CertBALM® Frequently Asked Questions

Booking & Course Details

  • We have two cohorts a year starting in March (with four day face-to-face residential) and September (fully online).

  • The course can be completed in nine months. We recommend 250 - 300 study hours.

    We understand that studying whilst working can be a challenge; if you are not able to complete in the nine months, you are given four years, from the start date of your course, to complete the CertBALM® in its entirety. If, after this time, you have failed to complete part or all of the course, you will need to start (and pay for) the qualification again from the beginning and in its entirety. In addition, for each part of the CertBALM® (i.e. the Unit 2/3 exam, the Unit 4/5 exam and the Case Study) you may only attempt each of these a maximum of four times within the four-year period.

  • We strongly recommend booking two months before the course starts. If your organisation is paying, please allow extra time for internal approval so your application isn’t delayed.

  • The course can be booked directly with ALMA by completing the Expression of Interest form available on the ALMA website or by sending an email application to info@ukalma.org.uk, including your full name, business and personal email address, the name of the organisation sponsoring you (if appropriate) and invoicing details.

    When you apply, your submission represents an offer to ALMA to purchase the CertBALM® course and Residential School (if you book for the March cohort). You will receive a confirmation from ALMA as to whether your application has been successful.

  • Once you have booked your place, you/your company will receive an invoice from ALMA. ALMA payment terms are 30 days from the date of the invoice. The invoice must be paid 6 weeks before the start of the course. Your place on the course will not be confirmed until the invoice has been paid in full and, if it is not paid prior to the start date of the course, you will not be given access to the learning materials.

  • You will receive access to the learning material on the day the course starts. You will be sent an email from the ACT on the day the course starts giving you all the details you require, together with your login details for the ACT study site.

  • This is the ACT’s learning platform. All the CertBALM® learning materials are hosted by the ACT on this platform. The ACT accredits the CertBALM® qualification.

Study Information

  • The Progress Test is not invigilated. It takes the form of a 90-minute, 75 question, multiple choice test. This can be taken at any point during the window allowed for the test and can be done as many times as is needed in order to pass. Watch the Progress Test video on the study site under Unit 1.

  • No, the test will be available in the ACT study site under Unit 1 when the window opens and you will receive details from the ACT in advance giving you instructions about how to access the test.

  • You need to obtain a result of 70% or more to pass. The mark does not count towards your final grade.

  • The answers to the Progress Test will be made available on the study site after the window for taking the test has closed and will be available for one month from the date it was made available. You can download this document and keep it as reference should you wish to refer back to it after it has been removed.

  • At the start of the course, you will only receive access to the Unit 1 material via the study site. You will automatically gain access to the remainder of the Units (2 – 5) on successful completion of the Progress Test.

  • ALMA has set up the “Ask the Mentor” service which is available to all students. The email address is: askthementor@ukalma.org.uk and you can direct a specific question about a specific Unit to one of ALMA’s mentors. These queries will be answered within 72 hours. There is also a dedicated forum you can use to talk to your fellow students and ask questions.

  • Yes, the March course has a four day face-to-face Residential School which is an important part of the CertBALM® qualification and it is beneficial for all students to attend. The first two days of the school give students the chance to revise Units 2 and 3, whilst the two final days are given over to the teaching of Units 4 and 5. It is a vital part of the course. It not only gives students the chance to meet others on the course but is also an opportunity to be taught by specialist tutors and practitioners.

    The September course is run fully online and there will be two full days of online revision prior to the Unit 2/3 exam and a further two full days of revision prior to the Unit 4/5 exam. We recommend that students take leave from work in order to attend these revision sessions in their entirety.

  • On the first day of the CertBALM® course, you will receive a welcome email from the ACT. This will include detailed instructions on how to book the accommodation directly with the Residential venue. ALMA has secured competitive rates for the bedrooms at the hotel. Students are required to pay for their own accommodation and travel expenses to and from the venue. However, all other costs whilst at the Residential will be covered by ALMA.

  • Online sessions are held throughout the course. At the start of the course you will be given access to the CertBALM® Session Hub. This hub will have dates, times and Zoom links. After each session, the presentation slides will be made available here.

Booking & Taking your Assessments

  • There are three assessments in total – the Unit 2/3 exam, the Unit 4/5 exam and the Case Study. Each of these Assessments is hosted online by the ACT.

  • You book each assessment via the ACT booking form by the published deadline. The latest fees and booking form are available here.

    The fee is paid directly to the ACT. You can also access this page via the study site; there is a button which says, “Book Assessment”.

  • The exams are taken online and remotely invigilated. Take a look at the Assessment – need to know page here.

  • Past exam papers are available on the study site. When you login to the site, click on the Past exam, practice papers & videos section. You will find both PDFs and online papers available.

  • In exceptional circumstances, it is possible to defer an exam but it is not recommended. If you do defer, you will need to pay the assessment fee again when you re-sit.

  • The ACT will send you an email letting you know your results are available. This is five or six weeks from when you sat the assessment or uploaded your Case Study. The result dates are also detailed in your Study plan.

  • If you fail one or more parts of the CertBALM®, you only need to re-take the parts which you fail. This can be done in a further six months’ time, when the next exams take place, and ALMA will let you know dates well in advance.  The exams can also be taken in any order so, for example, if you do not pass the Unit 2/3 exam, you can continue with the Unit 4/5 exam and the Case Study and then complete the Unit 2/3 exam with the next cohort of students.

  • The CertBALM® Case Study is the final part of the CertBALM® course and is a 7,500-word document to prove application of learning and to show you fully understand the Treasury/Balance sheet management process in the context of the bank’s business model. There are five questions in total and the answers must be written in the context of a chosen organisation which must be a member of ALMA and must NOT be the organisation you work for.

  • You cannot use generative AI (such as Chat GPT, CoPilot, Grammarly etc.) to write, edit or proofread your Case Study. Using content written or amended by AI is plagiarism and is a breach of the ACT’s plagiarism and collusion policy. The ACT has software that can detect AI generated or altered content. Use of AI could lead to disqualification.

  • Plagiarism checks are an important part of the process that ensures the integrity of the assessment. Writing any form of assessment can be a nerve-wracking experience. Here’s some things you can do to make ease your worries about plagiarism:

    • Make sure that you are familiar with the ACT’s Plagiarism and Collusion Policy here.

    • Make sure that you correctly and clearly reference any third-party material that you have used in your assignment, whether you have cited or paraphrased. We recommend using Harvard referencing. By clearly referencing within your work the markers can see what is your own work and where you have cited others and award marks appropriately. 

    • Keep a record of your previous drafted versions, these may be requested as evidence.