Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers exams: syllabus, fees and the route to MICS

If you are researching this qualification online you will hit the same wall everyone hits. Two different organisations use the initials ICS, and only one of them runs the exams you are looking for.

Everything below refers to the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, the body that issues the Chartered Shipbroker qualification. It was founded in 1911, granted a Royal Charter in 1920, has 27 branches worldwide and around 4,000 members and fellows. Its examinations are designed to be broadly comparable with degree level standard, and its Fellows are the only people permitted to use the protected title Chartered Shipbroker.

Three ways in

Foundation Diploma

An optional entry point for people with little industry experience. Introduction to Shipping plus one Group 2 subject. A qualification in its own right that also counts towards full membership later.

Advanced Diploma

For those with some existing industry knowledge. Shipping Business plus one further elective. Also recognised on its own.

Professional Qualifying Examinations, the full route

Seven exams, completed over up to five years, though many people finish faster. You must sit at least two exams in your first year, and one of them must be Shipping Business. This is the route to MICS membership.

• •Group 1, all four compulsory: Introduction to Shipping, Legal Principles in Shipping Business, Economics of Sea Transport and International Trade, and Shipping Business.
• •Group 2, choose three of twelve: Dry Cargo Chartering, Ship Operations and Management, Ship Sale and Purchase, Tanker Chartering, Liner Trades, Port Agency, Logistics and Multi-modal Transport, Port and Terminal Management, Offshore Support Industry, Shipping Law, Marine Insurance, Shipping Finance.
• •Up to three subjects may be exempted if you hold a relevant qualification earned in the last seven years. Exemptions do not apply to the diplomas, so if you qualify for several, going straight into the PQE often makes more sense.

What the four compulsory papers actually cover

Introduction to Shipping

Commercial geography, international trade theory including absolute and comparative advantage, cargoes and trade routes, liners versus tramps, ship types and size categories with sketch based questions, contracts of carriage, the law of carriage including the Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules, ship registration and classification, who the practitioners are, and basic accounting.

Much of this will be familiar ground if you have sailed. The accounting section usually is not.

Legal Principles in Shipping Business

Why English law dominates shipping documentation, common law and precedent against statute, time bars, arbitration in London, New York and Paris, contract formation and frustration, agency, tort including negligence and vicarious liability, the law of carriage, general average, and the main international conventions.

Economics of Sea Transport and International Trade

Maritime economics from the ground up: demand for shipping as derived demand, ton-miles and elasticity, world fleet and trade patterns, newbuildings and scrapping, economies of scale and optimal ship size, market structures, voyage estimating and breakeven analysis, and international finance including exchange rates. The syllabus does not require statistical methodology, the focus is on relating theory to real world evidence.

Shipping Business

The broadest paper, and the one you must take in your first year with no exemption permitted. Company structures and capital raising, then each shipping business sector examined the same way: who they work for, contract form, scope of work, documentation and remuneration. Dry cargo chartering, tanker chartering, sale and purchase, ship operations and management, port agency, liner agency, freight forwarders and NVOCs. Then business ethics and fraud, the geography of trade, INCOTERMS and letters of credit, business communication, and the main shipping organisations.

The twelve electives, in brief

What it costs

Completing the full PQE by self study, with no exemptions, works out at roughly £1,300 to £2,000 across registration and seven exam entries, depending on how many years you take and whether you use TutorShip or the Online Academy. Against the cost of a master's degree, that is a different order of magnitude.

Where you sit the exams

In India, two branches serve candidates: Mumbai and Madras. The Madras branch network extends access to Delhi, Kolkata, Vizag, Tuticorin, Cochin and Mangalore, with exam centres operating at Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Vizag and Mangalore. Exams run twice a year, in May and November.

Globally there are 27 branches across major shipping centres including London, Greece, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, South Africa and Ireland, supported by 11 international teaching centres, all aligned to the same May and November timetable.

MICS and FICS are not the same thing

What membership gets you, and what it does not

Membership brings the postnominals, a members only careers board, mentoring and career guidance, access to the membership directory across 27 branches, the quarterly Shipping Network magazine, and 30% off a Lloyd's List subscription.

The Institute's own FAQ states plainly that it cannot guarantee career prospects, and I would repeat that. The qualification is widely respected and builds real theoretical credibility, but it works best combined with industry networking and experience. It is not a standalone guarantee of a chartering job, and anyone selling it to you that way is overselling.

One practical suggestion from my own experience rather than from any official source: if you are studying for Chief Mate phase two, consider pairing it with ICS preparation. The maritime law content overlaps meaningfully with the Legal Principles paper, and you are already in the habit of studying.