15 February 2024 - 4 min read
With spring closely approaching, you might be considering putting those New Year career plans into action. For many people who are considering a career in Human Resources or Learning & Development, studying a CIPD qualification is one of the
If you’re about to embark on studying CIPD in 2024, we’ve come up with a guide to everything that you’ll need to know.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is a professional membership association that serves the Human Resources and Learning & Development fields. With over 140,000 members across the world, it’s a charity that serves the career interests and ongoing professional development of people working in the people profession. It has a long history and was founded in 1913, making it one of the world’s oldest associations in the HR and L&D fields.
As one of the key aims of the association is to set professional standards in the industry, the CIPD has designed a range of qualifications to ensure that professionals working in HR and L&D roles have the right level of skills and expertise required for particular roles. These qualifications are respected by employers around the world and are used by many as a benchmark for the standard of skills required in a role.
As a result, studying one can really help to open up a lot of professional opportunities across the world, with a huge range of employers in different industries.
Once you join the CIPD as a member, you’ll be eligible to use a professional title at the end of your name. For example, if you held an Associate membership of the CIPD, you’d be allowed to use ‘Assoc. CIPD’ at the end of your name, like J. Hill, Assoc. CIPD.
There are more benefits to being a member of the CIPD besides just using a special title at the end of your name. CIPD membership can also give you:
As we’ve said above, the CIPD is a professional membership association and there are a variety of different levels of membership, depending on your professional experience. You can find out more about the specifics of membership The main levels of CIPD membership are:
Over 19,000 industry experts, professionals and have contributed to the development of CIPD qualifications, ensuring that the courses explore the vital knowledge you’ll need to work in roles in the HR and L&D fields.
In general, CIPD qualifications cover Human Resources and Learning and Development. There are a variety of qualifications, arranged into levels, based on difficulty. They are:
This is the qualification that many people who are coming into HR and L&D for the first time first study. The CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice is an entry-level qualification that doesn’t have specific experience-based entry requirements (apart from having a basic proficiency in the English language). This means that it’s perfect for people who are at the very start of their careers or who don’t have much industry experience behind them yet.
This qualification is the same for Human Resources and Learning & Development specialisms when it comes to studying with CIPD. That’s because both areas are very closely linked and cover the same essential topics at the entry level stage.
Throughout the qualification you’ll cover the essential behaviours for people professionals, the essentials of people practice, and the principles of using analytics.
The CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management is an intermediate-level HR qualification. It’s designed for professionals who have some experience of HR already and who are looking to progress into more senior positions, like middle management.
To qualify to study it, you’ll need to have successfully completed the Level 3 Foundation Certificate in HR and have experience of working in HR.
You’ll explore a range of HR practices across several important areas such as recruitment, talent management, and employment law, and improve your understanding of the external factors that can have an impact on HR activities and organisations. You’ll also develop your own analytical and problem-solving skills.
The CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in People Management is the most advanced CIPD qualification that you’ll be able to study. It’s designed for people who are working in senior, decision-making roles at company and who have responsibility for setting strategy in an organisation.
You’ll explore advanced areas of HR, like leadership skills, business research and analysis, as well as exploring how to write detailed reports aimed at persuading key stakeholders to adopt new policies.
Once you’ve completed the Level 7 Advanced Diploma, and you’ve gained the prerequisite experience, you’ll be eligible to apply for prestigious Chartered Member status. This is one of the highest accolades that you can receive as an HR professional and it’s not bestowed lightly. It reflects a recognition that you’ve achieved an exceptional level of HR skills, experience and expertise.
This is the same qualification that you’ll study if you’re specialising in HR, so scroll back up to the HR section if you’d like a recap of what you’ll learn!
An intermediate L&D qualification, the Level 5 Associate Diploma is designed to equip you with the right skills for more intermediate positions in Learning and Development. In this qualification, you’ll study topics such as social learning and organisational performance, along with general L&D knowledge. This will provide you with all the essential skills to help you win significant roles in Learning & Development.
To study the CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma, you’ll need to have completed the Level 3 Certificate or have equivalent experience of L&D. Once you’ve completed it, you’ll be able to study the CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma.
The highest qualification that you can take, the CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Strategic Organisational Learning & Development is aimed at professionals who have extensive experience of L&D and who want to take their career to new heights. It’s roughly equivalent in difficulty to a Master’s Degree. It’s aimed at people working in middle-management equivalent roles, who want to move into more senior, decision-making positions.
Taking this qualification will allow you to explore how to leverage strategic L&D, business research, organisational design and development and performance-driven development strategies in your own L&D practice.
Similar to the Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Strategic People Management, completing the Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Strategic Organisational Learning & Development will open up the route to applying for prestigious Chartered Membership.
As you can see above, both HR and L&D share the same entry level qualification, the Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice. At Level 5 and Level 7 however, each field has its own unique course.
The exact cost of a CIPD qualification will differ, depending on the provider that you choose to study the course with, the extras that are included within it and on the course itself. Generally speaking, the higher the level of a course, the higher you should expect to pay overall.
Here are some rough costs that you can expect to pay for a CIPD qualification, if you study with us:
CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice: Around £1,785
CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management: Around £2,999
CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in People Management: Around £6,099
CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice: Around £1,785
CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in Organisational Learning & Development: Around £2,999
CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Strategic Organisational Learning & Development: Around £6,099
The exact length of time that a CIPD qualification will take to study will depend on the complexity of the course that you’re studying.
In general, a CIPD Level 3 Certificate will take you around 7 to 9 months to complete, a CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma will take you around 9 to 12 months to complete and a CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma will take you around 18 to 24 to complete.
There are usually three ways that you can study a CIPD qualification. Online, in-person or hybrid.
Online learning is probably the cheapest and the most flexible of all three options. We offer this type of learning at DPG. With online learning, you get digital access to your course and all the materials and you work your way through it, one module at a time. You complete the course at your own speed and you can fit your study around prior commitments, like work or family. This makes it well suited to people who have busy schedules and who value the convenience of being able to study the course anywhere, anytime: all they need is an internet connection.
In-person learning is the ‘traditional’ way to study a course, used for a century or more. You attend a physical classroom regularly, usually once or twice a month, where you work through the course with other students, led by a tutor. This type of learning is good for people who find they learn best when they have interaction with other students. It can be a bit more expensive when you factor in commuting costs and the slightly higher course fee you’ll pay too.
Hybrid learning is a combination of online and physical learning. You’ll have access to your course online and you’ll be able to complete it remotely, but occasionally you’ll be required to attend an in-person session to cover a particular topic. Hybrid learning is a good option for people who don’t feel completely comfortable learning online and who want some element of face-to-face interaction in their study process.
Widely respected by employers across the globe, CIPD qualifications are often used as a benchmark when it comes to finding candidates with the right skills and knowledge that they need for roles.
Knowing all the different elements of a CIPD qualification – like the cost, time it takes to study and modules – can feel a bit overwhelming sometimes though. We hope this blog has gone some way to helping you get to grips with all of the essential knowledge you’ll need to study a CIPD qualification in 2024.
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