Overview for QP students - Record for practical experience
Practical Experience Process
QP students can start to recognize their practical experience once they become QP student (Note). They must also record the recognized practical experience by using the Practical Experience Online System ("online system").
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Stage |
Video |
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1. Getting started – Identify training needs and find an eligible Counselor under an Authorized Employer (“AE”) / Authorized Supervisor (“AS”) |
1. Introduction and Getting Started
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2. Develop competences - record practical experience and attend review meetings |
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| 3. Annual review and sign-off of Training Records | |
| 4. Perform final sign-off on the Training Records |
Stage 1 Getting started - Find an eligible Counselor/ AS
Contact the person who is designated to handle coordination work in his/ her organization under the AE scheme (e.g. Scheme Coordinator, working-level staff of HR/ Training Departments) for assistance.
The lists of AEs and ASs are available here:
The QP student should initiate to create a new Development Commitment through the online system for the AE/ AS to review and sign. The Development Commitment sets out a clear understanding of both parties’ expectations and responsibilities. Please be reminded that the Development Commitment should be signed online by both the QP student and the AE/ AS within three months upon commencement of the Practical Experience Period. Failure to sign and submit the Development Commitment online could mean that practical experience may not be counted and the QP student’s admission to HKICPA membership could be delayed.
Download the Sample of Development Commitment (PDF, 465KB) here. This sample is for illustration purposes only and the Development Commitment should be created through the online system.
Stage 2: Develop competences - record practical experience and attend review meetings
The training records include (a) QP students’ practical experience summary and employment record (b) Record of the time input (c) Record of the relevant practical experience competence output and (d) the Reflective Statement.
Here are some suggestions for achieving the professional competences and skills:
- Be familiar with the pre-defined elements of professional competences
Learn how your work fits into the pre-defined elements and how they reflect achievement of competences at the required level of proficiency. Please consult your Counselors/ AS for any uncertainties. You may find more details on the professional competences here.
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Record practical experience on a timely basis
Keep a complete set of Training Records and update your time input and competence output on the online system periodically. -
Maintain proper documentation as supporting evidence
Maintain proper documentation to facilitate evaluation by Counselors/ AS during review meetings.
To enhance the quality of practical experience training, an interim review should be conducted, and can take place at any time throughout each training year.
Through the online system, you can also generate a Training Records Summary which provides you with a brief summary of your practical experience and highlights any requirements that may not fully achieved.
You may download the Sample of Training Records and Sample of Training Records Summary. These samples are for illustration purposes only and the Training Records and the Training Records Summary should be created through the online system.
Stage 3: Annual review and sign-off of Training Records
An annual review is required and the Training Records should be signed off by the Counselor/AS on an annual basis (by 31 December each year).
In the situation that a QP student who commences his/her Practical Experience Period in the second half of a year (i.e. Practical Experience Period for that particular year is less than six months), the first annual review and sign-off could be completed by 31 December of the subsequent year.
Failure to conduct the annual sign-off of the Training Records without reasonable cause may result in removal of AE/AS status and/or rejection of the QP students’ membership application.
Stage 4: Perform final sign-off on the Training Records
At the completion of the Practical Experience Period or when the Development Commitment is terminated for any reasons (see Section 2.2.3 of the Support Manual for details), QP students should submit the Training Records for final sign-off (i.e. the Member-In-Charge (MIC)/ MIC Deputies/ AS's endorsement) to confirm the QP students' attained competences and their employment period.
In case of termination of Development Commitment, the Training Records should be signed by the Counselor/ AS and endorsed by the MIC/ MIC Deputies/ AS within 3 months of the end date of Practical Experience Period.
Note: Recognition of prior practical experience
If certain criteria are met and the AE/ AS can provide relevant supporting evidence, the newly registered QP students may be allowed, on a case-by-case basis, to count up to 12 months of prior practical experience before becoming QP students. Please refer to FAQ 23 for the illustrative example.
In addition, QP students who join the QP through the Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) or Mutual Examination Paper Exemptions (MEPE) agreements can recognize their prior practical experience supervised by AE/ AS for HKICPA membership admission.
Download the Support Manual (extracted) (PDF, 1.30MB) for more information.
