A 2.5-year partnership that redefined how the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland educates the next generation of chartered accountants — winning two Learning Technologies Awards along the way.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious professional accountancy bodies. Founded in 1854, ICAS awards the CA designation to chartered accountants and has members in over 100 countries. Their professional qualification — the route to becoming a Chartered Accountant — is the cornerstone of their educational offering, a rigorous multi-year programme that combines academic learning with professional practice.
ICAS needed to fundamentally transform their entire Chartered Accountant qualification from classroom-based delivery to scalable online learning. This wasn't a simple digitisation exercise — it required rethinking how professional accountancy education works in an online context.
The qualification comprises 12 core modules spanning technical accounting, ethics, law, and professional skills. Each module had been taught face-to-face for decades, with deeply embedded teaching methods and assessment approaches. Students study while working as trainee accountants — time is scarce, learning must be efficient, and the standards are exacting. There was no margin for a mediocre online pivot.
Transform the entire qualification, not just selected modules — a complete systemic rebuild.
Maintain ICAS's exacting professional standards in every module, without compromise.
Redesign teaching approaches for online, not simply repurpose classroom content in digital form.
Execute a phased rollout that kept the qualification running uninterrupted throughout.
Bring academic staff and professional trainers along on the transformation journey — change management was as important as course design.
A transformation of this scale required a structured, phased approach — moving from discovery and strategy through to full programme delivery, with continuous feedback built in throughout.
We began with intensive consultation — understanding ICAS's educational philosophy, the specific requirements of each module, and the needs of CA students studying while working. This phase produced a comprehensive transformation strategy and quality framework that would govern every subsequent decision in the project.
Rather than attempting all 12 modules at once, we developed a pilot module as proof of concept. This allowed ICAS to see the approach in action, test with a real student cohort, and refine before committing to full-scale development. The pilot validated both the methodology and the working relationship between our teams.
With the approach validated, we worked systematically through all 12 modules. Each module involved close collaboration with ICAS's subject matter experts to ensure academic rigour while transforming the pedagogy for online delivery. Regular review cycles ensured quality was consistent across the entire qualification.
Phased rollout of the complete qualification, with continuous feedback loops and iteration based on student and tutor experience. This phase also captured the unexpected improvements that online design had generated in classroom delivery — the backwash effect that defined the project's legacy.
A complete qualification transformation — every module, every assessment, every piece of content rebuilt to a single consistent quality standard.
12 complete modules
Full course architecture for every module in the CA qualification — structure, sequence, and pedagogical design from the ground up.
Video content
Professional instructor-led videos, explainer animations, and worked-example walkthroughs produced across all 12 modules.
Interactive activities
Case studies, practice exercises, discussion frameworks, and collaborative tasks designed to replace classroom engagement online.
Assessment suite
Quizzes, assignments, rubrics, and marking guides built for every module — aligned to professional standards and constructively aligned with learning outcomes.
VLE integration
Everything designed, built, and configured within ICAS's existing learning platform — no disruptive technology change for students or staff.
Quality framework
Comprehensive quality assurance processes used consistently across all modules, creating a reusable standard for ICAS's ongoing educational development.
The numbers tell a compelling story. But the most significant outcome wasn't a metric — it was what the process did to ICAS as an educational institution.
Consistently high satisfaction scores maintained across all 12 modules throughout the rollout.
Complete qualification delivered online. Not a partial rollout — the entire CA programme.
ICAS can now serve students globally who previously couldn't access the qualification due to geography.
Higher completion rates compared to previous classroom-only delivery, reflecting better-designed learning experiences.
Something unexpected happened. The rigorous process of redesigning courses for online delivery didn't just produce great online courses — it improved ICAS's classroom teaching as well. The structured thinking about learning outcomes, engagement, and assessment that online design demands "backwashed" into how face-to-face sessions were planned and delivered.
This is what genuine academic transformation looks like. It doesn't just add an online channel — it raises the quality of everything.
The ICAS project was transformative in every sense. We didn't just take their qualification online — we helped them rethink what their educational offering could be. The fact that improvements flowed back into classroom teaching showed that we'd achieved something deeper than digitisation. We'd helped ICAS become a better educational institution.
Whether you're transforming an entire qualification or launching a single programme, we bring the same rigour, expertise, and collaborative approach.
We accept only 3–4 new institutional partnerships per quarter.