As part of an ongoing review of its exam structure The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) announces an alternative method of passing the “Chartered Tax Adviser” (CTA) professional examinations. The CIOT is introducing a credit retention system that will take effect from the next sitting in November 2006. Under the new regime there will be two ways to pass the examination, details of which can be found in the notes. John Cullinane, President of The CIOT, says: "The move to a credit retention system represents a significant opportunity for candidates who do not pass the exams at their first attempt. From this November they will only need to re-sit some rather than all of the papers again.”
Under the new system, a minimum number of marks in each paper will still be required.
John Cullinane adds: “We have not downgraded the qualification and are satisfied that the ‘gold standard’ of our examinations is maintained."
If, after the two-year period, pass marks have not been achieved in all four papers, the candidate will be required to sit all four papers at his or her next attempt, subject to qualifying for an exemption from any paper.
John Beattie, Chairman of the Institute's Examination Review Working Party, says: "The changes we have introduced will be welcomed by candidates and their employers, many of whom were consulted recently as part of our wider review of the examination system and structure."
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For press information contact Lisa Herd on 020 7235 9381. Email lherd@ciot.org.uk
Notes to Editors
Under the new regime there will be two ways to pass the examination:
Method A
Obtaining the pass mark in each of the four papers. The pass mark for Paper I is 55% and is 50% for Papers II, III and IV.
Method B
Obtaining a combined mark of 210 in all four papers with a mark of not less than 55% in Paper I and 45% in Papers II, III and IV.
Candidates will still be required to sit all four papers at the first attempt (unless they qualify for an exemption from any paper) but will be able to carry forward a credit for any papers passed (under Method A). Candidates will then be permitted to re-sit any papers failed in the following two years (four examination sittings) and provided that, within this period, all four papers have been passed (as per the pass mark under Method A above), an overall pass in the CTA exams will be awarded. Candidates may choose to sit any number of failed papers at any one sitting over this two-year period.
For more information on past examination papers please click here –
http://www.tax.org.uk/index.pl?section=38&n=143
In the light of the above, the concept of a referral is abolished with immediate effect. The pass mark for candidates who have referred in previous sittings will become the lower of the mark previously required under the referral system and the pass mark in Method A. Candidates will be given a maximum of four attempts to pass the referred paper in the two years following the sitting in which the referral was given.
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Simon Goldie
