Overview
Start your path to becoming Chartered with the Foundation Programme.
Our Foundation Programme has been designed to provide support for students prefer to enter the Qualifying Programme with a high level of understanding of the core topics covered at Part One. There are no prerequisites to entry and the syllabus covers the fundamentals of Corporate Governance in 4 topic areas.
Details
Apply
You’ll need to login to apply for this qualification. If you don’t already have an account you can create one here.
Who is it for?
Anyone is eligible to apply. Our students range from entry-level to established professionals, some already working in governance as company secretaries and others transitioning from legal, financial, compliance and risk careers.
Designed for those at the start of their journey to becoming a Chartered Secretary or Governance Professional, our Foundation Programme provides an introduction to how organisations can be structured to achieve their objectives and the legal, regulatory and compliance frameworks they need to navigate. It also introduces how organisations track and manage their finances to aid effective decision making and ensure future success.
Content
The Foundation Programme covers the following subjects:
- Business environment – how businesses are organised and run and how the external environment affects business activities
- Law – an introduction to corporate and business (commercial) law and the legal framework within which businesses operate
- Company compliance and administration – introducing legal, ownership and management structures for companies, how companies are incorporated and routine company compliance and governance obligations
- Finance – the basics of bookkeeping and how to understand the components of financial documentation as well as the principles of financial decision making.
Supporting your study
Once you’ve applied to study the Foundation programme, you may want to use one of our registered tuition providers to help structure your study. You’ll find tuition options to suit your location, situation and budget, including classroom courses and distance learning.
All registered foundation students benefit from access to our Learning Management System (LMS) which contains a range of additional resources to assist with their studies. See a demonstration of LMS platform in the video provided.
Fees
Registration fee: Your initial registration fee includes your student membership for one year (or half a year, depending on when you register), access to study support resources – including past exam material and study support webinars – and an e-copy of the study text.
Examination entry fee: Once you are ready to take your exam, you will need to pay the examination fee before the close of the exam entry deadline. For June exams the deadline is usually in March and for November exams it is usually in September.
Subscription fee: Your first year (or half year) student membership subscription is included in the registration fee, but if you are still studying the Foundation Programme when this expires, you will need to renew your subscription.
The following table provides a summary of typical costs, but while the full fees apply for students in the UK, EU and Crown Dependencies, those in many other countries pay reduced rates.
Description |
UK |
Reduced rate countries |
|
Registration fee - full year subscription |
£578 |
£395 |
|
Registration fee – half year subscription (1 Feb – 31 July) |
£462 |
£313 |
|
Examination entry fee |
£284 |
£193 |