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Responding to COVID-19: insight, support and guidance

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CIPFA Exams

CIPFA runs four exam sessions a year to accommodate the needs of our growing student network.

Students can choose to sit their exams at home with the aid of an online invigilator, or at their place of work with a nominated member of staff invigilating their exam.

For further information on sitting your exam with CIPFA, including exam dates, booking deadlines and applying for special arrangements, please follow the guidance outlined below.

March 2021 exams

CIPFA venues will remain closed for the March 2021 exams session. 

Students can sit their CIPFA online exams with remote (flexible location) or local  (usually workplace) invigilator.

Talk to us

Telephone: 020 7543 5600

Email: StudentSupport@cipfa.org


Access your Calibrand account  

What are online (remote) exams?

To deliver our exams and practice tests, CIPFA have partnered with online assessment platform Calibrand to create CIPFA Assessment.

Students sit their exams at home or their place of work and are invigilated by ProctorU.

Find out more  

How are local exams invigilated?

Local exams are taken on the student's computer and are sat at the student's place of work.

These are invigilated by a member of staff at the student's place of work.


Find out more  

How do I practice?

Practice is the key to exam success. At CIPFA we give our students a unique opportunity to hone your exam skills by using our LIVE exam system with practice tests of exam standard questions.

CIPFA does not publish past exam papers.

Find out more  

Exam dates

Exam dates for the 2021 exam sessions are available for download:

For further dates in the CIPFA calendar, please visit Key Dates.

 

 

Book your exam

Online bookings for the March session 2021 exams session will open on 18 January.

Bookings made after Friday 29 January will be subject to late fees:

Dates Late fees 
29 January - 5 February  £75 
Thereafter £225

2021 exam sessions

Sittings Exam week
 March  1 - 5 March
 June  7 - 11 June
 September  6 - 10 September
 December  6 - 10 December

Special arrangements

Students with special needs may be eligible for pre-examination adjustments. Special arrangements allow students with learning, physical, social and health needs to sit our exams with reasonable modifications. Applications for the March session are now open.  Please submit your application by 29 January.

 

Apply now

 

Deferrals 

Students looking to cancel their exams will have to formally apply for a deferral. CIPFA will only consider deferrals that fall under the following categories:

  • medical
  • bereavement
  • local emergency.

 

Applications for the March session will open on 1 February 2021.


 

Special considerations

If you experienced technical difficulties during your exam, you may wish to apply for special considerations. To apply, please provide a brief overview of the issues you encountered with evidence where possible. 

Applications for the March session will open on 1 March 2021.

 

 


 

Advance Material 

SCS Advance Material for the March 2021 exams session will be available on 2 February 2021.

Strategic Public Finance (SPF)

Past papers from previous SPF exams are available for download:

SPF March 2020

SPF December 2019

SPF September 2019

Strategic Case Study (SCS)

Past papers from previous SCS exams are available for download:

SCS June 2020

SCS March 2020

SCS December 2019

SCS September 2019

Results days

Exam session Results published 
 December 2020  15 January 2021
 March 2021   9 April 2021
 June 2021  18 July 2021
 September 2021   5 October 2021
 December 2021  21 January 2022

 

Access your results

Your December exam results will be published on Friday 15 January.

To view your marks, please select My Latest Results in My Qualification, or click Feedback & Results in CIPFA Assessment (Calibrand). 

If you would like to share your results with your employer, you can do so by adding your manager as an Exam Contact in My Qualification.

 

Previous exam results

CIPFA no longer provides successful candidates reports.
You can view previous pass rates on the link below:

View our pass rates


Appeals 

Appeals for December 2020 results will be open on 15 January 2021.

You may appeal against your exam result within 10 working days of receiving your results if you believe: 

  • There is evidence of bias, prejudice or discrimination as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. 
  • New evidence exists of extenuating circumstances which, for valid reasons, the student could not disclose to CIPFA in line with the published timetable for special considerations applications. 
  • There is evidence of a substantial procedural irregularity with respect to an aspect of the conduct of the exams and/or determination of results. 
Appeals based on any other grounds will be rejected.

The closing date for applications is Friday 29 January 2021.
 

How to apply

  1. Download and read CIPFA's 'assessment appeals policy'.
  2. Send an email to Head of Student Services requesting to appeal, including details of your case.
  3. Once your case has been approved by the Head of Student Services, you will be asked to download the 'Appeals application form' and;
  4. Make a payment of £75. Do this by clicking 'Appeal your exam result'.

If you have any questions, please contact studentsupport@cipfa.org

Please confirm that you took each of these precautions prior to sitting your Live Exam:

  • Sat your Live Exam using Google Chrome Browser
  • Ensure that you were using the latest version of Google Chrome
  • Sat and completed the complimentary CIPFA technical test (remote invigilation only)
  • Ensure ProctorU is whitelisted by your internet provider, as instructed in your Candidate Admissions mailing.
    • Specifically for Candidates with TalkTalk and Virgin Media (online invigilation only).

  Assessment appeals policy  (pdf, 169 KB)

  Application appeals form  (doc, 62 KB)

Student regulations

Read our student regulations.

  PQ student regulations  (docx, 784 KB)

Assessment regulations

Download our assessment regulations.

  Assessment regulations  (docx, 784 KB)

Every year CIPFA recognises our best performing students and celebrates their achievements in a formal ceremony at our Student Conference.

Arthur Collins Memorial Medal 

Is awarded for achieving the highest combined marks in:

  • Strategic Case Study (SCS) 
  • Strategic Public Finance (SPF)

Richard Emmott Memorial Prize

Is awarded for achieving the highest marks in:

  • Strategic Case Study (SCS)

Eric Gilliland Memorial Prize

Is awarded for achieving the highest marks in:

  • Strategic Public Finance (SPF)