The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) could lose more of its student intake to the Institute of Scottish Accountants (ICAS) after the Scottish Institute announced it was to double the number of places on offer to accounting students by joining forces with training provider BPP.

Ernst and Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers are already sending students to the Scottish Institute rather than using the traditional ICAEW route. Arthur Andersen and KMPG are also now considering switching to ICAS.

The 'big five' accountancy firms, which account for 60 % of the ICAEW's intake, are dissatisfied with the ICAEW's failure to reform its syllabus in line with the changing business environment. The ICAS course has a more practical slant and aims to provide a broader grounding in business management.

The ICAEW has now reformed its syllabus, but this may be too late to stem the flow of students elsewhere.

Thanks to our colleagues at AccountingWeb for letting us know about this story.