[The_Despoiler]

I will graduate LL.B (Hons) from Edinburgh University this summer. I'm interested to follow a career in corporate law / governance with a bit more variety than a commercial law firm might offer. I came across the ICSA professional qualification.

Was wondering if anyone has completed the ICSA modules, and has any experience in studying for the qualification and related employment prospects (or maybe knows a chartered company secretary?) that they might be willing to share.

I would be really grateful for any comments.

[The_Despoiler]

..anyone?

[nicolac34]

Hiya

Just been googling ICSA forums and you popped up! I'm currently studying the ICSA course through distance learning and working as a Company Secretarial Assistant for a PLC. I've got one exam left (Corporate Governance) that I'm due to sit for the 3rd time this June. It's killing me that this is the last one and I can't seem to pass it!!

Anyway's what is it that you'd like to know? I'm sure you know that exams/studying are a bit of a pain, especially when you work full time. So far I've been studying it for 2 years - didn't come into it straight away though, working in the City as a Legal Secretary for 2 years before stumbling across the qualification. Certainly improved my job prospects and is a really good career that not many people know about - money's not bad either! )

[cityminx-ac]

I recently discovered the ICSA CSQS qualification scheme, and its something that I'm really interested in doing. I have neither a finance/accounting nor legal background, however I am generally familiar with both and hope that I won't be too disadvantaged! Funnily enough, I was thinking of starting with the corporate governance paper(!) - I thought that I would find this one most familiar given that I have experience in regulatory governance related to remuneration and share schemes administration.
I'm interested in hearing from others who are studying/have studied the same, and what their experiences are (especially those working full time).

[ha44]

Hi

Did any of you go through with CSQS? I am currently studying for my first two modules (Corporate Governance & Applied Business Law) and can't afford to go to tuition sessions/study groups.

It would be good if we could set up a forum where we could discuss our studies as this independent studying is quite difficult!

In the books there are sections to "test your knowledge" but nowhere to reference whether you answered them correctly, and it isn't always 100% clear in the preceding text where we should be getting the answer.

Hope there are others out there who are in the same boat and feel like uniting?

:-)

[RH19]

I have just set-up a forum/group page for people studying ICSA CSQS...it is obviously pretty blank right now but hopefully it can be a place where a few (or a lot!) of us will be able to chat and share our study experiences.

PM me if you are interested in joining and I will send you an invite to the forum, hopefully we can get something useful started!

[nicolac34]

I'd forgotten that I'd posted on here a couple of years ago until I got an 'update' pop into my inbox this morning!

I'm all done with these exams now, passed Governance on the 4th(!!!) attempt in June 2011 and got my ACIS status in December 2011.

I'm now in Perth, WA working as an Assistant Company Secretary and studying for the qualification was certainly one of the best things I did for my career. It was hard going, and luckily I had a job where I could study at work so it didn't effect my home life too much (I'd think this was quite rare). I would recommend Campbells College in terms of their revision courses, don't think I would have passed the exams if it wasn't for them!

[ha44]

Thanks for your replies! I'm really scared now, 4 times!!! I'm doing corp gov now and it's just soooo much to remember!

I've seen Campbells College but they are way out of my budget! Did you already have experience with other jurisdictions or did you just find that the knowledge was easily transferable over there?

[ha44]

Hi it's me again... I have a question about Applied Business Law. In the front there's a table outlining which chapters apply to which courses. Loads of them aren't ticked for ICSA, does this mean that we don't need to know those chapters, or should I ignore that and read the lot?

Thanks

[graca94]

I'm studying ICSA CSQS , corporate law...I'm disappointed that there isn't a form or site where students can come together and chat about subject, in a kind of chat room environment.I have some friends studying ACCA and many of them say that going online and chatting to others helps them to learn as its often difficult to learn alone.

[nicolac34]

Luckily for my my employer was paying for everything so I didn't have to pay for Campbells myself!

Things are fairly similar in Australia, there are a few differences in terms of the Corporations Act instead of the Companys Act. The listing rules are virtually the same, as is most of the Corporate Governance, so it was an easy enough transition to make.

[cityminx-ac]

(Original post by graca94)
I'm studying ICSA CSQS , corporate law...I'm disappointed that there isn't a form or site where students can come together and chat about subject, in a kind of chat room environment.I have some friends studying ACCA and many of them say that going online and chatting to others helps them to learn as its often difficult to learn alone.

There is a message board for students on linkedin.com - go to linkedin groups and search for ICSA students.