The IRRV Honours qualification is the highest level of professional qualification offered by the Institute.

The scheme is for members:

• Members who have successfully completed the IRRV Diploma.
• Persons on the basis of their occupational ‘seniority’ (i.e. Head of Service or Senior Manager, working within the profession).
• Who are employees of Governments (UK and devolved), their agencies and other public funded bodies.

If successful, the candidate would become an Honours member of the institute and be able to use the designatory letters IRRV (Hons) after their name. This gives an enhanced status to the practitioner as the designation shows that the individual has attained a high level of technical knowledge and professional competence in their field of expertise.

In order to attain the Honours qualification, a candidate must submit a proposal to the Institute on a topic of their choice (note: it must relate to either Local Taxation & Revenues, Welfare Benefits, Valuation or Fraud. If the proposal meets the requirements outlined in the guidance, they are asked to prepare between 14,500 to 15,000 word dissertation and to submit this to the Institute within six months. If the dissertation is accepted, candidates are asked to attend a 'Viva Voce' with a nationally recognised panel of Revenues and Benefits experts. The Viva is a form of professional discussion, lasting approximately one hour. During the Viva, a candidate is asked to summarise the content of their dissertation and to give informative responses to question asked by the panel. Honours results are usually issued within two weeks of the Viva.

Annual cycles

There are two annual cycles:

	CYCLE 1	CYCLE 2
Submission and return of proposal	1 January – 31 March	1 July – 30 September
Submission date for completed dissertation	30 June	31 December

 

Fees

Honours fee for 2026 is £525 + VAT.

Dissertation re-submission fee is £75 + VAT

Appeal fee is £115 + VAT

Special Offers & Rewards 2026

If you enrol for the next cycle between 1 January to 30 June 2026:

You and a colleague will receive a free day delegate pass to attend the 2026 Spring conference.

As a member of the IRRV, you have exclusive access to our unique member savings scheme ‘IRRV Rewards’.

For full details of the Honours qualification guidance and regulations, please click on the links below.