Chartered Banker Status global recognition for all, no degree required!

• 26 September 2022
• Blog | Leadership & Strategy

We heard from Jess Flitney, Level 6 Apprentice at Lloyds Banking Group on how gaining Chartered Banker status has helped her career skyrocket.

“After realising University was not the right route for me, I applied for, and was successful in gaining a place on the Chartered Banker apprenticeship with Lloyds Banking Group. This has given me hands on, valuable work experience in a growing area of the business as well as learning with Chartered Banker Institute and becoming a Chartered Banker. This has opened up a number of opportunities for me, especially future roles that may require a degree equivalent qualification. I am thrilled that these will be open to me due to my apprenticeship degree that I’ve been working on for the past few years. The learning has been interesting and relevant, and I can apply what I have learned to any roles I wish to look into within the banking industry. The topics I have spent time on are varied too, so I feel I have covered a range of banking principles. Achieving Chartered Banker status has been a real accomplishment for me, and I know my colleagues are proud of this success. I would recommend anyone to go for it if they are considering becoming a Chartered Banker, as it provides a real sense of achievement.

My key takeaways include how rewarding this has been. I know I have had to work incredibly hard and spent a lot of time on becoming a Chartered Banker. However, it really has been worth it. Additionally, becoming a Chartered Banker alongside a cohort of like-minded individuals has been a great experience as we have all encouraged each other and can now share our successes.”

It is often said that education opens new doors to the future and at Kaplan we have seen this in abundance with many of our learners. Unlike other professions, such as accounting, there is no mandated qualification required to have a career in banking. For some this might mean there is a reliance on obtaining a degree as an entry point.

However, there is, and has been an alternative to this for decades: professional qualifications.

I’d like to share with you some stories that show how professional education provides an inclusive approach to developing a successful and rewarding career in banking. 

As noted above – it might seem like there is not a dedicated benchmark banking qualification - because it isn’t a degree programme - but this is not the case. For example, the Chartered Banker Institute's Advanced Diploma in Banking & Leadership in a Digital Age offers study in core banking areas such as: Professionalism & Ethics, Bank Strategy Operations & Technology, Bank Risk management and either Commercial Lending or Private Banking. 

Alongside these core areas, there are themes of digital & sustainability throughout the degree level learning journey and valuable leadership lessons from banking history! Everything the modern banker could need to kick start their career.

This qualification route has worked particularly well for those who are wanting to advance to leadership level in banking or those who want to increase their technical knowledge to support colleagues & customers better in commercial or retail banking sectors. On completion, and unlike life after university graduation, you can opt to remain part of the global network of Chartered Bankers through professional membership of the Institute. This supports you with a broad range of resources to help you develop your career path and to extend your knowledge.

At Kaplan, we are proud to offer this Chartered Banker route as part of our Level 6 Financial Services Professional & Level 7 Senior Commercial Banking Professional Apprenticeships. 

We continue to celebrate world class results, year on year, from our UK banking apprentices who study with us, these are rewarded with prize-giving and recognition from the Chartered Banker Institute. 

Author - Abigail Aston, FCBI Chartered Fellow, Financial Services Curriculum Manager, Kaplan UK