IPA 2025 membership and licence renewals now open

Joint Insolvency Examination (JIE)

Please ensure you are a Student member of the IPA before applying. Fees are payable to the Joint Insolvency Board.


2024 exam dates

  • Corporate Insolvency: 12 November
  • Personal Insolvency: 13 November


JIE Syllabus and Examiners Reports E&W

JIE Syllabus and Examiners Reports Scotland

JIE Past Papers

If you would like to become a licensed Insolvency Practitioner, you are required to pass the JIE exams. The first step to sitting the exams is to register with one of the insolvency Recognised Professional Bodies, such as the IPA, if you haven’t already.

Working as an Insolvency Practitioner can be one of the most challenging, involving and rewarding careers. It is a varied and fascinating career to pursue – one that will eventually grant you a wealth of business experience and technical knowledge across a range of industries.

As a significant part of the insolvency licensing regime, the JIE exam is rightly a challenging signal to prospective practitioners about the high standards and great responsibility they must accept when they assume their licence. The IPA is supportive of the JIE, and, as an RPB, the IPA is a guardian of the Joint Insolvency Examination Board’s (JIEB’s) mission to provide the most practical test of ability and aptitude across the many subject areas an Insolvency Practitioner must navigate.

If you are considering the JIEB exams as a next step in your career, please do get in touch: we’d love to talk to more about the many rewarding opportunities an insolvency licence supported by professional accreditation can bring.

About the Joint Insolvency Exams

The JIE exams are held once a year in November on two consecutive days.
There are two papers. Please note that 2018 was the first year of Computer Based Examinations (‘CBE’) for all those undertaking the papers. Further information on CBE is here.

Paper 1 – Corporate Insolvency
Paper 2 – Personal Insolvency

What is involved?

The standard required to achieve JIEB qualification is equivalent to that which is required for final qualifying examinations set by recognised professional accountancy and legal bodies.

Each paper is three and a half hours in length and consists of a mixture of written and numerical questions on practical insolvency issues. These are open book exams, and candidates need to bring with them their own copy of the Butterworths Insolvency Law Handbook. Candidates should check that they are using an edition that is appropriate to the syllabus that is being examined.

The JIEB exams may test legislation which is not covered within Butterworths. Candidates should have a good understanding of any other relevant legislation and case law which may be applicable. 

Candidates must also be familiar with the Statements of Insolvency Practice (or SIPs), the Guidance Papers, the Ethical Code and any other relevant publications to the profession. 

Examination questions are usually based on the relevant law and guidance in force on 30 April that year. Questions do not require more recent case law, but demonstrating knowledge of any that is relevant will attract additional marks.

Am I eligible to sit the JIEB exams?

Following the removal of the Early Entry Examinations, there are no longer any educational standards required before an application can be made to sit the JIEB exams. However, the exams test the practical knowledge and skills which a licenced Insolvency Practitioner would gain through their day to day working life and are known to be particularly testing. 

R3 recommends that candidates do not attempt the examination without at least three years’ practical insolvency experience covering each of the areas to be examined.

2018 Examinations: the position from 2018 onward.

About the results

The JIEB exam results are usually available at the beginning of March. The pass mark for each paper is that determined by the JIEB, but is never more than 50%. Each candidate receives either a ‘bad fail’, ‘fail’, ‘marginal fail’ or ‘pass’ for each paper. No other performance feedback is provided by the JIEB. 

For further information on the JIE, please visit the JIE website.