Revised standard on the assessment of professional competence
19 Nov 2012
The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) has released a revised International Education Standard (IES) on the how professional competence of an aspiring professional accountant should be assessed.
The new standard, IES 6 Initial Professional Development—Assessment of Professional Competence (link to IFAC website), prescribes:
- A principles-based approach, specifying the requirements for the assessment of professional competence by the end of Initial Professional Development (IPD)
- Principles for individual assessment activities used by member bodies to assess professional competence
- A requirement that IFAC member bodies formally assess the achievement of competence of aspiring professional accountants prior to their admission to the profession.
A key change from the exposure draft issued in April 2011 is that IES 6 reflects that assessment principles should only apply in initial professional development to ensure the attainment of professional competence, so distinguishing it from continuing professional development.
The revised IES 6 is designed to assist IFAC member bodies and other professional accountancy organisations understand the learning and development requirements for assessing professional competence, and their obligations in upholding the standards.
IES 6 is a result of the IAESB's project to revise all eight IES based on new clarity drafting principles, and is effective from 1 July 2015.
Click for press release (link to IFAC website).