@int-comp.org if you have any questions regarding upgrades.

No. Please click here for further information. 

All application forms need to be submitted via the online form. 

Yes, please refer to the Membership fees page for the two and three-year fees.  

We do request that the relevant fee is sent via the online application form. A receipted invoice will be provided.  The majority of members will pay the fee by card and claim it back through their expenses process, however, you must check this with your employer.

If you have any questions about employer-funded membership please contact membership@int-comp.org

The following details will be shown in the member directory. These settings are editable in your profile area where you can reduce the details that appear or opt-out of being displayed in the member directory entirely:

Name
Job Title
Employer
Work Address
Email
Jurisdiction
Telephone number

CPD is continuing professional development. We require members to complete a minimum of 35 hours per membership year. There are many ways you can gain CPD. As an ICA member you have access to a wide range of articles, publications, videos and a library of online learning (that are regularly updated) making it easy to keep up to date with latest developments and initiatives. The ICA CPD learning centre is designed in a way that allows each person to individually filter their view of the content based on their area of interest.

It also provides general and jurisdiction specific technical learning as well as a huge menu of soft skills learning that can support their wider responsibilities - all in bitesized pieces.

View sample CPD content ►  

This level of membership is:

• for those who have completed an ICA Professional Postgraduate Diploma qualification;
• for those who have been a Professional Member (MICA) for five consecutive years and have circa 10 years of practical experience at a senior level;
• for those who qualify for the experiential Fellow route.
  

Please click here for further details. 

Check that you are accessing the right website: https://learning.int-comp.com/login/

Your username is the email address you enrolled with and the password is set to “Password01”.  You will be asked to change your password after first enrolment.

The log in details are case sensitive.

You can change your password on the learning platform in “My home”  “Edit Profile” or if you forget your password you will need to click on the ‘forgotten password’ link under the login box to reset your password.

All course materials are delivered via our online learning platform. The course materials will be available at the course commencement date contained within your booking confirmation.

You can access the learning platform on your smart phone, tablet or laptop, or download the whole manual as a pdf to read at your leisure. You can of course print the course manual too if you wish.

We can provide hard copy of the course manual.  The fees are as follows:

• £100 (+ VAT if applicable) for Diplomas
• £75 (+ VAT if applicable) for Advanced Certificates
• £50 (+ VAT if applicable) for Certificates

If you should wish to purchase a manual, please contact icainfo@int-comp.org.

Your assignment due dates are listed in your welcome email.

Your assignment questions will be available on the learning platform on, or shortly after the course commencement.

You click on the ‘Assignment Submission’ tab and the assignments will be listed in order of submission – there is a sentence saying ‘Please click here to download the question’ – this is where you can access your question.

As part of the support provided to students to prepare for their assessment, specimen exam papers are provided via the Learning Platform. Typically, each cohort will be provided with one specimen exam paper.

Students are advised to review the specimen paper prior to their last scheduled workshop or virtual classroom session, where time will be spent on exam preparation.

The specimen papers are provided to give students a feel for how questions may be posed in the exam and to allow opportunity to approach questions with tutor guidance in order to understand what is required to answer different types of question (e.g. identify versus evaluate) so that students are prepared to answer any question that may be posed in the exam.

To benchmark progress, students are also provided with specimen papers that include examiners’ comments, which they are advised to review once the specimen paper has been attempted.

Further guidance will be provided by tutors during face to face workshops or during virtual classroom sessions and students can also raise questions over the Learning Platform.

On the learning platform you can access all of the material that relates to your course. Self-assessment questions are available at the end of each module.

The self-assessment questions are there for you to familiarise yourself with the questions and for practice. Once you submit your answers, the suggested response will appear. This will allow you to compare the response you submitted with that which has been suggested. The questions are not marked are not recorded by ICA.

Providing model answers is sometimes seen as a way of supporting students however we feel that it may lead to too many students replicating the type of answer and may stifle students’ individual responses.

We know that it is important to support students and make it clear what is expected in the assessment, and to that end we provide past papers with the marking guidance so that students could see how a question should be answered. We also provide clear guidance on how assignments should be referenced and structured so that it is clear on what our expectations are.

Our qualifications are bench marked at university level, and it is not standard practice for universities to provide model answers.

We have large numbers of students from all over the world studying ICA qualifications and for many of them, English is not their first language. However, for quality assurance purposes across jurisdictions we do require that all assessment (assignments and/or examinations) are written in English.

We ask at application stage that you evidence a good competency of written English language.

ICA students must use the footnote referencing system.

The Assessment Handbook (Section 2.5) provides lots of further guidance on referencing you and provides examples on how references should be written for the different types of sources.

Sometimes circumstances or events beyond your control may adversely affect your ability to perform in an assessment to your full potential or to complete an assignment by the stated deadline. In such cases mitigation may be applied, i.e. treating marks or results in a way that acknowledges the adverse impact that may have resulted from those circumstances or events, or waiving penalties that would arise from late submission.

Have a look at section 1.8 of the Assessment Handbook which provides details on what does and does not qualify as mitigating circumstances and how you can apply for it.

When setting out your assignment You should include your user ID number and jurisdiction in the header of your assignment.

Do not include your name (as all marking is anonymous) and you should not include the question within your assignment.

Your submission is not deemed final until after the submission deadline however the submission portal does not give you the option to resubmit an assignment or remove a submission.

If you need to submit a different version of your assignment (and the deadline has not yet passed) you should email the ICA Assessment team (icaassessments@ica.org.uk) to explain what has happened and they can delete it on your behalf.

All ICA assignments have been written to reflect where students are on their study journey at the point at which they submit them. So, for example Assignment 1 will focus mainly on what has been covered in the first workshop or virtual classroom.  The learning platform will provide you with information on the study journey and on which topics and parts of the course manual will be covered in the different workshops.

However, we strongly recommend that candidates skim read the entire course manual in order to familiarise yourself with the full content of the course before attempting any assignments as there may be content from later in the study journey that you could use in your assignment.

All assignment questions must be submitted by email by midnight local time. For example, if the due date is 0.00 5th August this means you have until midnight on Monday 5th August to submit your assignment.

Assignments should be submitted via the learning platform. You will note when you download the assignment question that there is a tab in the assignment area of the learning platform called ‘Submit Paper’. Within this tab you can attach your assignment and submit it to ICA.

You should submit one WORD document only and it should be less than 5MB otherwise it will not be accepted.

Once you have submitted your assignment, you will be able to go to the ‘My Submissions’ tab and this will have a confirmation message with the date and time of your submission.

If you are unable to submit your assignment on time and have mitigating circumstances you may be able to apply for an extension of two weeks.

There is information in the Assessment Handbook that outlines the consequences of a late submission (section 2.2.7) and the process for applying for an extension (Section 2.3).

For Diploma assignments 1 and 2 and Advanced Certificate assignment 1 ICA operates a seven-week marking timeframe for assignments results. The results will be available by the end of the seventh week after the submission date.

ICA operates a ten-week marking timeframe for final assignments (assignment 3 for Diploma and 2 for Advanced Certificate) and final grades. The longer time for final results is due to the time needed for our quality assurance processes, which includes the review by the External Examiner and holding an Assessment Board to confirm the final awards.

ICA operates a ten-week marking timeframe for examinations and final awards.

For each assignment ICA will provide you with a generic report which provides an overall summary of some of the key points and issues that candidates could have included in their assignment.

You will also receive individual feedback that you should read in conjunction with the generic feedback. The feedback will cover both the content and presentation of your assignment.

The feedback has been written to help you understand why you have received the mark awarded, and to help you prepare for future assignments by providing examples on how it might have been improved.

If you read this blog - Interpreting ICA assignment feedback this will help you to understand the feedback and use it as a tool to improve your mark, either in your next assignment.

Don't panic! You will be offered the opportunity to resubmit and you will also receive useful feedback from the examiner about how you can improve as well as generic feedback in the Chief Examiner's report. Just get in touch and we will tell you what your next steps are.

There is more information in the Assessment Handbook (section 1.7) on resitting assessment.

It would be possible for cheating to take place if somebody was really determined to do so. But there is considerable context around this. I’ll elaborate…

In terms of the Online Certificates for specific subjects, the course is designed to be relatively narrow in breadth but diving into the subject in some depth. It is a self-contained course, intended to impart the specialist knowledge and be particularly suitable to meet CPD needs. The learning is then assessed by an online multiple-choice test, which draws from a broader selection of MCQs, so the test is not the same every time. The final test can be sat at a time/location of your choosing within the designated study period. (If your employer is paying for the qualification, it may be that they ask you to sit it at work and invigilate, but that is not a stipulation of ICA). 

Certificates contain the following in the Course Guide section:

The final MCQ assessment, although non-invigilated, is a closed book assessment – you are NOT permitted to refer to study materials or any other aid. This is recognised by student’s confirmation of their understanding of, and adherence to, the Honour Code declaration.

Before you proceed to the assessment, you will be asked to confirm your understanding and completion of the study material, as well as your adherence to an Honour Code, as follows:

‘I confirm I have read and understood the all course materials provided and I am ready to complete the assessment.

I understand the following assessment is to be completed by me alone and operates under the "closed-book" system – no support or reference materials are permitted to be used during the course of the assessment. I confirm I will adhere to this instruction’.

ICA follows the system utilised by Universities. This is from where the Honour Code derives.

What really underpins all this is trust and personal professionalism. As the vast majority of our students are professionals (from financial services and beyond) we work on the basis that they would apply this integrity to qualifications and continuous professional development. This is something which is reflected in the ICA Code of Ethics, which applies to ICA members and registered students: http://www.int-comp.org/attachments/ICA-Membership-Brochure.pdf

From another perspective, having someone else complete the assessment for you would be a double-edged sword. If you then were put on the spot about the knowledge which underpins your stated qualification, but couldn’t demonstrate it, the certificate itself would be of little value. At this level, as with others, the certification element is really designed to demonstrate you have read, but more importantly, understood, the subject matter.

At the risk of using an old school phrase, it is true to say that ‘the only person you’d be cheating is yourself’.

If you are an online learner, the exam can be taken online at any time during the three months that you have access to the materials.

If a workshop is available in your jurisdiction, the workshops are intended to be refresher days to give you opportunity to learn in a different format and to answer any questions that may have arisen during your study. The workshops are usually held about half way through your course. You will then have until the end of your three-month enrolment to sit your exam.

Your enrolment expiry will be displayed on the right-hand side of your learning platform. 

ICA Certificates
90% + - Distinction
80-89% - Merit
70-79% - Pass
69% or below – Fail

Diplomas and Advanced Certificates
70% + - Distinction
60 -69% - Merit
50 -59% - Pass
49% or below – Fail

For Diplomas and Advanced Certificates you must score at least 40% in each individual piece of assessment.

The Assessment Handbook is available on your learning platform in the “Student Support” area.

The Assessment Handbook is available on your learning platform in the “Assessment Resources” area.