Accreditations & professional qualifications

The ICMA Centre is in partnership with a variety of organisations to ensure all programmes are up-to-date and organisations are in line to offer students great opportunities

The majority of the ICMA Centre’s master's degrees are subject to validations from key industry professional qualifications, providing graduates with one or more valued industry licences as well as their degree.

Henley Business School – Triple Accredited Business School

Henley is one of only 75 global business schools to hold triple-accredited status from the UK, European and US awarding bodies.

Henley is also ranked among Europe’s top business schools by the Financial Times European Business School ranking.

CFA Institute

The ICMA Centre is part of the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program. This partnership signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that the university curriculum is closely linked with professional practice and is well-suited to preparing students to sit for the three levels of CFA exams.

The CFA recognises that MSc Investment Management students cover more than 75% of the CFA level 1 curriculum over the course of their degree. Participants of this programme also have the chance to study for the CFA exam alongside their studies and sit for the CFA level 1 exam in June. Tuition fees of MSc IM include registration, tuition and support for the CFA level 1 exams. For more information regarding the CFA institute, visit www.cfainstitute.org/

Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI)

The ICMA Centre is an accredited Centre of Excellence of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI). It is one of eight Universities in the UK to hold this status. Centres of Excellence are a select group of UK universities, recognised by the CISI as offering leadership in academic education on financial markets. Students who are on a financially-related masters course recognised by the CISI are eligible for exemptions and membership.

ICMA Centre students on MSc Capital Markets, Regulation and Compliance, MSc Corporate Finance, MSc Finance, MSc Financial Risk Management and MSc Investment Management who register and successfully complete two CISI Diploma in Capital Markets modules (Securities and Bonds & Fixed Interest Markets) are eligible for an exemption from the third module (Financial Markets).

Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment (CISI)

Global Association of Risk (GARP)

The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) is a not-for-profit global membership organisation dedicated to preparing individuals and organisations to make better informed risk decisions. GARP offers the Financial Risk Manager (FRM®) and the Energy Risk Professional (ERP®) programs, professional certifications recognised and respected worldwide.

GARP’s over 150,000 Members and Affiliates come from banks, investment management firms, government agencies, academic institutions, and corporations in over 195 countries and territories. By fostering partnerships with top universities and business schools around the world, GARP seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world practice and support the education of the next generation of risk professionals.

MSc Financial Risk Management is accredited by GARP and the degree syllabus is enhanced with the most up to date professional practices in the area of risk management, integrating applied academic knowledge to industry needs and providing a competitive advantage to the graduates. Integral to the academic course is the parallel study of the GARP FRM Part I certificate. Upon successful completion of their degree, students will be registered to take the FRM Part I examination.

Thomson Reuters

The ICMA Centre and Thomson Reuters have established a strong relationship and have worked together for many years, including the provision of hardware and software. In addition, Thomson Reuters equipped our flagship 40 seat dealing room.

Professional Risk Managers’ Association (PRMIA)

The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) is a non-profit professional association, governed by a Board of Directors directly elected by its global membership, of nearly 90,000 members worldwide. Established in 2002 by a volunteer group of risk industry professionals, PRMIA’s mission is to provide a free and open forum for the promotion of sound risk management standards and practices globally. The MSc in Financial Risk Management is accredited by PRMIA and closely linked to the PRM handbooks. Successful graduates will be exempt from PRM I and II exams, which form the majority of the PRM Certification Programme.

Fitch Learning

The ICMA Centre work closely with Fitch Learning in the provision of the CFA Level 1, which is studied alongside the MSc Investment Management degree.

MTS Time Series

The MTS Time Series provides a new high frequency data source for practitioners and academics conducting in-depth research in time series and market microstructure of fixed income markets and instruments. This new data source is offered in collaboration with MTS – the largest electronic bond trading operation in Europe – and the ICMA Centre.

KNIME Level 1 Certification

KNIME Analytics Platform is one of the leading platforms in data science and machine learning. Students on the MSc Finance and Financial Technology (FinTech) programme have the opportunity to gain a professional certification in KNIME. The Level 1 certification covers basic proficiency in KNIME Analytics Platform for ETL, Data Analytics and Visualization.

In the Spring term, students will be offered an introductory presentation and 2-day workshops, which include lectures and tutorials on KNIME. This is followed by the KNIME Level 1 certification test and upon successful completion, is valid for 2 years. Find out more here.