John O’Callaghan, chairman of the FAE Committee discusses the 2018 FAE results and offers valuable advice for prospective candidates.

Competency statement (applicable for students sitting summer 2020)

Exam enrolment for FAE

Students on an educational program for FAE will automatically be enrolled for their first sitting of their FAE exams.  Students sitting for their first attempt at FAE must sit in the main summer sitting.

Students needing to repeat an exam at FAE will need to enrol on the exam through our website.

Students need to be aware that late exam enrolments are not permitted once the closing date for exam entry has passed.

Assessment at FAE

This examination completes the qualification process and marks the start of a career as a Chartered Accountant; a career of life-long learning. The final examination elements are:

FAE Core: the core syllabus is examined on day one and comprises of a single case study. Candidates will be expected to integrate knowledge, experience and skills across all technical areas when answering these cases. In addition, candidates will be expected to complete an interim assessment assignment in the area of Advanced Application of Financial Reporting Principles.

FAE Elective: five electives are currently on offer: one each in the areas of Advanced Auditing & Assurance, Advanced Taxation (ROI/NI), Advisory), Financial Services and Public Sector.

Students should also note that completion of the Advanced Auditing & Assurance elective will be a pre-requisite for obtaining an audit certificate.

Students of the Advanced Taxation elective may wish to pursue their studies in tax beyond FAE and may be interested in our professional tax qualification Chartered Tax Consultant (CTC) which can be completed in just six months with this elective. Students who successfully complete the Advanced Taxation elective will be eligible to avail of an exemption to join CTC at the final stage of the programme.

• Duration of all papers is four and a half hours.
• Candidates are required to choose one of five Elective papers on offer.
• In the Elective paper, Taxation, candidates may choose to sit either the Northern Ireland (NI) or the Republic of Ireland (ROI) version of the paper.

Exam results

The results for the FAE exams and interim assessments will be published on the Exam Results page in the Student Centre area.

Exam centre

By default, you will be registered at the centre where you attend the course. 

If you wish to change your exam centre, you must do so online before the deadline below.  It is YOUR responsibility as a student to ensure that you have made any changes before this deadline as changes cannot be made once the deadline has passed.

• Deadline for requests: TBA

Number of attempts

Students may make a maximum of three attempts over three consecutive academic cycles.  It is mandatory for students to make the main exam sitting their first attempt.  Students may sit their remaining examinations over the main and/or resit sittings.

Should a student not present for either the main or resit sitting in an academic cycle, they are deemed to have forfeited one attempt.

Adjudication of results

1. Candidates are required to pass each subject independently.
2. In order to pass each subject, the candidate must achieve a minimum of 50% or better (based on amalgamation of any applicable Interim Assessment component and the examination paper)
3. Independent passes in each subject are referred to as credits.Where a candidate obtains a credit in every subject in the combination of subjects sat, his result will be adjudicated as Pass.

Extenuating circumstances affecting exam performance

If there are medical or other extenuating circumstances which you wish to have considered by the FAE Committee (FAEC) at adjudication please complete and return the Medical Special Circumstances Application Form below together with supporting evidence. This form should only be submitted after an examination session within ten working days of the final exam to the following address:

Chartered Accountants Ireland
Exams Department
47-49 Pearse Street
Dublin 2

Have a query?

If you have a query, please refer to our Support & Services page and contact the relevant department with your query.