Specialist courses

The specialist modules of the IRM's International Diploma are available as standalone courses. These post-graduate level modules were developed by a group of expert practitioners and academics and can be taken over a six month basis. Taking a specialist course is a great way to keep your knowledge up to date and earn CPD points. Successful students can also move on to complete the other modules of the International Diploma in Risk Management.

Student membership

To enrol on a standalone Specialist module you will need to register as a student member of the Institute and pay the joining fee, the student annual subscription and the module fee.  The IRM subscription year runs from

1 July to 30 June.  You will receive an invitation to renew your membership in May on an annual basis thereafter.  If you do not pay your annual subscription you will not be able to sit the examinations.

Successful students wil be awarded a certificate of completion and invited to apply for Specialist membership of the Institute and the designatory letters SIRM.

Specialist qualification

Risk Management in Financial Services

Employers are now recognising the need to invest in enterprise-wide risk education, instead of relying on piecemeal approaches to market, credit, regulatory and operational risks. A fully enterprise-wide approach will ensure good risk management is effectively incorporated into decision-making processes across the organisation at every level.

This practical qualification addresses these needs, particularly in banking and insurance. The course has been developed by a team of international industry practitioners who, together with leading university and business school experts have imparted their extensive front-line experience.

Read more about Risk Management in Financial Services

Specialist modules

The following Specialist modules will be offered in 2012/13:

Risk Management in Architecture, Engineering and Construction

Module syllabus

Public Sector Risk

Module syllabus 

Business Continuity and Crisis Management

Module syllabus

Information Risk

Module syllabus

Environmental Risk

Module syllabus

Governance

Module syllabus

Please note that the Institute reserves the right to withdraw a module at any time if demand is insufficient.

What the module fee includes:

The module fee includes on-line access to the following:

• Detailed module handbook describing the course content for each module, plus guidance on studying, self assessed questions and case studies

• Module learning materials*

• Practice examination questions

• Examples of past examination papers

The fee also includes entry to the June examinations.

*  Please note that there are no on-line learning materials for some of the modules and students must purchase the core reading materials direct from the publishers.  Full details are given on application.

Fees and Enrolment

Enrolment in preparation for the June 2013 examinations commences on 1 September.  An enrolment form can be downloaded here.

IRM Partner and existing member discounts

A discount of 10% on the module fee is available for existing Affiliate or Certificant members who wish to take a Specialist module.  Members of IRM partner organisations who wish to enrol as students are not required to pay the IRM joining fee.

Additional costs

Workshops

Optional workshops are available to help students with their studies.  They provide an opportunity to meet with examiners and fellow students and to share information and experiences.  For details of dates, fees and how to book please click here.

Examination arrangements

Examinations are held annually in June. The examination day arrangements for all centres (except those with special exam centres) are currently made by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) who will advise you, on behalf of IRM, where and at what time you should report for the examinations.

Examination centres

The precise location of the Institute's examination centres may change from year to year. In general examination centres are available at the following locations:

UK examination centres

Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton (Hove), Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guernsey, Isle of Man (Douglas), Jersey, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Plymouth, Southampton.

Overseas examination centres

Australia (Sydney, Melbourne), Barbados (St Michael), Bermuda, Botswana (Gaborone), British Virgin Islands (Tortola), Canada (Ottawa), Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman), Cyprus (Nicosia), Ghana (Accra, Kumasi), Gibraltar, Guyana (Georgetown), Hong Kong, India (Bangalore, Chennai, Kollata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Secunderabad), Ireland (Cork, Dublin, Waterford), Jamaica (Kingston), Kenya (Nairobi), Malawi (Blantyre, Lilongwe), Mauritius (Reduit), Mauritius (Reduit), New Zealand (Auckland), Nigeria (Abuja, Enugu, Ibadan, Kaduna, Lagos, Port Harcourt), Sierra Leone (Freetown), Singapore, South Africa (Johannesburg), Sri Lanka (Colombo), Tanzania (Dar-Es-Salaam), Trinidad (Port of Spain), Uganda (Kampala), UAE (Dubai), Zambia (Kitwe, Lusaka), Zimbabwe (Harare)

When completing the application form, students must indicate their preferred examination centre. If you do not indicate your preference you will automatically be allocated to the centre nearest to your correspondence address.

Special examination centres

Overseas candidates in areas other than those listed above may make an application to IRM to arrange a Special Centre.  All Special Centre applications must be made on the appropriate form and submitted to the Institute by 28 February for the June examinations and by 31 July for the November examinations.  A fee of £75 must also accompany the form.  Where such arrangements are made, candidates are also required to pay any local supplementary charges made by the centre. You can download a copy of the form here.

Special arrangements

Wherever possible, IRM will provide examination arrangements that take account of students' special needs.  Students should submit any request for special arrangements by 28 February for the June examinations and by 31 July for the November examinations.  This is to enable the Institute to effectively assist with special arrangements.  While the Institute aims to meet all such requests it cannot undertake to fulfil individual requirements where submissions are received late.  The Special Arrangements form can be downloaded here.

Re-sits

If you are unsuccessful in your module examination you may apply to re-sit the failed module(s) in the following session.  A re-sit fee of £90 per module is payable.

Refunds

We recognise that a change of circumstances may mean that a student has to withdraw from their course of study.  A refund of the module fees paid less an administration charge of £100 per module will be made if written notice is received by the Institute before the close of the enrolment period.  No refunds are permitted after the enrolment closing date.  The application fee and the student annual subscription are non refundable.

Regulations and Guidance for Students

By enrolling on the Specialist Modules you will be deemed to have agreed to abide by IRM’s Code of Conduct and its Examination Rules and Regulations.  Please ensure that you read these before submitting your application.