Thinking of studying

CIPD qualifications help boost your skills and progress your career. They're recognised by employers as a global standard of excellence for people professionals. 

Whilst you study you will need to join as a student member. This gives you access to a range of member benefits and resources to help your studies and career. 

Once you've completed your qualification, you'll have a CIPD qualification certificate. This will prove your professional knowledge. 

If you remain an active member, you'll gain CIPD accreditation (letters after your name). If you've done a Foundation qualification, you'll become a CIPD Foundation Member. If you’ve done either an Associate or Advanced qualification, you’ll become a CIPD Associate Member. 

The CIPD is your career partner. We'll help you to continue to expand your knowledge of the people profession. And we'll offer you resources to support your development and help you in your role.

Find additional information on why you should study a CIPD qualification.

There are three different levels of study. Which level you decide to study depends on your experience. Use our interactive tool to help you find the right CIPD qualification for you.
 
If you are an experienced people professional and are looking for a route into CIPD membership without necessarily having to study, then Experience Assessment could be the right option for you. Find out more about Experience Assessment.
 
Still unsure if studying is the right route for you? Use our interactive tool to help you find the right route into membership for you.

We approve or accredit study centres that offer our qualifications. Fees will vary by qualification and the type of study centre you study with. We recommend you check the course fees when contacting your prospective study centre. Use Centre Finder to browse through the study centres that offer CIPD qualifications and CIPD accredited University Programmes. 

Qualification certificates for University Programmes are awarded by the university.

They'll contact you about these certificates.

Your university will also notify us when you've successfully completed your qualification.

Once we've processed the admin, we'll email you a PDF result confirmation letter to your preferred email address.

If you're an active CIPD member, we'll issue you with a membership certificate at your new grade in the post.

It's important that you keep your contact details up to date. Check that your name, postal and email addresses are up to date. You can do this by checking your details the ‘My Profile’ section on the CIPD website.

CIPD qualification fees can vary, and these are set by the study centres that offer them. We recommend you check the fees when you contact your prospective study centre.  

See the CIPD Qualification Costs and Funding page. This gives an overview of the associated costs when studying a CIPD qualification. There’s also information about help that may be available towards funding your studies.  
 
If looking to study a university programme, please also check fees and possible funding options with your university.  

The length of time it takes to complete our courses is set by the study centre. This is because it depends on how your study centre delivers the course. Some study centres may offer the ability to work at your own pace.

Below is the average time each CIPD qualification level can take to complete: 

• Foundation Certificate in People Practice: 8-12 months
• Associate Diploma: 12-18 months
• Advanced Diploma: 18-24 months 

You can find out how much time an average learner takes to complete each of the CIPD qualification levels on the CIPD qualifications regulatory information page.

If you have an existing qualification that you achieved within the last five years that isn’t awarded by the CIPD, you may be able to apply for an exemption towards a CIPD qualification that leads to membership. Use this flowchart to help you.

The application process will involve a mapping exercise. We map the qualification you studied against the CIPD qualification you want to study. You can gain up to 50% of a CIPD qualification through this process; you’ll be required to take the rest of the qualification at a CIPD study centre in order to achieve CIPD membership. 

The CIPD accepts international qualifications if they’re accompanied by a comparability statement and certificate from the UK National Recognition Information Centre (UK NARIC) confirming the equivalent UK level and meets the mapping exercise. To check the UK equivalent level of your qualification, visit UK ENIC. Or call UK ENIC on +44 (0)330 912 0030.

For further information and application forms, call the CIPD’s Qualification and Membership team on +44 (0)20 8612 6208 or email membershipenquiry@cipd.co.uk 

We can’t recommend a specific study centre to study with. But we can offer advice to help you choose the right one for you. All study centres that offer CIPD qualifications go through the same approval process. You’ll find a list of approved study centres on our Centre Finder.  

Some things to consider when looking for a study centre.  

• What qualification you’re looking to study? Some study centres only offer certain qualifications.  
• How would you like to study? Some study centres offer the ability to complete the course entirely online or face to face. Whilst others may offer a mixture of both (blended).  
• Are you looking to do the course full time or part time?  
• If you’re wanting to study the course face to face, consider how far you’re willing to travel.