Changes are coming…the CSSA Qualification and Curriculum has been revamped for 2019. There are some significant changes but don’t worry, we are here to walk you through it all.
There are a few reasons for this change.
To allow the qualification to have greater focus on Corporate Governance, Corporate Law, Risk and Compliance and less on pure Accounting.
To bring the qualification more in line with the international equivalents, ensuring your qualification continues to be sought after not only nationally but internationally too.
Let’s take a look at the actual changes and how it impacts you and your studies:
Board Level:
In the past there was only one Board route which consisted of 4 subjects, now you have a choice between 2 routes to a chartered membership; Chartered Secretary and Chartered Governance Professional which now consist of 6 courses. This means that you now have two directions to choose from (but are welcome to do both too).
New to all Programmes as well as Board Level: Workplace Experience
This is completely new to the CSSA Qualifications – from 2019 you will be required to complete the relevant work experience before your Qualification will be granted to you.
Once you have completed Programme 1, 2 and 3 you will have to have workplace experience documents signed by your employer stating that you can confidently fulfil certain job requirements. Existing or previous experience may be used as long as your previous employer can sign off on it.
You will need additional workplace experience documents signed off in order for you to obtain your Board Level qualification/s too.
This has been implemented to ensure that you are not only book smart but can also practically implement what you have learnt within your studies.
We know that with this change you might have questions such as;What if you are already studying an old curriculum subject (that has been discontinued for next year) now and only planned to sit the exam in 2019, can you still sit the exam next year?
No, unfortunately you will not be able to continue with ANY old curriculum subjects but will be awarded credits based on the subjects you have already completed. There are still 17 subjects in total, you will not be required to do any more than that unless you decide to (we’ll show you what we mean further down).
If the above questions is the case, what happens to the study material I have just received but can no longer use?
If you received your study material this year (eg. Economics) and have not yet sat the exam or have not registered to sit the exam this October then SACOB will be in touch with you to arrange collection of the material and to arrange delivery of the subject that it has been replaced by.
What if you are registered to sit certain subjects from the Old Curriculum in October?
It is recommended that you still go and sit the exam, even if the subject has been discontinued for next year as credits will be awarded accordingly.
What if you have completed some subjects on the old curriculum but not all of them yet?
Each student will be transitioned on to the new curriculum individually which means CSSA will tell you exactly where you need to pick up from. We will be here every step of the way though and will call you directly to chat over how these changes will impact you.
Who grants the credits and will tell you where you fit within the new curriculum?
We will do our very best to help but unfortunately it all comes down to the CSSA themselves. Once we have chatted to you we will submit your details through to the CSSA who will then confirm which credits you have and which subjects you still have to complete based on the new curriculum.
CSSA will be looking at each student individually so we will need to bear with them as the response might not be instant. We will handle as much as the admin as we can for you though.
Please confirm your CSSA Student Number by replying to this email so we can confirm with CSSA regarding your remaining subjects.
If you have any other questions please feel free to drop us an email or give us a call, we are here to help make this transition as easy as possible.
Please keep a look out for any additional emails regarding this as well as any calls from us.