The CTA qualification is transforming—here’s what’s changing and how you can help

The proposed changes to our CTA qualification¹ aim to modernise the qualification so that it remains relevant to the market and fit for the future, while at the same time retaining the high academic quality and standards expected by our stakeholders.

To facilitate this, we are conducting a 12-week consulation², open from 7 April 2025 to 30 June 2025 and are seeking input from students, prospective students, members, employers and other stakeholders. This consultation outlines our proposals for the CTA qualification and introduces a Professional Skills and Competencies Framework, which defines the skills and competencies expected of a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser.

This follows the commissioning of a review by the CIOT Council in the autumn of 2023, aimed at determining how the CTA qualification should evolve to meet future needs, considering what the tax profession may look like in the next ten years.

CIOT President, Charlotte Barbour, said:

“Being a Chartered Tax Adviser is an exciting, if challenging, profession. It requires both breadth and depth of tax knowledge, experience and relevant skills. Over time, the required tax knowledge changes and expands with annual fiscal events and developing case law. The requisite skills also change, for example, developing technological capability is now vital in the UK economy especially as Making Tax Digital and accounting systems become a more important part of compliance across taxes. To remain relevant and robust the CTA qualification must keep pace with these changes”.

Key proposals under consideration include:

• To restructure the qualification over three academic levels (from the equivalent of Level 5 to Level 7).³
• To introduce a skills-based paper at the equivalent of Level 6, designed to develop students’ ability to apply tax knowledge in practical situations prior to the final Level 7 equivalent skills assessment.
• To provide a clear statement of requirements for each stage of the qualification, setting out the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for each module alongside the detailed syllabus requirements, to improve transparency in the CTA assessment process.
• To introduce a statement of Professional Skills and Competencies. This statement will ensure that clients and those who rely on the CTA designation are clear about what can be expected from a qualified CTA.

Once the consultation closes, we will analyse responses and continue to refine the new qualification with a view to publication of the final handbook and syllabus in December 2025. Sample assessment materials, transitional arrangements and exemptions will follow in the first quarter of 2026 with the first delivery of the new qualification expected to commence in September 2027 and the first assessments in May 2028.

Charlotte Barbour concluded:

“Your feedback is invaluable in helping us modernise the CTA qualification. We appreciate that time is precious and welcome all responses, however short or detailed.⁴”

Notes for Editors

1 - The CTA qualification sets the academic entry requirements for admission as a Member of the Institute. Successful CTA candidates are able to apply to become Members if they can also demonstrate the Institute’s other eligibility requirements.

2 – The consultation can be found on the CIOT website.

3 – The CTA qualification is not regulated by Ofqual. It aims to deliver an equivalent level of qualification to Ofqual’s Level 7 definition. Level descriptors from Ofqual’s Regulated Qualifications’ Framework can be found here. For comparison, note that A-levels are set at Level 3 and a Bachelor’s degree is Level 6. Note that Scotland follows the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, which uses a different grading structure – a bachelor’s degree under the SCQF is their Level 9.

4 – Responses to the consultation can be emailed to [email protected]. We would appreciate it if detailed responses could be submitted via our online form, to assist with ease of analysis.