How much does a CIMA qualification cost?
The cost of studying a full CIMA qualification (including the foundational Certificate in Business Accounting) in 2025 can range anywhere from £4,500 to over £22,000.
It is therefore crucial to shop around and make sure you have the best type of course for you. Do you thrive in live classroom settings, or do you prefer to study things at your own pace, using distance learning? This is why we have made this 2025 CIMA Cost Calculator to help you find the best combination and best deal for you. The choices you make can set you up for success and potentially save you thousands.
Discover how much studying for a CIMA qualification will cost with our 2025 CIMA Cost Calculator. With our tool, you can plan the best study route to suit you by comparing the advertised prices of leading tuition providers over a range of study methods. You will also see exactly how much you will need to pay in CIMA subscription fees and the CIMA exam fees for each module of your course.
CIMA Cost Calculator – 2025
Tips for using
If you switch backwards and forwards between different tuition providers, the course fees figure may reset to zero. If so, simply toggle one of the modules you wish to study on and off to restore the correct amount. In addition, you will also get a useful side by side comparison of the tuition providers’ prices in the summary on the right hand side. Once you have decided on your preferred provider, you can select the ‘Calculate Grand Total’ switch and only the price of your preferred provider will be included in the overall calculation.
In a previous article, “Unlocking the True Value: Understanding the cost of CIMA qualification”, we took a detailed look at the costs of studying CIMA qualifications and gave guideline figures for taking the Operational Level exams. Overall study costs will be different depending on the level of qualification you wish to study. The reason for this is that tuition providers often charge more for teaching more advanced modules. Additionally, CIMA exam fees are higher as you progress through the levels.
When you compare CIMA prices with our 2025 CIMA Cost Calculator, we provide an easy way of finding out all the relevant costs of a CIMA qualification at a glance, without having to visit multiple different websites. In making this tool, we were surprised at the range of prices available – with careful planning, it is possible to save hundreds of pounds.
Analysis
Please note that AccountExamPrep is not affiliated with any of the entities listed in the 2025 CIMA Cost Calculator. Our intention is to provide and independent and impartial comparison of the costs of the different learning options available. Prices are as publicly advertised on the websites of tuition providers and, where possible like for like comparisons have been selected (e.g. we have not used a higher figure for in-person live classroom lessons where most other providers only provide online live classrooms).
If you are starting out on your CIMA journey by studying the Certificate in Business Accounting, then it would appear that there is much to gain by at least trying out Astranti’s free courses and materials. Not only will you get access to free teaching content (saving you hundreds of pounds), you should also be able to get a good idea as to whether the On Demand style of learning is appropriate for you. The difference between Live Classroom learning and On Demand learning over the entire CIMA qualification could be nearly £9,000 (this difference is calculated using the same provider for both live and on demand – the saving could be over £10,000 if you compare different tuition providers.)
It is often possible to save money by booking an entire level’s worth of tuition at a time. A number of CIMA tuition providers offer discounts when multiple modules are booked.
If you are planning on completing multiple modules in one year, and are comfortable studying with less tutor input, a subscription option may also represent good value. Careful planning will be required if you intend to do more than one level of the CIMA qualification in a year – the fact that it is only possible to take Case Study exams four times a year acts as a bottleneck on scheduling other exams. The fact that it takes a few weeks to receive results, and you are not able to book higher level exams until you have received confirmation of having passed the case study, can further delay progress.
About AccountExamPrep
No matter which study method you choose, the CIMA exams themselves are expensive and one of the best ways to ensure you pass them first time is to get plenty of practice with exam type questions. Here at AccountExamPrep you can access hundreds of practice questions online, written to help you with CIMA objective tests. Our store can be accessed here: Buy CIMA practice questions
If you would like to sample the type of questions we provide, some free mini practice tests are available here: Try FREE CIMA mini-tests
Notes
Prices for the 2025 CIMA Cost Calculator are correct as of December 2024 (prices as advertised for 2025) and are checked and updated from time to time.
CIMA exam fees (including fees for exams outside UK) can be found here: Fees | Resources | AICPA & CIMA (aicpa-cima.com)