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Diploma

Diploma in Company Secretary Practice

$3,695
30 hours
Self-paced
Commences: September 2025

Become a certified company secretary. Gain the knowledge, tools, and confidence to strengthen governance standards and contribute meaningfully to organisational integrity and performance.

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University validated. Globally recognised. Boardroom ready.
  • World class faculty
  • University credit-rated
  • Global alumni network
  • Best institute of the year 2024
  • Flexible learning

University credit-rated. Industry approved. Globally recognised.

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Why take the Diploma in Company Secretary Practice?

This company secretary course blends legal insight with governance best practices, equipping you to confidently navigate complex regulatory environments, support high-performing boards, and provide trusted advisory at the highest levels of an organisation. All course content is reviewed and validated by qualified, practising company secretaries – including advisors to listed companies and one of the UK’s largest media organisations.

You will benefit by

  • Building confidence in boardroom decision-making and oversight
  • Learning strategic leadership from experienced governance experts
  • Gaining insights you can apply immediately in your organisation
  • Earning a respected credential without needing peer approval
  • Joining a global network of governance-focused professionals

Trusted by professionals from leading organisations

Join a global network of certified professionals from industry-leading organisations

NHS
Google
Amazon
PWC
HSBC
Apple
Majid al-futtaim
Ahlibank
Programme Content

Learn more about the Diploma in Company Secretary Practice

Module 1

Roles and responsibilities of the Company Secretary

Module 2

Legal and Regulatory Framework: Theory and Practice

Module 3

Statutory and Regulatory Compliance

Module 4

Board Roles, Responsibilities and Committees

Module 5

Board Dynamics, Governance Processes and Support

Module 6

Financial Literacy

Module 7

Risk Management and Internal Control

Module 8

Shareholder and Stakeholder Management

Module 9

Emerging Trends in Corporate Governance

Module 10

The Effective Company Secretary
Roles and responsibilities of the Company Secretary
  • Define the role and responsibilities of the company secretary.
  • Explain how the role has evolved in response to governance challenges.
  • Describe the company secretary's strategic influence on board decision-making.
  • Identify key principles of good corporate governance.
  • Recognise how company secretaries ensure legal and regulatory compliance.
  • Compare different governance frameworks and board structures.
  • Identify corporate laws and governance codes.
  • Understand emerging trends impacting governance, such as ESG and technology.
Legal and Regulatory Framework: Theory and Practice
  • Recognise key corporate governance theories.
  • Assess conflicts, decision-making, and outcomes.
  • Recognise company law in key jurisdictions.
  • Identify and analyse key company law reforms.
  • Identify directors' fiduciary duties and responsibilities to shareholders.
  • Identify the roles of the board, executives, and shareholders in corporate governance.
  • Recognise the listing requirements of major stock exchanges.
  • Recognise the impacts of insider trading and best practices for handling inside information.
  • Recognise how key corporate governance codes are applied through stock exchange listing rules across various jurisdictions.
Statutory and Regulatory Compliance
  • Identify company types and outline key steps in formation and dissolution.
  • Explain the roles of shares, shareholders, and dividend distribution.
  • Maintain statutory registers and manage record-keeping risks.
  • Distinguish between event-driven and periodic filing obligations.
  • Compare filing requirements across jurisdictions and recent reforms.
  • Recognise governance and compliance challenges in group structures.
  • Use technology to improve filing, reporting, and compliance accuracy.
Board Roles, Responsibilities and Committees
  • Identify the board's key roles in setting purpose, strategy, risk oversight, and stakeholder engagement.
  • Describe how boards make decisions and the company secretary's role in supporting effective governance.
  • Explain the function of board committees and how they enhance oversight and efficiency.
  • Recognise the structure, purpose, and operations of audit, nomination, and remuneration committees.
  • Assess the role of emerging committees, such as ESG and technology committees, in addressing evolving governance priorities.
  • Understand how the company secretary supports board and committee effectiveness through coordination, advice, and governance practices.
Board Dynamics, Governance Processes and Support
  • Identify strategies to foster board cohesion, trust, and effective decision-making.
  • Recognise the board's role in shaping culture and engaging stakeholders ethically.
  • Apply best practices to structure and manage effective board and committee meetings.
  • Support the development of strategic board calendars and high-quality agenda planning.
  • Implement effective minute writing techniques and use technology to support governance.
  • Ensure board reporting is timely, relevant, and aligned with strategic priorities.
  • Recognise the company secretary's role in crisis support, board development, and director training.
  • Understand how to design, conduct, and act on board performance evaluations.
Financial Literacy
  • Describe the financial responsibilities of the company secretary and their collaboration with the CFO and finance team.
  • Identify the core functions of the finance team and their role in supporting governance and compliance.
  • Recognise the purpose and components of financial statements, accounting policies, and key financial ratios.
  • Understand budgeting and forecasting processes and their relevance to board oversight and investor confidence.
  • Describe the structure and governance disclosures in an annual report, including the company secretary’s role in shaping them.
  • Recognise best practices in corporate governance reporting and financial transparency.
  • Explain the role of external auditors and how they support integrity, assurance, and stakeholder trust.
Risk Management and Internal Control
  • Identify key categories of risk and explain how they vary by sector and business model.
  • Describe the purpose and structure of common risk management frameworks.
  • Define and distinguish between risk appetite and tolerance, and explain how boards embed them into operations.
  • Outline the risk management process and explain the role of tools such as risk registers, heat maps, and stress testing.
  • Recognise how risk management is integrated into strategy and decision-making at board level.
  • Identify the components of effective internal control systems and common causes of control failure.
  • Distinguish the roles of the three lines of defence and explain how they support risk oversight.
  • Describe the responsibilities of the audit committee and board in overseeing risk, internal controls, and long-term viability.
  • Recognise the company secretary's role in supporting risk governance, committee operations, and internal control documentation.
Shareholder and Stakeholder Management
  • Distinguish types of shareholders and their rights.
  • Describe the IPO process and governance implications.
  • Support legal and procedural requirements for shareholder meetings.
  • Compare formats of AGMs and assess compliance considerations.
  • Explain the role of proxy advisors and institutional investors.
  • Respond to shareholder activism and dissent.
  • Understand governance practices in private companies.
  • Apply stakeholder mapping tools and frameworks.
  • Recognise how to support boards in balancing shareholder and stakeholder interests.
Emerging Trends in Corporate Governance
  • Trace the evolution of ESG principles and explain their relevance to corporate governance.
  • Recognise the expectations of different stakeholder groups and the challenges of ESG integration.
  • Identify key ESG reporting frameworks and understand associated disclosure obligations.
  • Explain ESG materiality, including the concept of double materiality, and its role in strategy and reporting.
  • Describe the purpose and structure of ESG committees and how boards oversee ESG risks.
  • Outline the company secretary's role in ESG governance, reporting, and director capability-building.
  • Compare the EU AI Act with global AI regulatory approaches and assess their governance implications.
  • Explain how boards oversee AI strategy, risk, and ethics, and identify governance models for AI oversight.
The Effective Company Secretary
  • Explain the importance of trust in the company secretary’s relationships and apply strategies to build it.
  • Apply principles of clear, purposeful communication to influence stakeholders and support governance.
  • Define personal brand in the governance context and identify ways to strengthen professional presence.
  • Demonstrate emotional resilience and respond constructively to stress and challenges in the role.
  • Explore pathways for career progression and apply strategies for professional growth and visibility.
  • Lead or contribute effectively within secretariat teams, including distributed or cross-border teams.
  • Identify ongoing development needs and use professional networks, resources and technology to stay future-ready.
Module 1
  • Define the role and responsibilities of the company secretary.
  • Explain how the role has evolved in response to governance challenges.
  • Describe the company secretary's strategic influence on board decision-making.
  • Identify key principles of good corporate governance.
  • Recognise how company secretaries ensure legal and regulatory compliance.
  • Compare different governance frameworks and board structures.
  • Identify corporate laws and governance codes.
  • Understand emerging trends impacting governance, such as ESG and technology.
Module 2
  • Recognise key corporate governance theories.
  • Assess conflicts, decision-making, and outcomes.
  • Recognise company law in key jurisdictions.
  • Identify and analyse key company law reforms.
  • Identify directors' fiduciary duties and responsibilities to shareholders.
  • Identify the roles of the board, executives, and shareholders in corporate governance.
  • Recognise the listing requirements of major stock exchanges.
  • Recognise the impacts of insider trading and best practices for handling inside information.
  • Recognise how key corporate governance codes are applied through stock exchange listing rules across various jurisdictions.
Module 3
  • Identify company types and outline key steps in formation and dissolution.
  • Explain the roles of shares, shareholders, and dividend distribution.
  • Maintain statutory registers and manage record-keeping risks.
  • Distinguish between event-driven and periodic filing obligations.
  • Compare filing requirements across jurisdictions and recent reforms.
  • Recognise governance and compliance challenges in group structures.
  • Use technology to improve filing, reporting, and compliance accuracy.
Module 4
  • Identify the board's key roles in setting purpose, strategy, risk oversight, and stakeholder engagement.
  • Describe how boards make decisions and the company secretary's role in supporting effective governance.
  • Explain the function of board committees and how they enhance oversight and efficiency.
  • Recognise the structure, purpose, and operations of audit, nomination, and remuneration committees.
  • Assess the role of emerging committees, such as ESG and technology committees, in addressing evolving governance priorities.
  • Understand how the company secretary supports board and committee effectiveness through coordination, advice, and governance practices.
Module 5
  • Identify strategies to foster board cohesion, trust, and effective decision-making.
  • Recognise the board's role in shaping culture and engaging stakeholders ethically.
  • Apply best practices to structure and manage effective board and committee meetings.
  • Support the development of strategic board calendars and high-quality agenda planning.
  • Implement effective minute writing techniques and use technology to support governance.
  • Ensure board reporting is timely, relevant, and aligned with strategic priorities.
  • Recognise the company secretary's role in crisis support, board development, and director training.
  • Understand how to design, conduct, and act on board performance evaluations.
Module 6
  • Describe the financial responsibilities of the company secretary and their collaboration with the CFO and finance team.
  • Identify the core functions of the finance team and their role in supporting governance and compliance.
  • Recognise the purpose and components of financial statements, accounting policies, and key financial ratios.
  • Understand budgeting and forecasting processes and their relevance to board oversight and investor confidence.
  • Describe the structure and governance disclosures in an annual report, including the company secretary’s role in shaping them.
  • Recognise best practices in corporate governance reporting and financial transparency.
  • Explain the role of external auditors and how they support integrity, assurance, and stakeholder trust.
Module 7
  • Identify key categories of risk and explain how they vary by sector and business model.
  • Describe the purpose and structure of common risk management frameworks.
  • Define and distinguish between risk appetite and tolerance, and explain how boards embed them into operations.
  • Outline the risk management process and explain the role of tools such as risk registers, heat maps, and stress testing.
  • Recognise how risk management is integrated into strategy and decision-making at board level.
  • Identify the components of effective internal control systems and common causes of control failure.
  • Distinguish the roles of the three lines of defence and explain how they support risk oversight.
  • Describe the responsibilities of the audit committee and board in overseeing risk, internal controls, and long-term viability.
  • Recognise the company secretary's role in supporting risk governance, committee operations, and internal control documentation.
Module 8
  • Distinguish types of shareholders and their rights.
  • Describe the IPO process and governance implications.
  • Support legal and procedural requirements for shareholder meetings.
  • Compare formats of AGMs and assess compliance considerations.
  • Explain the role of proxy advisors and institutional investors.
  • Respond to shareholder activism and dissent.
  • Understand governance practices in private companies.
  • Apply stakeholder mapping tools and frameworks.
  • Recognise how to support boards in balancing shareholder and stakeholder interests.
Module 9
  • Trace the evolution of ESG principles and explain their relevance to corporate governance.
  • Recognise the expectations of different stakeholder groups and the challenges of ESG integration.
  • Identify key ESG reporting frameworks and understand associated disclosure obligations.
  • Explain ESG materiality, including the concept of double materiality, and its role in strategy and reporting.
  • Describe the purpose and structure of ESG committees and how boards oversee ESG risks.
  • Outline the company secretary's role in ESG governance, reporting, and director capability-building.
  • Compare the EU AI Act with global AI regulatory approaches and assess their governance implications.
  • Explain how boards oversee AI strategy, risk, and ethics, and identify governance models for AI oversight.
Module 10
  • Explain the importance of trust in the company secretary’s relationships and apply strategies to build it.
  • Apply principles of clear, purposeful communication to influence stakeholders and support governance.
  • Define personal brand in the governance context and identify ways to strengthen professional presence.
  • Demonstrate emotional resilience and respond constructively to stress and challenges in the role.
  • Explore pathways for career progression and apply strategies for professional growth and visibility.
  • Lead or contribute effectively within secretariat teams, including distributed or cross-border teams.
  • Identify ongoing development needs and use professional networks, resources and technology to stay future-ready.
  • Discussion Tool
    Engage in guided peer discussions to share insights and perspectives on key topics.
  • Webinar Videos
    Learn from global experts through structured, high-quality recorded webinars tailored to each module
  • Knowledge Check
    Test your understanding with short quizzes at the end of each module to reinforce key concepts.
  • Additional Resources
    Access a rich library of toolkits, templates, articles, and reports to deepen your knowledge and support real-world application.
  • Case Study Challenge
    Apply theoretical learning to practical scenarios through case-based challenges that simulate company secretary decision-making.
  • Expert Q&A Interactive Video
    Dive into expert-led Q&A sessions embedded in video format, allowing dynamic learning from real boardroom experience.
Best practice insights

Gain real-world insights and apply best practices in corporate governance.

Board simulations

Engage in simulated boardroom scenarios to hone your decision-making skills.

Expert interviews

Learn from governance leaders sharing valuable expertise in exclusive interviews.

Accessible learning platform

Access course materials with ease on our user-friendly, accessible online platform.

Interactive engagement

Expand your knowledge through webinars, masterclasses, and vibrant discussion forums.

Explore the Principles of Governance

Understand what corporate governance is, why it exists, and the principles that form its foundation across sectors and regions

Decode Governance Structures

Learn how boards, executives, shareholders, and committees interact and how these relationships impact oversight and accountability

Recognise Effective Governance in Practice

Recognise the hallmarks of effective governance through real-world examples and benchmarks

Apply Practical Tools and Frameworks

Use proven models and strategies to strengthen your governance impact and leadership

Prepare for Board-Level Opportunities

Develop the skills, positioning, and confidence to pursue and succeed in board roles

Frequently asked questions

Browse these questions and answers to help your research

The Diploma in Corporate Governance has been designed so you can learn at your own pace, in your own time and wherever you want. The course is 100% online, self-paced and our learning platform gives you complete flexibility to create your own learning schedule based on your time availability.

You can access all course materials through the learning platform. You have six months access to your course materials and assessment from the time you enrol.

The Diploma in Company Secretary course is broken into 10 modules which take 30 hours to complete. This does not include the supplementary research, study, and assessments delegates choose to do. While additional research is not mandatory, we strongly encourage you to engage in this research as it provides additional context to further your understanding of the subject.

This is a fully self-paced, online company secretary course. You can access all course materials through the learning platform. You have six months access to your course materials and assessment from the time you enrol.

The course is highly practical and includes expert teachings from practitioners in global corporate governance and company secretary education.

As a global company secretary certification, the course will cover the key principles of company law in common law countries. These countries include Ireland, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Canada (excluding Quebec), Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. The Diploma in Company Secretary Governance enables existing or potential company secretaries to ask about their specific duties and responsibilities under company law in any common law country.

Yes. While CPD is usually applied by your own awarding body, the Diploma in Corporate Governance should qualify for CPD recognition. As an example, the Law Society of Ireland (the regulatory body for solicitors in Ireland) states:

“To qualify as CPD, the education/training must relate to law, management and professional development skills or regulatory matters and must be intended to develop the solicitor in his/her professional knowledge, skills and abilities. CPD credit may be claimed for actual time spent in training, minus registration/break times.

Please ensure that the attending solicitors retain suitable proof of CPD (e.g. Certificate of Attendance), as it is required in all instances for solicitors to be credited with CPD.”

Yes, definitely.

We designed this diploma to demystify and define what it means to be a company director and a boardroom leader. You will learn best boardroom practices from company directors who share their experiences and knowledge. The case studies are real-world, practical and full of insights. Your resulting qualification is globally recognised.

This diploma is ideal for the next generation of leaders who wish to make a positive impact at the highest levels of organisations around the world.

You’ll be taught by world-class company secretary experts who have one sole purpose: to equip you with real-world boardroom skills and strategic board training.

You have six months to complete and submit your assessments from the date you enrol in the Diploma in Company Secretary Practice.

You have six months to complete and submit your assessments from the date you enrol.

When you successfully complete the Diploma in Company Secretary Practice, you can use the post nominals DipCompSec on your digital signature and LinkedIn profile.

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