Our Certificate in Employee Share Plans
Our Certificate in Employee Share Plans is the leading, and only, professionally recognised qualification for share plan practitioners in the UK.
Course overview
The course has been developed, and is delivered, by our experienced lawyers at multi-award-winning law firm Tapestry Compliance and is accredited by The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland.
This qualification is designed for those working with share plans in any context, whether you work for a company or other (non-legal) provider such as a share plan administrator or trustee. Whatever your role, if it involves share plans, this course is for you!
The course will give you the relevant knowledge you need to understand your (or your client’s) share plans better, and more holistically, providing you with the confidence to operate and execute plans both in the UK and globally.
With more than 1,000 graduates, we now have an active alumni club, offering events, news and updates.
Why take this course?
The benefits to both you and your company of studying for our Certificate in Employee Share Plans are many, and include:
- Being up-to-date. Our course covers the latest updates on plan design, governance and regulatory requirements.
- Driving efficiencies. Our graduates are able to recognise and address key issues in-house, helping to improve efficiency and support effectiveness in role.
- Reducing risk. Our graduates understand the rules and importance of compliance, reducing risk to the company and its executives, and even the risks of criminal penalties.
- Seeing the whole picture. Our course covers all key components of designing and operating executive and employee share plans. Graduates will learn how to understand and oversee the entire process, working with internal teams such as legal, tax, accounting, HR and finance, as well as external advisers like lawyers, consultants and administrators.
- Staying connected. It doesn’t end with graduation! Our alumni programme enables you to stay connected with your peers and remain up-to-date with the industry.
Who is the course aimed at?
The Certificate in Employee Share Plans course is designed for practitioners working with share plans in any context, whether you work for a company or other (non-legal) provider such as a share plan administrator or trustee.
It is perfectly suited to:
- Company secretaries, assistant company secretaries and their teams
- Administrators (within companies and those providing external services)
- Professional trustees working with employee share plans
- HR and reward professionals and consultants
- Benefit consultants and those providing related services such as communications
Whatever your role, if it involves share plans, this course is for you!
Course Structure
The course is currently split into two parts, each taught online, over five short days (30 teaching hours).
Each part is followed by an exam.
- Introduction to share plans
- Design
- Legal and Regulatory
- International
- Executive Share Plans
- Tax
- All-Employee Plans
- Accounting and disclosure
- Administration
Each part combines larger group teaching with participatory learning through smaller breakout sessions, including worked examples, case studies and Q&A. All our material will be available to you.
Attendance
You must attend at least 75% of the sessions for each Part of the course, to be eligible to sit the exam for that Part. If there are issues with your attendance once the course starts, you can speak to us and we may be able to make arrangements to help you.
Course materials
The course material is fully updated each year with the latest developments and new case studies.
A set of materials will be provided for each module This includes detailed notes, slides, and test yourself Q&A. Once you are registered on the course, you will receive login details to your personal Cert ESP hub containing an electronic copy of your course materials.
Assessment methodology
Each of the 2 parts will be assessed by a 2 hour virtual examination.
Each exam is worth 50% of the final grade received.
The examinations are set by the Exam Board and moderated by the Chartered Governance Institute moderator who is responsible for maintaining standards. More information, in the form of a detailed exam guide will be provided to course students joining the course.
We are keen that you feel confident about taking the exams and will support you where possible, with your revision and exam practice, and we offer separate revision classes and exam “tips and tricks” sessions.
To pass the Certificate
To be awarded the Certificate, you must achieve a pass result (50% or over) in each of the two exams. If you fail one or both of the examinations, you will be permitted up to two opportunities to re-sit each failed part. The re-sit must be taken at the next examination date, unless approved mitigating circumstances prevent this. Both exams (and complete attendance of the course) must normally be passed within 3 years of the end of the year in which you started attending the course. As an example, if you were to attend Part 1 of the course in May 2023, you would need to ensure you attended Part 2 and passed both exams by December 2026. If both parts have not been attended and the exams for each part passed by this deadline, you will need to retake the entire programme of study.
The overall grade will be the average of both exams and will be shown on your certificate as a named grade band. This is as follows:
Pass
50 - 64.5
Merit
65 - 74.5
Distinction
75 - 100
Quality assurance
Tapestry is committed to delivering the highest of standards for both course delivery and course material.
The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland is responsible for quality assurance of the assessment, through moderation of the exam material and the marking.
Awards
An award ceremony will take place after completion of the course. On successful completion of the course, you will be invited to take up affiliated membership of the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland.
Who delivers the course?
The course is delivered by our highly experienced Tapestry lawyers, who are the leading experts in the field and who also developed the qualification. We occasionally invite other experts to present on topics such as accounting for share plans, to ensure you have the opportunity to learn from the very best.
Senior Finance Manager
Credit Controller/Legal Cashier
Course content
The course is delivered in 2 parts over 30 teaching hours and covers the following 9 modules
Introduction to Share Plans
- The wide range of employee and executive share plans.
- Reasons why companies choose to operate employee share plans.
- The evolution of share plans and the regulatory environment in which share plans operate.
- Key terminology used in share plans.
- What “compliance” means and why it is important.
- The key features and documents for a long term incentive plan.
Design
- Commercial factors that will influence plan design.
- Who will be involved in designing a share plan.
- Key design features of different kinds of share plans.
- The key steps for launching a new share plan.
- How key corporate governance principles and investor guidelines can impact on the design of share plans.
Legal and Regulatory
- The approvals and authorisations needed to implement an employee share plan.
- Legal and regulatory issues that may arise when establishing and operating an employee share plan.
- Issues restricting the times when awards can be granted and exercised or vested and shares can be sold.
- The key legal principles relevant to share plans including:
- Formation of a contract;
- The use of trusts;
- Malus and clawback;
- Insider dealing;
- Investment advice; and
- Employment law (including age discrimination).
International Plans
- Why companies choose to implement global employee and executive share plans.
- The key areas to be considered when designing/operating global share plans.
- The risks of non-compliance with overseas regulatory requirements and the benefits of implementing a global compliance process.
- The relevant considerations when dealing with mobile employees.
Executive Share Plans
- The key legal issues which arise in the context of executive plans.
- The key plan structures used for executive plans.
- Key features of executive plans, such as retention periods, malus and clawback, leaver provisions and performance conditions.
Tax
- UK tax and national insurance, including their purpose and classification.
- The UK tax treatment of employee shares and share awards.
- When share awards are subject to national insurance contributions.
- How income tax and national insurance contributions are collected.
All-Employee Plans
- The main differences between all-employee and discretionary plans.
- The key elements and tax treatment of UK tax advantaged all-employee savings related plans and share incentive plans.
- The main differences between UK tax advantaged and non-tax advantaged plans.
Accounting and Disclosure
- Key concepts for accounting entries for employee share plans.
- Disclosure obligations in an employee share plans context.
- The key elements of directors’ remuneration and interests in shares to be disclosed to the company, the FCA and the company’s shareholders.
Administration
- What kind of administration services are available.
- Data privacy requirements.
- Key issues covered in an administration agreement.
Dates and pricing
We are delighted that bookings for our 2025 course are open until the end of April 2025.
2025 course dates
2025 exam dates
2025 course pricing
Course price is £4,650 plus VAT.
Register and pay by 31 December 2024 to get our Early Bird rate of £4,350 plus VAT.
To book your place, please complete the application form here.
Any questions regarding the course, please do contact us.
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Client
Chambers & Partners 2025
Tapestry has been instrumental in providing us with advice on complex matters. They handle a broad range of matters in this space that very few firms are capable of.
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Chambers & Partners 2025
They are excellent at providing pragmatic advice that is actionable.
Client
Chambers & Partners 2025
Thorough guidance was always provided on all matters and the team was always available and responsive to whatever issues were raised.
Client
Legal500 2025
Tapestry are a boutique share plan firm, whose global reach means they're a one-stop-shop for us. Their industry knowledge is excellent, they take the time to get to know us as a business and what our specific needs are, and they're proactive in thinking about solutions to current issues or potential future issues.
Client
Legal500 2025
This team is hands-down the most knowledgeable and experienced in the field of employee share schemes in the UK. I cannot recommend them highly enough.