More about Exemptions:

Exemptions are granted to students in order to prevent them from needing to study the same work twice in situations where they have fairly recently obtained other qualifications that are relevant and/or similar to the one which they want to attempt next. Exemptions also shorten the time that it takes to obtain further qualifications in a similar field. A fee will usually be charged for each exemption that is granted to a student, and this fee will usually be the same as the exam fee that is payable for the particular subject.

CIMA offers exemptions to students with ACCA qualifications, and ACCA offers exemptions to students who have obtained CIMA qualifications. Once students have registered with either ACCA or CIMA, they need to apply for the exemptions for which they are eligible. Once an exemption has been granted, the student can choose whether to accept the exemption or not.

Students are advised to give careful consideration to whether they want to accept an exemption or not, and should be completely sure that they would be capable of passing the relevant exams before they accept the exemption. The reason for this is that the work covered in the higher level exam papers is usually based on the work covered in the previous papers.

From ACCA to CIMA:

• If you have completed your ACCA qualification, you are eligible for gaining entry to the CIMA Professional Qualification through the Professional Gateway route.

• To gain entry through this route, students can apply to CIMA to complete the gateway assessment. This assessment is based on the syllabus of the Management Level of the CIMA Professional Qualification.

• If you pass the gateway assessment, you will be granted 11 exemptions from the CIMA Professional Qualification, and will be able to enter the Qualification at the Strategic Level (Level 3). You can then write papers E3, F3 and P3.

From CIMA to ACCA:

• As from 1 January 2012, CIMA members can no longer obtain direct membership of ACCA on the basis of their CIMA qualifications.

• ACCA does not award any exemptions at the Professional Level. This is to ensure that there is uniformity and that the high standards and integrity of the qualification are maintained.

• You can be granted exemption from a maximum of 9 of the 14 papers of the ACCA qualification.

• Which papers you can be exempted from will depend on which of the CIMA papers you have passed. For example, if you have passed P1 (Performance Operations) of CIMA, you are eligible for exemption from F2 (Management Accounting) of ACCA.

• For more information about exemptions granted by ACCA, click here

CIMA | CIMA Exemption

Last updated: December 13th, 2016