The Curriculum for the CISON’s professional examinations is developed along the line of the RSS’ examinations to enable prospective candidates acquire professional statistical education at the foundation, intermediate and graduate levels. They should also be suitable for those who wish to convert to statistics from other disciplines, and for those who have had little or no formal statistical training, but who through diligence and with the requisite background, can go through a sequential level of training and examinations to acquire the relevant professional certificates.
The comprehensive syllabus of courses in applied statistics should lead to the acquisition of professional certificates, namely, Ordinary Certificate, Higher Certificate and Graduate Certificate, as already discussed elsewhere. The highest examinable qualification, which is the CISON’s Graduate Certificate, should be of such a high quality as to be widely recognised and respected, both nationally and internationally, by employers in the public and private sectors and also be a veritable entry requirement for admission to an MSc course in Statistics. The examinations should be held at a fixed month of the year to be determined by Council.