CIPD membership has changed in response to the changing needs of the profession and the expectations of employers.
Our extensive research into these changes highlights a shift in the profession from a primary focus of supporting line managers to manage their people well, to one of delivering sustainable organisation capability and performance. What’s more there’s greater specialism and an increasing globalisation of the profession, which also has an impact on the nature of HR career paths. Employers’ expectations confirm successful HR professionals need to know and understand the business and their role in it, just as well as they know HR. And employers also want to know that they are employing someone who can do the job, so they are looking for membership levels that demonstrate professional competence.
CIPD membership is now simpler and easier for employers and recruiters to understand. It measures HR professionals on their all round ability - focusing on their knowledge (including qualifications), skills and behaviours at all levels, not just at Chartered level.
As a result of the changes, we’ve removed the Licentiate grade and are phasing out Graduate in 2014. We've also introduced the new Associate level of professional membership, designed to provide professional recognition for members operating below Chartered level.
Click on the links below to understand the impact of the changes on membership levels:
Affiliate membership
If you are an Affiliate member and you aren’t studying for a CIPD qualification you are not affected by the changes. If you would like to find out more about progressing to a professional level of membership please contact us on 020 8612 6208.
Student membership
If you are a Student member on a CIPD approved or accredited programme of study you may be impacted by the changes to our membership levels. The impact on you will depend on the programme you are studying and the level of membership that it led to in our previous membership structure.
Certificate in Personnel Practice (CPP) and Certificate in Training Practice (CTP)
If you began your qualification before 1 March 2010 and complete by the end of February 2011 you are entitled to an automatic upgrade to the new Associate membership level.
You will need to have joined CIPD no later than 30 June 2010 and remain in membership throughout your programme. You must also be in membership on completion of your programme for us to upgrade your membership to new Associate.
If you began your qualification from 1 March 2010 onwards, on successful completion of your programme you will have achieved the underpinning knowledge to apply for an upgrade to the new Associate level of membership.
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Certificate in Employment Relations Law and Practice (CERLAP), Certificate in Recruitment and Selection (CRS), Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring (CCM), Certificate in Teaching in the Life Long Learning Sector (CTLLS)
If you began your qualification before 1 March 2010 and complete by the end of February 2011 you are entitled to an automatic upgrade to the new Associate membership level.
You will need to have joined CIPD no later than 30 June 2010 and remain in membership throughout your programme. You must be in membership on completion of your programme for us to upgrade your membership to new Associate.
If you began your qualification from 1 March 2010 this programme no longer leads to a level of membership.
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Professional Development Scheme (PDS)
The last registration date for the PDS was December 2010 and you must have completed your programme by the end of December 2013.
PDS programmes (where partial completion led to Licentiate):
If you complete the appropriate part of the programme after the 1 July 2010 and before the 31 December 2013 you will automatically be transferred into to new Associate level of membership.
PDS programmes leading to Graduate membership:
PDS programmes will still lead to Graduate level of membership, as long as you complete before the end of December 2013. Alternatively you can choose to transfer to new Associate professional membership and receive the designatory letters Assoc CIPD after you name.
To ensure that you achieve a membership level:
You will need to have joined CIPD and remain in membership throughout your programme. You must be in membership on completion of your programme for us to upgrade your membership
Anyone achieving the Graduate grade will have also achieved the underpinning knowledge required to apply to upgrade to one of the three professional levels of membership: new Associate, Chartered MCIPD or Chartered FCIPD.
Professional Assessment of Competence (PAC)
If you are a PAC candidate you will still achieve Chartered membership on successful completion of your assessment as long as you complete before the end of December 2013.
The last registration for PAC was the end of December 2010
New CIPD qualifications – Level 3 Foundation Certificates and Diplomas
Successful completion of the new CIPD approved Level 3 Foundation Certificates and Diplomas will mean you have the underpinning knowledge to apply to upgrade to the new Associate level of membership.
New CIPD qualifications - Level 5 Intermediate Certificates and Diplomas
Successful completion of the new CIPD approved Level 5 Intermediate Certificates and Diplomas will mean you have the underpinning knowledge to apply to upgrade to the new Associate level of membership.
New CIPD qualifications – Level 7 Advanced Diplomas
Successful completion of the new CIPD approved Level 7 Advanced Diplomas will mean you have the underpinning knowledge to apply to upgrade to one of the three professional levels of membership: new Associate, Chartered MCIPD or Chartered FCIPD.
Associate membership
What is the impact on Associate members?
As a current Associate member you’ll automatically be awarded the new Associate level of professional membership from the 1 July 2010 (upon renewing your CIPD membership). Once you’ve renewed you will be entitled to use the designatory letters ‘Assoc CIPD’ and you will receive a new Associate membership certificate.
How is new Associate different from the previous Associate grade?
The previous Associate level was achieved through completing a qualification. New Associate is based on rigorous new membership criteria that cover not just what you know, but what you can do, and how you do it (knowledge, activities and behaviour). View the new Associate membership criteria.
The new Associate level is designed to provide professional recognition for members operating below Chartered level. We’ve introduced the grade and designatory letters (Assoc CIPD) to provide greater recognition for the substantial contribution being made by HR professionals below the Chartered grades.
We are actively promoting the new membership levels including new Associate to recruiters and employers.
If you have any questions about new Associate please give us a call on 020 8612 6208.
Licentiate membership
From 1 July 2010 the Licentiate grade ended and all Licentiate members were automatically upgraded to the new Associate professional membership level. The changes to Licentiate membership do not affect the knowledge gained through CIPD qualifications.
Call us now to discuss your options on 020 8612 6208.
New route to Professional membership -
Experience Assessment
Now there's a better way to get noticed! Our new direct route into professional membership, Experience Assessment, is a straightforward way to use your experience and achieve external recognition for your HR knowledge and achievements.
Find out more about our new route Experience Assessment.
How is CIPD recognising specialists?
We’ve revised our membership criteria and qualifications in response to research and feedback. One of the biggest catalysts for action at the CIPD was a desire to be able to open up progression pathways for professionals working in specialist roles such as L & D, OD and reward. The new criteria mean your specialist knowledge can be recognized towards achievement of any of our professional grades, be that Assoc CIPD, Chartered MCIPD or Chartered FCIPD. View the new membership criteria
If you have any questions about the changes to membership, please call us on 020 8612 6208
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Achieving Graduate membership
CIPD approved programmes
Current programmes: If you are currently studying a CIPD approved postgraduate qualification you must complete by the end of December 2013. On successful completion of your qualification you will have achieved Graduate membership. Graduate membership means that you’ve got the underpinning knowledge to work towards Chartered membership.
New programmes: In addition to our current qualifications we are phasing in a new suite of qualifications to reflect the knowledge and skills specified in the HR Profession Map and revised membership criteria. The new advanced-level qualifications will offer you greater flexibility as you look to enhance your knowledge LINK
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Graduate membership
I’m a Graduate member, what are my options?
Graduate membership ends in June 2014 and you can remain in the grade until then if you prefer, however we would encourage you to consider the following options:
Upgrade to Chartered
If you think that you meet the criteria for Chartere membership you can apply to upgrade online using our new upgrading process.
New Associate
As a Graduate member you are also entitled to a free transfer to the new Associate grade of membership and new designatory letters (Assoc CIPD) from the 1 July 2010 onwards up until June 2014.
The changes to Graduate will not take away any of your achievements in gaining a CIPD postgraduate qualification and you will still be able to let employers know about your qualification.
Call us to discuss your options or to request a transfer into the new Associate grade on 020 8612 6208.
If I transfer from Graduate into the new Associate grade what will happen to the qualification that I completed to get to Graduate?
The changes to Graduate will not affect the knowledge you’ve gained through your CIPD postgraduate qualification and you will still be able to let employers know about your achievement. Your qualification will still be recorded on your membership record and no one is taking that away.
By completing your CIPD postgraduate qualification you have already achieved the knowledge element required to upgrade to a Chartered grade of membership in the future
In addition by transferring to the new Associate grade you will have achieved a professional grade of membership which connects your knowledge with the impact you make in the work place. All Associate members will be able to use the new designatory letters Assoc CIPD from 1 July 2010. You will also be able to upgrade to Chartered direct from the Associate grade, if in the future you can demonstrate that you meet the Chartered criteria.
Call us to discuss the changes on 020 8612 6208
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Chartered membership
The changes that we are making to our membership don’t affect the Chartered Member and Fellow levels of membership directly. However we would welcome your support in helping us communicate the benefits of these changes to your peers, colleagues and teams.
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