The CIMA qualification

CIMA is quite unlike other accounting or financial qualifications. Its scope extends far beyond pure accountancy and even most management training courses. It is a complete education for business in the twenty-first century. And it is recognised and valued the world over.

By completing the CIMA Professional Chartered Management Accounting qualification you will show to employers that your skills set is far greater than number crunching alone. You will have developed key decision making, management, strategic and analytical skills.

Year after year, the world’s most prestigious employers put CIMA at the top of their list of preferred business qualifications. CIMA will be your passport to career success in any field you choose: commerce, financial services, consultancy, government, the public sector, or manufacturing.

By becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), you will attain the world’s most prestigious qualification for strategic and financial management. It is your true global currency.

The CIMA qualifications are open to everyone. Your entry level will depend upon your previous experience. The syllabus builds step by step and you will develop your knowledge and skills as you progress through the qualifications.

CIMA qualifications are similar in standard to undergraduate and postgraduate studies. You will need a good standard of maths and be competent in the English language before you start.

Relevant educational backgrounds

If you’ve already studied a relevant qualification - such as a degree or a professional qualification in accounting or business subjects – you may not need to sit all of CIMA exams. In these cases you may be awarded exemptions from selected CIMA papers.

To become a CIMA student you need to complete CIMA's online registration process and send certified copies of your highest level educational certificates and transcripts to CIMA- details of the subjects you have studied and the marks you achieved. To certify the copies of your certificates and transcripts you will need to get a responsible person – such as your manager or a lecturer - to sign them as true copies of the originals. All certified certificates and transcripts must be in English. Please do not send original documents as CIMA cannot guarantee that these will be returned to you.

Before sending your certified copies of your certificates and transcripts, please make sure that you have read CIMA's guidelines (New window; PDF 494KB) for sending to CIMA your educational documents.

Once CIMA received certified copies of your certificates and transcripts they will contact you with details of any exemptions awarded. You will also be able to view these on line when you log into MY CIMA [New window]

CIMA strongly recommend that you wait until you have received written confirmation of your exemptions before you sign up for a CIMA study course. If you do sign up for a course before receiving this confirmation - and you then learn that you are exempt from this subject - CIMA will not accept liability for any course fees. If you are expecting exemptions and it has been over 20 days since you sent your certified certificates and transcripts, please email or call CIMA Contact.

You can cancel your student membership within three months and CIMA will refund your subscription fee, CIMA will however retain the registration fee.

Non-relevant educational backgrounds

If you do not have any relevant qualifications you can still study for the CIMA qualifications. A significant percentage of CIMA students have not studied relevant qualifications. Many employers welcome students from a wide range of academic backgrounds and following a structured professional programme will ensure that you develop the skills required to succeed.

The entry requirement for the CIMA Professional Qualification is the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting. Completing the CIMA Certificate will allow you to progress to the Professional Qualification and further develop your career. The Certificate is assessed by Computer Based Assessment (CBA) and allows you to progress at your own rate.

You can also enter between 15-21 March or 15-21 September, during which period you will automatically be charged a late entry fee of £182. This fee is in addition to the standard exam entry fee.

Exemptions

If your qualification is listed on CIMA's web database of accredited decisions - and you qualified during the years stated and took any required modules - you will see which CIMA papers you will be exempt from. All qualifications listed on this database have been accredited by CIMA.

The appropriate exemptions are awarded based on comprehensive information provided by the awarding institution. Accreditation applications are only accepted from the awarding institution and not from individual students.

• Students are not able to apply for additional exemptions for an accredited decision.
• Accredited decisions are based on the most recently validated programme on offer by the institution and will not be backdated.

You can search the database by your educational, institutional or professional body, or by the country in which you studied.

Please note:

• From 2 October 2006 any exemptions awarded for the Certificate level subjects will be from the 2006 Certificate syllabus only.
• All current accredited decisons gaining Certificate level exemptions will be transferred to the new 2006 Certificate level syllabus. All such decisions will be honoured until the end of the accreditation period.
• All current accredited decisions gaining Certificate level exemptions will be transferred to the new 2006 Certificate level syllabus. All such decisions will be honoured until the end of the accreditation period.
• Exemptions are a concession and are only awarded at the discretion of CIMA.
• CIMA strongly recommend that you wait until you have received written confirmation of your exemptions before you sign up for a CIMA study course. If you do sign up for a course before receiving this confirmation - and then learn that you are exempt from this subject - CIMA will not accept liability for any course fees. If you are expecting exemptions and it has been over 20 days since you sent your certified copies of certificates and transcripts, please email or call CIMA Contact.
• CIMA do not give exemptions beyond the Certificate level for qualifications gained 10 (or more) years prior to registering with CIMA.

Click here to check the CIMA exemptions data base.

Certificate Level (C01 to C05)

Professional Level (E1 to TOPCIMA)

CMGA

CPGA & CGA