Lines of defence
Three Lines Model, internal audit and audit committees.
Three hours on telling evidence from comfort: the Three Lines Model, internal control, the annual governance statement, internal audit and the audit committee.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 3 hours
- Where
- Audit and Assurance
- Price
- £69
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Board members, committee members and senior leaders seeking real assurance
Overview
Boards in public service are often reassured when they need to be assured. This programme draws that line clearly, starting with the difference between a feeling and evidence, the strength of evidence pyramid and the assurance question chain. It then works through the Institute of Internal Auditors' Three Lines Model, COSO's components of internal control and the annual governance statement, the Global Internal Audit Standards as they apply from April 2025, and CIPFA's guidance on audit committees. Cases from the Post Office Horizon scandal, Barings, Carillion, Slough and Croydon show what happens when doing and checking blur, and what good challenge looks like.
Aims
This programme aims to develop board members, committee members and senior leaders who can tell evidence from comfort, see clearly who checks what across the three lines, and use internal audit and the audit committee as genuine sources of independent challenge rather than ritual.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Distinguish assurance from reassurance and assess the strength of the evidence your board receives using the evidence pyramid and the assurance question chain.
- Apply the Three Lines Model and COSO's components of internal control to test whether roles, controls and governance statements rest on tested evidence.
- Assess the independence and effectiveness of your internal audit function and audit committee, and challenge follow up reports and audit ratings with confidence.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Explain the difference between reassurance and assurance, and define control and oversight precisely.
- Assess the strength of the evidence your board receives using the strength of evidence pyramid and the six sources of assurance.
- Describe the roles of the governing body, first and second line roles, internal audit and external assurance providers in the 2020 Three Lines Model.
- Distinguish between the design and the operation of a control, and classify controls as preventive or detective, manual or automated.
- Describe the structure of the Global Internal Audit Standards and the role they give the board or audit committee in governing internal audit.
- Explain the core functions of an audit committee and why its independence from management is its greatest asset.
Built from 2 parts.
3 hours of learning.
- 01Knowing, not hopingThree Lines Model and internal controlBitesize3 modules
- 02The independent eyeInternal audit standards and audit committeesBitesize2 modules
Keep going.
Part of the Audit and Assurance topic, also sold whole as Assurance that counts.
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereFocus, 3 hours, £69
- The whole topicExplore, Assurance that counts, 5 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Focus? You pay £60.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms
Also part of: Governing with confidence, Holding to account