1. Page 1 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
IES 6, Initial Professional
Development – Assessment of
Professional Competence (Revised)
IES Implementation Support Material
Prepared by: IAESB staff
April 2015
2. Page 2 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Overview of Presentation
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Introduction
Scope: Who? What? When? Why?
Objective:
IES 6 establishes the assessment of professional competence that is
needed to perform a role as a professional accountant
Requirements & Explanatory Material:
Formally assess whether aspiring professional accountants have achieved
an appropriate level of professional competence by the end of IPD
3. Page 3 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Overview of Presentation
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Requirements & Explanatory Material:
Design assessment activities that have high levels of reliability, validity,
equity, transparency, and sufficiency
Base the assessment of professional competence on verifiable evidence
4. Page 4 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Introduction - Scope
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
What?
Prescribes the assessment of professional competence practical
experience required by the end of initial professional development
Who?
Targets IFAC member bodies, helpful to accountants, providers,
employers, regulators, and government authorities
When?
Effective date: July 1, 2015
Why?
To protect the public interest by prescribing requirements to assess the
professional competence required to perform a role as a professional
accountant.
5. Page 5 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Objective
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
IES 6 establishes the assessment requirements for
professional competence
Establishing assessment requirements serves to
Protect the public interest & enhance the credibility of the accountancy
profession
Ensure competence expected by the public, employers, and clients
Ensure competent professional service is received by clients, employers and
other stakeholders
Requiring assessment activities to be achieved by the end of IPD to
Perform a role as a professional accountant
6. Page 6 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Requirements
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Formally assess by the end of IPD whether an appropriate
level of professional competence has been achieved
Draw on outcomes of one or more assessment activities
Configuration of assessment activities may vary
Examples include: single multi-disciplinary examination, series of
examinations of specific areas, series of examinations and workplace
assessments
Select of assessment activities
Assess specific areas of professional competence
Match particular aspect of professional competence
Depend on factors specific to each IFAC member body
7. Page 7 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Requirements
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Determine an appropriate level of professional competence by
Complexity and variety of tasks
Expectations of stakeholders
Specialized knowledge required in particular industries
Level of professional judgment
Varied roles assumed
Complexity of working environment
8. Page 8 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Requirements
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Design assessment activities that have high levels of
Reliability
If they produce the same result given the same set of circumstances
Can be increased by avoiding ambiguous wording in exam questions;
undertaking internal or external review of content; selecting assessors who
have comparable levels of ability and providing suitable training
Validity
If they measure what they are intended to measure
Forms of validity: face, predictive, and content
Can be increased by including a comprehensive and relevant case study;
relying on a workplace assessment; covering more, rather than a few
aspects of the particular area of professional competence
9. Page 9 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Requirements
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Design assessment activities that have high levels of
Equity
If they are fair and without bias
Can be increased by relying only on computer-based technologies that are
available to all; removing assumptions relating to cultural knowledge not
commonly shared
Transparency
If details of an assessment are disclosed publicly
Can be increased by making publicly available a statement that explains
areas of professional competence, types of assessment activities, timing of
assessment activities during IPD; defining clearly the competence
framework against which employee’s competence will be assessed;
making publicly available information on development, scoring and
management of the examination
10. Page 10 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Requirements
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Design assessment activities that have high levels of
Sufficiency
If they have balance of depth and breath, knowledge, and application, and
combine material form different areas applied to a range of situations and
contexts
Can be increased by assessing appropriate coverage of professional
competence (breadth) and level of details (depth); and demonstrating
professional competence across a wide range of skills and attitudes applied
to many situations
11. Page 11 | Confidential and Proprietary Information
Requirements
IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence (Revised)
Base the assessment of professional competence on
Verifiable evidence
Is objective, capable of being proven, and stored in written or electronic
form
May satisfy needs of third parties who oversee or regulate member bodies
and increase confidence of stakeholders
Examples include
Certificates of successful course completion
Recorded outcomes of successful achievement in examination
Records of achievement provided by employers on competence achieved