R&D Tax Relief Certification

Be the first to get certified in R&D tax relief for £1,500+VAT

Earn yourself a rigorous and practical qualification to support your work in R&D tax relief.

Get to grips with the crucial foundations of R&D tax relief that you need to work effectively in an R&D or business development team.

Foundation Level Certification

This is the industry’s first certification in R&D tax relief.

It provides the basic level of understanding of R&D tax relief that anyone would require to work effectively in an R&D or business development team. You’ll find it rigorous and practical, with clear applications to your everyday role and responsibilities.

It’s built for a wide range of roles, so that everyone from the business development team to the support staff and those preparing claims can work from the same foundational understanding of R&D tax relief.

Core Training Modules

The Foundation Certification is based on these six courses that span the most essential knowledge for anyone working in R&D tax relief.

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Marketing & Ethics

Understand how some marketing messages can negatively affect your R&D service.

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Screening and Selling

Find the right clients to maintain high standards and stay on the right side of HMRC.

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The Merged R&D Scheme

A guide to HMRC’s Merged R&D tax relief scheme and how to work confidently within it.

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Explaining Eligibility

How to effectively structure your technical conversations with your client.

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Accounting Basics

An overview of the basic accountancy concepts and calculations for R&D tax relief

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Costs & Apportionments

All the cost categories from HMRC’s guidance, and how to apportion costs accurately.

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Benefits

Why invest in a Foundation R&D Tax Relief Certification?

There are many reasons why you might invest in an R&D certification. You may want to:

  • Improve your knowledge of R&D tax relief
  • Build credibility with clients, peers, your employer, and even HMRC
  • Reduce risk and improve profitability by ensuring you have the full picture and all the information you need to understand R&D tax relief claims.

If you’re managing a team, getting everyone certified can ensure an equal understanding of the R&D scheme, and reassure clients that you’ll provide a consistent and accurate service.

Who is it for?

Foundation level certification is for anyone involved in the process of a claim – from screening and recruiting clients through to claim preparation and enquiry defence.

When and where is it running?

The training and certification are fully remote, and you can access most of the training on your own schedule. There will also be 6 live office hours sessions, as detailed below – these will be recorded for those unable to attend.

Second cohort starts 1 April 2024 and runs until end June. The next cohort will start in September2025.

Certification is valid for 2 years and you’ll be invited to recertify.

How much does it cost?

A Foundation Certification costs £1500+VAT per person, which includes the initial diagnostic assessment, certification training programme and exam.

Certification Training Programme

Week 1

Tuesday 1 April

Diagnostic Assessment

The assessment will test your existing knowledge of the 6 key topics. We’ll provide you with personalised feedback to allow you to prioritise your individual training needs.

Week 2

7 April

Training

This week we will focus on Marketing and Ethics.

Week 3

14 April

Training

This week we will focus on Screening and Selling.

Week 4

21 April

Office Hours

This week we’ll offer two live office hours calls. You’ll be invited to submit questions in advance concerning the training courses from weeks 2 and 3. These sessions will be recorded and made available to review.

Week 5

28 April

Training

This week we will focus on the Merged R&D Scheme.

Week 6

5 May

Training

This week we will focus on Explaining Eligibility.

Week 7

12 May

Office Hours

This week we’ll offer two live office hours calls for the courses from weeks 5 and 6.

Week 8

19 May

Training Courses

This week we will focus on Accounting Basics.

Week 9

26 May

Training Courses

This week we will focus on Qualifying Costs.

Week 10

2 June

Office Hours

This week we’ll offer two live office hours calls for the courses from weeks 8 and 9.

Week 11

9 June

Revision

This week we’ll provide support with revision and a chance to ask any final questions about the training material.

Weeks 12 & 13

16 June

Exam

We’ll invite you to schedule your exam for a convenient time within this 2-week window.

How can I sign up?

You can join the waiting list to be notified when cohort 2 is open for registration.


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More Information

What payment methods are available?

After you have registered we’ll use the billing details you’ve supplied to send an invoice for your certification fee.

Do you offer a payment plan?

If you need to pay in instalments, we can offer a payment plan if you register more than 60 days before the start of the programme. You will only be able to participate in the programme if we have received all your payments beforehand. You can request information about this when you register.

Do you offer any discounts?

We occasionally get asked if discounts are available for certain groups, like students or sole practitioners. At this time, we’re not offering any discounts on certification. There is an early bird discount for cohort 2 – if you register and pay before 31 December, the certification fee is reduced by £150+VAT.

Do members get a discounted rate on certification?

As members already have access to our training academy, they will pay a reduced fee of £950+VAT to take the certification and participate in the cohort along with everyone else.

Can I join as a member and take the certification at the same time?

Yes, if you’d like to – membership provides access to a wider range of training and additional support with claim preparation. If you decide you need both at the same time, we’re happy to welcome you as a member.

If your priority is to focus on certification and you don’t need the additional support for your work on claims, then we recommend you take the certification first, and join as a member on completion. This will give you the best value combination of training resources and support.

What will the exam be like?

For the Foundation certification, the exam will be scenario-based with multiple choice questions. It will be a timed, closed book exam, and will be secured with a remote proctoring platform. This may include video invigilation.

The Advanced certification exam is likely to have both open and closed book assessments, and a wider variety of question types and exercises. We will release more details of this in due course.

Will there be a practice exam?

Yes, we will offer practice questions, and from cohort 2 onwards we will provide access to past papers. As well as this, our diagnostic assessment will offer you an estimation of your knowledge at the beginning of the training process. You’ll be able to retake this during the revision week if you want to get a measure of your progress.

How will the exam be scored?

Certification will be offered on a pass/fail basis.

If you don’t pass, we’ll discuss your options to resit or to retake the exam in a future cohort.

What if I need more than 10 weeks to complete the training and prepare for the exam?

If you feel you need more time to work on the training before you take the exam, there are a range of options.

You can choose to join as a member to give you the flexibility to study on your own schedule, and then take the exam only when you are ready.

You’d also be welcome to join a second cohort to repeat the training with another group.

Can I get extra support with the training?

If you want extra support during the training period, from Cohort 2 onwards we plan to offer an Enhanced Support package. This could be for one individual, or for a small group who work together already. We’ll share more information about this in due course.

Can I skip the training and just take the exam?

In future, there will be an ‘exam only’ option, where you can sign up just to take the certification exam in November or June, along with a training cohort.

This can work well alongside membership of The R&D Community. Membership gives you the flexibility to take the training courses in your own time, and you can use our Helpline for support with the training material.

How does the support work for the cohort?

Everyone who joins the cohort will be invited to join a private community. At present this will be in the form of a WhatsApp group. Every week we’ll offer encouragement and resources relevant to the training topics for that week, as described above. You can use the group to submit questions for the Q&A calls, as well as to ask questions of the group as you go through the training in real time.

We’ll offer the same encouragement and resources by email, and you’ll also be able to email questions for the Q&A calls, so you can still participate even if you can’t or don’t want to join the group on WhatsApp.

In the future, we may provide the support through a different community platform.

Have HMRC approved this certification?

Tax advice is currently an unregulated profession. HMRC has set out its standard for agents – the certification is aligned with those standards and should provide evidence that you have the capability to meet the standards.

We will also be inviting HMRC to take our certification programme so that we can ensure it’s fit for purpose. They have indicated some interest in this approach and we are in ongoing discussions with them about the role of certification in the context of improving standards in tax.

Do the professional bodies recognise this certification?

We have had ongoing discussions with professional bodies, such as the CIOT, during development of the certification. Once the certification is established, our aim is for it be recognised as evidencing relevant CPD.

Has your training been independently assessed?

Our training has been reviewed by many R&D tax relief experts within the industry and has been developed and updated based on their feedback.

We are exploring the best option for accrediting our training and certification by an independent body, so that you can be confident in its quality and validity.

Why should I trust a certification from The R&D Community?

Our team has extensive experience of working in R&D tax relief. Our Founder, Richard, has started and grown an R&D consultancy company, an R&D software company, and The R&D Community, which provides support and training to R&D advisors. Other members of our team have worked in the Big 4 and bring significant experience to their roles in supporting members and designing new specialist training courses.

What if I get certified and then leave my employer?

As you have earned the certification, it goes with you. If your employer has paid for your certification, they may have a claw back clause if you leave within a certain time period.

What if I change employers during the certification?

Again, this depends on your agreement with your employer. From our perspective, certification fees are non-refundable in these circumstances. You are welcome to continue your certification wherever you are employed.

What if I can’t complete the certification?

At our discretion, we may offer you a partial refund, or move your registration to a future certification cohort, if exceptional circumstances prevent you from completing the certification with your cohort.