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IPA CPD Standard Criteria

The CPD programme is designed to ensure your skills always match your clients' needs and your agency's business goals.

The IPA’s Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme is designed to ensure your skills always match your clients' needs and your agency's business goals. Only then can the industry offer a defined career path, attract and retain high quality staff, and ensure agencies prosper. It is mandatory for IPA members to adhere to the five standard criteria for CPD.

All agencies that have been in membership for a full calendar year or more are required to meet the following five criteria and submit evidence for CPD Accreditation, via their CPD Dashboard, by January 31, every year.

  • A Strategic Development Plan (submitted in May) and a Strategic Development Evaluation (submitted in January) linking training to business objectives.
  • An induction programme for all new joiners.
  • A thorough appraisal system, with individual appraisal dates recorded in IPA CPD Diaries or robust in-house system. 
  • 24 hours (or pro rata) of development activity completed per person, recorded in IPA CPD Diaries, or robust inhouse system. If your agency uses CPD diaries to record your staff’s CPD hours, you will also need to record appraisal dates here. You need to record both hours and appraisals using one or the other – in-house system or IPA diaries. 
  • 15% of staff hold a mandatory qualification: LegRegs Certificate, or Commercial Essentials Certificate, or Effectiveness Essentials Certificate. The agency can decide how this 15% is allocated, e.g. 8% LegRegs, 5% Commercial, 2% Effectiveness.

IPA CPD Standard Criteria 2024.pdf pdf 0.05mb