The actual amount of time each student needs to spend on a particular subject will vary from student to student. Quality of study time is far more important than quantity of study time. However, the following guidelines are suggested:
| Core Technical subjects (CT1–CT8) | between 125 and 150 hours depending on the subject and an individual student’s past educational background in the subject. |
| Business Awareness Module (CT9) | 30 hours plus two-day course |
| Core Applications Concepts (CA1) | 400 hours |
| Modelling Module (CA2) | 20 hours (this assumes that some of the preparation for this module forms part of Work-based skills) plus two-day course |
| Communications (CA3) | 50 hours |
| Specialist Technical subjects | 200 hours |
| Specialist Applications subjects | 300 hours |
| Specialist Applications subjects taken with UK Practice Modules | 320 hours |
It is therefore suggested that a reasonable workload for any one study session from September to April might be:
The study session from May to September is shorter and so it may be difficult for a student to study at the same rate during this time. A student who studies every session with no failures could be expected to attain Fellowship within three years.