Setting the standard
Our Professional Standards define the levels of knowledge and competence you'll need to demonstrate when operating at a support or practitioner level or as an advanced practitioner. They also govern entry to CIPD membership and act as a benchmark for the profession.
To be awarded an exemption you'll need to demonstrate that your qualification meets our Professional Standards for each of the modules that you take. You can apply for an exemption for up to six modules from the Professional Development Scheme (PDS) based on a single postgraduate-level qualification. If you have more than one relevant qualification at this level then you may be able to use it as the basis of further exemptions.
The PDS is the educational programme based on our practitioner-level Standards. It covers the following four fields of study. Completion of all four fields will lead to Graduate membership.
Leadership and Management
This field requires you to demonstrate your knowledge of and competence in managing and leading organisations at an operational and strategical level. There are four modules in this field:
- Managing in a Strategic Business Context
- Managing Information for Competitive Advantage
- Managing and Leading People
- Managing for Results
People Management and Development
You'll need to demonstrate awareness of how personnel and development can contribute to organisational success. This field covers all the vital elements that make up personnel and development and counts as a double-module.
Specialist and Generalist Personnel and Development/Advanced Practitioner Standards
To complete this field you'll need to demonstrate that you've met the Standards in four modules from one or more of the following streams:
- People Resourcing
- Learning and Development
- Employee Reward
- Employee Relations
- Advanced Practitioner*.
The generalist modules will act as an introduction to general knowledge and competence requirements, while the specialist modules offer you the opportunity to concentrate on a specific stream.
*The Advanced Practitioner Standards are set at a strategic management level. They can be used for the APCL route but are only available as part of some CIPD approved Masters-level qualifications.
Applied Personnel and Development
There are two parts to this:
- the Management Report - assesses your professional competence in the workplace.
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) - a systematic and continuous review of your development.
This field can't be assessed through the APCL route. To complete this field you'll need to register with a one of our education centres.
Combining membership routes
The APCL route will need to be combined with other membership routes to gain Graduate membership. For example, you may be able to use APCL to get exemptions from up to ten modules, excluding Applied Personnel and Development. You would then need to complete the remaining modules by taking the educational or the professional assessment of competence route (PAC).
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