Competency Statement: The unsung hero of Chartered education

Despite its modest appearance and less-than-enticing title, the Competency Statement is arguably the most helpful yet underrated resource students have at their disposal. It should be the platform for your study plan, central to your note-taking for open-book exams and core to exam preparation, explains Bryan Rankin, Head of Student Operations at Chartered Accountants Ireland  

When taken with other documents like the Examiner’s Report, the Competency Statement (Statement) is like the examiner’s open letter to the student. It contains a range of information about the broader skills of the Chartered Accountant. However, it can also give you an edge in exam preparation. 

What does ‘competency’ mean?

One of the first items highlighted in the document is what competency means. For our purposes, ‘competency’ is the ability to apply knowledge, understanding, and skills to perform to the standards required in employment.

For students working through their education programme, the Statement outlines the knowledge and skills examinable for each programme, be it CAP1, CAP2 or FAE. Importantly, the Competency Statement is created by the examinations team, so this is the examiner's list of all the topics that can come up on the exam paper.  

It’s no wonder that students are expected to read their Competency Statement carefully. 

The anatomy of the Competency Statement

The Competency Statement also indicates the level at which the examiner expects you to be familiar. Headline topic areas are further broken down into individual learning outcomes. Each learning item has either ‘understand’, ‘apply’ or ‘integrate’ highlighted beside it, indicating the level of challenge the examiner can be expected to apply.  

Students will do well to note the instruction associated with each learning outcome. For example, verbs like ‘explain’ point to a requirement to be able to write succinctly and clearly about the topic with support from relevant facts. These instructions can be expected to appear on exam papers, so it’s prudent to get used to the various terms used. 

A further benefit of the Statement is that the examiner provides the weighting of marks for each headline topic area. For the student, this means you have some direction on the amount of time to devote to each topic area, allowing more efficient study time. 

The Competency Statement is accompanied by a summary of changes it has undergone for the present academic year. Both documents are available online at the Learning Hub at the top of each subject.

Cumulative Principle

The Competency Statement for each subject contains an important point that all students would do well to note: Chartered Accountants Ireland exams are given under the Cumulative Principle. 

This principle states that our education programme is based on cumulative knowledge, meaning there are key elements of CAP1 examined at a more advanced level at CAP2. 
For example, the examiner assumes that the exam candidates at CAP2 and FAE have a good knowledge of the material covered at CAP1.

Students who were exempt from CAP1, or students who progress from CAP1 into CAP2 and FAE, will be expected to be fully knowledgeable about the material covered on the CAP1 syllabus. Each candidate is responsible for ensuring this, as CAP1 material may not be reviewed during the CAP2 courses. 

Using the Competency Statement

Hopefully it is already apparent to the student that the Statement has many valuable and practical applications. There are many ways it can be used to your advantage.

For example, in the video ‘Study Notes Management’, available for CAP2 students in the Learning Hub, Professor Mike Farrell demonstrates how students can use the list of learning outcomes as a checklist, which can then be used to identify frequently mentioned topics.

You can also assess your progress, highlighting areas of difficulty where you have answered a question incorrectly. 

Some students like to use ‘traffic light’ indicators beside learning outcomes, where green indicates that they are comfortable with it, while amber and red show more challenging topics. 

Reaping the rewards

The Competency Statement should be an essential reference document to support your studies. The student who makes full use of the Statements will reap rewards by being more efficient in their study time and being better prepared going into exams.