GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum Update: New Additions, Deleted Topics, and What It Means for Your Exam
- Kateryna Myrko
- Dec 15, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 15, 2025
The GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum continues to emphasize practical climate-risk and sustainability capabilities, but it also makes targeted changes that materially affect how candidates should study. GARP notes that the SCR curriculum is re-evaluated annually to keep the exam timely and relevant, and that every exam question is directly aligned to a designated Learning Objective.
Before getting into what changed, it is helpful to anchor on the current exam structure. The SCR Exam is 80 equally weighted multiple-choice questions with one multi-part case study question; you have four hours, and results are pass/fail.
GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum Update: What stayed the same
At a high level, the chapter architecture remains stable (Chapters 1–10), and the study guide continues to list exam weightings by chapter (e.g., Chapters 1–7 are typically 8–12 questions; Chapters 8–10 are typically 3–6). GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum Update
Also unchanged: candidates should expect the exam to test both theory and application. The official guide describes the exam as practice oriented, drawing from the curriculum and real-world work contexts.
What changed in the GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum (vs. 2025): additions, deletions, and consolidation
The 2026 update is less about adding entirely new domains and more about (1) tightening learning objectives, (2) shifting emphasis toward implementation and products, and (3) making some topics more explicit (notably scenario planning differentiation and transition plan adoption drivers).
Summary table: 2026 changes vs. 2025
Area (by chapter) | What’s new / expanded in GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum | What was reduced or removed vs. 2025 | What it means for exam prep |
Ch. 5 Sustainable finance | Adds explicit focus on consumer-facing sustainable finance products and expands detail on sustainable/green funds (strategies, environmental objectives, role in markets). | Removes the prior 2025-style “principles deep dive” objectives for sustainability-linked instruments (now covered at a higher level as “describe SLBs/SLLs”). | Expect more questions that test product recognition + market context, not just definitions. |
Ch. 7 Scenario analysis | Adds a standalone objective to differentiate transition vs. physical risk scenario planning. | Case-study phrasing is less prominent as an LO compared with 2025 wording. | Be able to explain “how” scenario planning differs for transition vs. physical pathways, not only list scenario families (IPCC/IEA). |
Ch. 10 Transition planning & carbon reporting | Adds explicit objective: drivers of transition plan adoption beyond disclosures. | Reduces some of the 2025-style “emerging reporting requirements” specificity at the LO level. | Expect more “why firms adopt transition plans” questions (strategy, capital markets, regulation, stakeholders), alongside calculation work. |
Ch. 6 Risk measurement & management | Consolidates company-level and portfolio-level measurement objectives into broader, combined LOs. | Less granularity in separate “transition tools vs physical tools” LOs (now combined). | Study the toolkits, but prepare for integrated questions that link physical + transition analytics. |
Ch. 9 Climate & nature risk assessment | Keeps emphasis on ISSB (IFRS S1/S2), TNFD/LEAP, and water risk, but in a more compact set of objectives. | Several 2025-style sub-objectives are merged/condensed (datasets/tools, interdependencies, opportunities). | Focus on end-to-end assessment steps and framework literacy; don’t rely on memorizing long checklists. |
Ch. 2 Sustainability | Keeps SDG alignment and core sustainability framing. | Removes some 2025 specificity (e.g., MDGs and “greenwish” language). | Expect more emphasis on implementation/alignment and less on historical taxonomy terms. |
The biggest content shifts candidates should act on
1) Sustainable finance is now more “real economy” and client/product-facing
Chapter 5 is the clearest “signal” change in the GARP SCR 2026 Curriculum: the learning objectives now explicitly require candidates to identify and explain consumer-facing sustainable finance products, and they expand expectations around fund strategies and objectives (not just instrument definitions). sIf you teach or study SCR for professional practice, this is consistent with how sustainability is increasingly embedded in retail and wealth channels—not only wholesale capital markets.
2) Scenario analysis now requires a sharper distinction: transition planning vs. physical planning
The 2026 guide makes it explicit that candidates must differentiate transition and physical risk scenario planning. In practical terms, you should be ready to articulate differences in: drivers, timelines, model types, inputs/outputs, and decision use (strategy vs. resilience planning), not just recognize scenario names (IPCC/IEA).
3) Transition plans: not just disclosures—adoption drivers matter
Chapter 10 adds a direct objective on drivers of transition plan adoption beyond disclosures. This is a cue to study transition planning as a management tool (governance, capital allocation, competitive positioning, financing strategy), not only a reporting artifact.
A 2026-specific “must do”: treat required online readings as testable content
The 2026 study guide reiterates that required online readings are testable and provides learning objectives for those readings inside the guide (e.g., UNEP FI PRB, UNPRI, NGFS, GHG Protocol, and a TCFD implementation excerpt that includes carbon-metric calculations such as weighted average carbon intensity).GARP’s required readings page also states that these readings are required and may be reflected in exam questions.
Final practical guidance
Rebuild your plan around the “high-signal” deltas: Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 10.
Do not skip the required readings; expect calculation-style questions tied to the reading LOs.
Check official SCR Errata during your prep cycle; GARP updates it as issues are identified.
Unlock your potential with our comprehensive GARP SCR practice exams and study packages!
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