CIPS Qualifications
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply has a commitment to ensure that everyone working within the supply chain has a qualification for which they can study which is relevant to their duties and responsibilities.
As well as providing best practice, standards, and ethics for the hundreds of thousands of people who need to perform a supply chain job well, CIPS also has to plan a study and development route for those people who will become supply chain academics and chief executives in the future.
To do this, CIPS has created a sequence of qualifications which people join according to their previous training and work experiences, and step off when they have reached the point they need:
Every step of the way is a qualification; each qualification designed to meet the needs of people working at that level:
Each qualification is made up of five "units", and each unit has one assessment which you need to pass. Full membership of CIPS, “MCIPS”, comes after the Graduate Diploma. It acts as a quality mark for the supply chain professional.
CIPS brings together employers, employees, practitioners and teachers to continuously improve its qualifications so that the right skills are taught at the right points in people’s careers; so that a job can be described as, for example, an “Advanced Diploma” job and both you and your organisation will feel confident that you have covered what you need to know.
The levels are matched to the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), run by QCDA, the UK Government regulator for education. This ensures that there is a clear understanding nationally of the level of a person’s knowledge and ability, in this case in supply chain matters.
Where do I start?
There is a CIPS qualification to suit most people. The level you start at, your entry level, depends on the qualifications and experience which you already have:
- the Certificate is open to anyone aged 18 or over. It doesn’t matter what qualifications you have, nor what jobs you’ve done, though it helps if you are working in, or have worked in, purchasing and supply.
- to do the Foundation Diploma you need to be aged 21 or over and have two years’ suitable work experience, or be 18 or over and have a Level 3 qualification which is acceptable to CIPS such as the CIPS Certificate. This is also your starting level if you have three A levels with acceptable grades.
- the Advanced Diploma is open to students who have the CIPS Foundation Diploma or an equivalent qualification (or experience). Students with CIPS’ International Advanced Certificate start at this level.
- the Graduate Diploma is open to students who have the CIPS Advanced Diploma or an equivalent qualification (or experience).
You might be able to apply for exemptions, that is, CIPS will excuse you from those units where you can demonstrate you're covered all of the same ground at the same level in the recent past.
You must check your starting point with CIPS before beginning your course. Although we can give you some guidance, it’s CIPS that make the decisions. Remember to include a full CV and job description when you contact them – it will help them to decide where you should start.
