Here's our handy guide to all of the risk management training and qualifications available to you in the UK

IRM (Institute of Risk Management)


IRM website

What qualifications/training do they offer?

Three tiers:

1. Fundamentals of Risk Management

• 2 day basic training course:

• Teaches fundamentals of RM and all basic functions

2. International Certificate in Risk Management

• Introductory level qualification

• Lasts 6-9 months

• All material supplied online, 2 written exams

• Pass and become CIRM

3. International Diploma in Risk Management:

• 3-5 years

• 5 core papers: covers principles of risk right through to operational issues. Comprehensive coverage of academic through to practical sides of RM.

• 2 specialist papers, including RM in Financial Services, which exists both as part of the Int. diploma and as a stand alone qualification independent of the diploma.

• Concluded with a dissertation.

• Pass it and become a MIRM

• Membership and continued participation and work can lead to becoming an FIRM

How many grads per year?

Introductory Certificate:

• Around 400 a year, with a 50%+ pass rate.

International Diploma

• Around 200 a year, yet is more intangible because of flexibility and length of course. No fixed pass rate.

What is unique about their qualifications?

• Very flexible

• Distance learning based with no set time/place

• Internationally focussed

• Enterprise RM focussed: their qualifications give a broad RM education

• Oriented towards practical implementation of risk management rather than sector-specific training.

• Course taught and structured by practicing RM’s with academic input.


CII (Chartered Institute of Insurance)


CII website

Qualifications Offered

• Starting Qualification: Certificate level IF1

• Learning outcome: Understand the nature and main features of risk and insurance

• Diploma: No RM specific qualifications, but a range of insurance based units

• Advanced Diploma: Unit 655 - Risk Management

• MSc in Insurance and Risk Management – In conjunction with Cass Business School

• Full time for 10 months or part-time for 22 months

• If you hold the CII’s advanced diploma in Insurance/Associateship (ACII), then you can do a fast track programme which allows full time students to complete it in 7 months rather than 10, and part-time students to do it in 19 rather than 22 months

Structure:

? Term1 – Four core modules

? Term 2 – Five Core modules

? Term 3 – Five elective modules or one elective module plus a business research project

? Dissertation

Graduate Pass Rates (as of 2010)

• IF1: 74.57%

• Advanced Diploma Unit 655 Risk Management: 60.95%

• No graduate number statistics available.

What makes them unique?

All of our units are designed developed and delivered in conjunction with expert market practitioners which is made possible by our well established and long standing links with employers in the world of insurance and financial services which, in turn, enables us to create and keep relevant and up to date all the unit content in any particular specialism.

Nottingham University Business School


Nottingham uni website

What qualifications?

RM specific qualifications come in the form of risk modules incorporated into undergrad, postgrad and MBA modules, some open to all students studying at Nottingham and some having pre-requisite requirements such as the completion of particular module.

• Undergraduate Modules:

Risk Management decisions:

? Level 3 module open to all undergrads

? Summary: This module will introduce the different aspects of corporate risk and examine how the risk of fortuitous loss may affect the various stakeholders in the operations of firms

? No pre-requisite qualifications/modules required to enroll on this module.

Risk Management Processes:

? Level 3 module Available to all undergrads

? Summary: This module will discuss the processes utilised by corporate enterprises to manage the risk of fortuitous loss. Once corporate risks have been identified and their impact on the firm measured, risk management attempts to control the size and frequency of loss, and to finance those fortuitous losses which do occur.

Risk, Information and Insurance:

? Available to all undergrads

? Summary: This module examines individual decision-making under conditions of risk and uncertainty, and investigates the effectiveness of insurance as a means of controlling risk.

Insurance in a Risky World:

? Available to all undergrads

? Summary: The module examines how insurance markets operate to satisfy commercial and individual customers' demand for protection against risk, and would usually include the following topics:

- Introduction to insurance

- Private and social insurance

- The historical development of insurance

- Why buy property/liability insurance?

- Why buy life, health and pensions insurance?

- The supply of insurance

- Lloyd's and the London Insurance Market

- How is insurance distributed to consumers?

- The role of insurance in the economy

- International aspects of insurance

- Insurance and catastrophes

• MA/MSc modules:

Quantative Risk Management:

? Module Content: The development of quantitative risk management and its use by firms to measure and manage their risk. Measures of risk: value at risk, expected shortfall, and other risk measures. Uses of quantitative risk measures: solvency analysis, capital requirements. Estimating risk measures: historical simulation approaches, parametric approaches and Monte Carlo simulation approaches. Volatility forecasting. Estimating liquidity risks. Backtesting risk models. Incremental and component risks. Stress testing. Model and parameter risk.

? Module Aims: To provide students with a conceptual introduction to the basic principles and practices of modern quantitative financial risk management, and to give them a limited experience of carrying out the calculations involved using spreadsheets.

Corporate Risk:

? Module Content: The concept of risk in large organisations; risk management as a process; the tools and techniques of corporate risk management; the practical issues in managing risk in large organisations.

? Module Aims: To provide students with a conceptual introduction to the principles and processes relevant to the practice of risk management in large organisations.

Risk Management in Financial Institutions

? Module Content: Risks specific to financial institutions (including liquidity, credit, market, and operational); techniques for managing such risks; the organisation of the risk management process in financial institutions. Financial institutions include banks, other deposit-taking institutions, life and general insurance companies. Content complements that covered in modules such as Corporate Risk and Quantitative Risk Management.

? Module Aims: To develop students' knowledge and understanding of the risks faced by financial institutions, the techniques used to manage such risks, and the problems and issues faced in this process.

Theory of Risk and Insurance:

? Module Content: This module introduces students to individual risk theory. Decision-making under certainty is covered and the standard theory of subjective expected utility is developed as a special case, along with problems of information asymmetry. Applications to gambling and insurance markets are reviewed. Empirical studies of these theories, based on laboratory or field data, are reviewed.

? Module Aims: To provide a conceptual framework necessary for an understanding of decision-taking under risk and uncertainty, to use this framework to explore issues in markets such as those for gambling and insurance, and to appreciate the related empirical literature.

Risk Management Dissertation

? Module Aims: To develop ability to undertake independent research in the area of risk management either in the context of further academic research or consultancy. To carry out independent research of either qualitative or quantitative nature. To identify theoretical issues underlying contemporary debates.

As they are modules, no specific pass rates are available.

Cass Business School


Cass website

What qualifications?

• Undergraduate

Corporate Risk Management

? Open to Cass undergrads

? Summary: The course aims to provide a sound understanding of the basic principles of risk management. The primary emphasis will be on measuring and managing different kinds of risks that modern enterprises face through their international operations. The course requires a good understanding of various areas of finance (e.g. corporate finance, derivatives, financial management etc.) and quantitative analysis. All these are brought together in a unified framework to analyze the strategies, techniques and tools for managing corporate risks.

Banking Topics & Risk Management

? Open to all Cass undergrads

? To cover a number of specialised topics in banking. To acquaint students with bank risk management practices. By the end of this module, students should have a broad understanding of key topics in banking, and be familiar with the principal sources of banks¿ financial risks and the techniques used to manage them. Additionally, students should appreciate the choices banks face between risk and return in their major product markets, and consider how they analyse these trade-offs and deliver shareholder value.

Also see CII section for the joint MSc in Insurance and Risk Management as well

Glasgow Caledonian University


Glasgow Caledonian website

What qualifications?

BSc (Hons) Fire Risk Engineering 4 Year Full Time 12 September 2011 H121

BSc (Hons) Fire Risk Engineering (Pt) 5 Year Part Time 12 September 2011

MSc Public Sector Risk Management 1 Year Full Time 12 September 2011

MSc Public Sector Risk Management 1 Year Full Time 12 September 2011

MSc Public Sector Risk Management (Distance Learning) 2-3 Years Distance Learning 12 September 2011

MSc Insurance and Risk Management (Distance Learning) 2-3 Years Distance Learning 12 September 2011

MSc Banking, Finance and Risk Management (London) 1 Year Full Time 26 September 2011

MSc Financial Services, Risk and Operations (London) 1 Year Full Time 26 September 2011

MSc Insurance and Risk Management (London) 1 Year Full Time 26 September 2011

MSc Risk Management (London) 1 Year Full Time 26 September 2011

MSc Public Sector Risk Management (London) 1 Year Full Time 26 September 2011

MSc Insurance and Risk Management 1 Year Full Time 12 September 2011

MSc Public Sector Risk Management (Pt) 2-3 Years Part Time 12 September 2011

MSc Risk Management (Pt) 2-3 Years Part Time 12 September 2011

MSc Risk Management (Distance Learning) 2-3 Years Distance Learning 12 September 2011

MSc Banking, Finance and Risk Management (Pt) 2 Year Part Time 12 September 2011

MSc Banking, Finance and Risk Management 1 Year Full Time 12 September 2011

BA/BA (Hons) Finance, Investment and Risk 4 Year Full Time 12 September 2011 N390

MSc Financial Services, Risk and Operations 1 Year Full Time 12 September 2011

BA/BA (Hons) Risk Management 4 Year Full Time 12 September 2011 N291

MSc Risk Management 1 Year Full Time 12 September 2011

MSc Financial Services, Risk and Operations (Pt) 2-3 Years Part Time 12 September 2011

MSc Insurance and Risk Management (Pt) 2-3 Years Part Time 12 September 2011

What is unique?

• 20 years experience in providing risk qualifications

• Working closely with colleagues in industry and commerce, as well as the main professional and trade bodies, the university developed the first undergraduate degree in Risk Management in Europe

• In 1996, the postgraduate MSc programme was launched. Current and applied research is essential underpinning for a high quality postgraduate programme. The academic staff who developed the MSc programme are involved in a broad range of risk-related and business-focused research and publication. During the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008), 'risk' researchers contributed in particular to the outputs of the Public Management and Policy cluster within Unit of Assessment 43 (Business and Management) and were identified as particularly strong, in a sub-profile viewed as 85.9% at 2* or above (29.7% at 3* and 1.6% at 4*). Applied and practice-based research was assessed as of internationally excellent standard, and the significant progress with the doctoral programme was noted. Esteem indicators were rated at 40% at 2* or above. Practitioner engagement through consultancy and policy advice was assessed as of internationally excellent standard.

• Recent research projects carried out by staff include a government funded study into risk assessment relating to private finance initiatives in the construction industry, a survey on employment risks in conjunction with Marsh UK Ltd , a report on the risks associated with e-commerce, for the Association of British Insurers, and a series of reports and briefings for the Association of Local Authority Risk Managers