For the first time in Sri Lanka, the national accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) has introduced the Cambridge International Certificate in Financial English (ICFE) course especially for the professionals in the financial and accountancy sectors.

This flexible 100-hour blended learning course with a mix of 75 hours online and 25 hours face-to-face tuition conducted over a period of two months will commence on February 27, 2011 targeting individuals who need to use financial English in order to enhance employability, thus performing effectively in business situations. The course will help the students to comprehensively develop their ability in reading, writing, listening and speaking, allowing them to demonstrate that they have first-rate financial English language proficiency, and the ability to communicate confidently and efficiently within the international business community. ICFE is also accredited by the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the statutory regulatory authority for external qualifications in UK, hence it has been recognized as a higher qualification for migration.

The 75-hour online study gives students the option to schedule the majority of their study time to fit in with either work or other personnel commitments. The online element of this blended course includes both presentation and self-study practice material organized into 20 topic-based modules. Each module contains a mix of language work, specialist vocabulary and a focus on the skills, finance professionals need in order to communicate successfully and work effectively in English.

The face-to-face support for Cambridge Financial English is delivered at the ICASL by a specialized team of lecturers who have been well trained by the British Council. To gauge the level of the students and to guide them through the course a pre-test will be conducted by the University of Cambridge ESOL at the ICASL.

The exam is set at levels B2 and C1 of the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and assesses language skills in the context of finance and accounting. B2 is equivalent to the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE), and C1 is equivalent to the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE). Exams at the C1 level may be used as proof of language necessary to work in an international context or to follow a course of study related to finance at university level.

The exam will consist of four papers, covering reading, writing, listening and speaking. Each test is based on realistic texts, tasks and topics similar to those finance professionals would expect to encounter in their daily working lives. The ICASL in its continuous support to students encourages the students at the post strategic level to follow the course as an optional component in the curriculum. In considering its importance as a value addition prior to the membership, the ICASL will reimburse 75% of its course fee for the Post Strategic level students on successful completion of the qualification.

After completing the course, students can validate their skills and ability by sitting the Cambridge International Certificate in Financial English (Cambridge ICFE) exam conducted by the British Council.
Registration for the course will close on February 22.