CGMA
CIMA’s CGMA is a market leading business qualification recognised around the world. Study an internationally recognised finance qualification and become a Chartered Global Management Accountant® (CGMA®), whatever your background. We provide a range of online and classroom courses to help you achieve exam success.
We design our courses to not only achieve great pass rates (we consistently and significantly exceed Institute averages) but also to create great learning experiences
Studying CGMA
To help your understanding of the CGMA qualification, we’ve created a short video covering the CIMA modules, exams, awards, and the two routes to the CGMA qualification: the traditional exam route and the Finance Leadership Programme (FLP).
How do I plan my CGMA Qualification?
Essentially, the CGMA qualification has four levels. This guide will give you information on the specifics of each CGMA level:
Certificate in Business Accounting
The Certificate in Business Accounting level is made up of four papers:
- BA1 Fundamentals of Business Economics
- BA2 Fundamentals of Management Accounting
- BA3 Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
- BA4 Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Corporate Business Law
The modules at Certificate level can be sat at any time (the exams are “on-demand”) and in any order. The most common approach for students at this level is to study for these modules one at a time.
At Certificate level, each module will require between 35 – 50 hours of study. This would include attending tuition sessions if you study via a classroom, FI Online or Online Live course and, as such, many students find that planning to study each paper over 6-8 weeks is a reasonable target.
On this basis, many students complete the Certificate level over 6-9 months which allows for plenty of time to study and also a few well-earned breaks, for example:
Operational, Management and Strategic levels
The following three levels each contain four modules. Each level contains three Objective Test (OT) modules and a case study exam.
The OT modules can be sat at any time and can be completed in any order; however, you must have completed all of the OT modules within a given level before you can sit the case study exam. The case study exam can be sat at one of four sittings a year (February, May, August, November). Many students find it helpful to identify when they would like to sit the case study for the level they are studying and then work backwards from there to create their study plan.
Each OT module will need between 45 – 60 hours of study (this would include attending tuition sessions if you study via a classroom or Online Live course) and so people tend to take 8-10 weeks to complete each OT module.
With that in mind, many students find that completing a level within 9 – 12 months is a sensible timeframe to aim for. This allows for steady progression whilst also being able to balance your other commitments outside of your studies.
We have created a high level timeline below that looks at how a student starting their Operational level in January and working towards the November Case Study sitting, may plan their studies:
For more information on CIMA and the CGMA – visit the CIMA website here.