How The CPD Register assesses applications for Certification against our published Certification Conditions.
This page explains how we assess applications for Certification. It sits alongside our Certification Conditions, which are the binding requirements an applicant must meet. The Conditions set out what must be demonstrated; this page explains what we look at when assessing each one, and what we expect to see published.
Certification is our highest standard, assessed through a formal application supported by evidence. Meeting these criteria is not automatic on application: each is assessed, and we may ask for further information.
The CPD Register operates two assessed standards. Registration is the entry standard: it verifies who operates an organisation, confirms that key information is published and accessible, and audits the organisation's advertising for compliance with the CAP Code. It does not evaluate the content or quality of an organisation's accreditation framework.
Certification goes further. In addition to everything Registration covers, Certification assesses governance, integrity, resources and financing, and competence, and requires evidence for each.
Certified organisations can also submit their accredited training providers and CPD activities to The CPD Register's verification database, so that end users can verify an individual course directly with us. Submissions are made through our API, or — where an organisation is not able to implement the API — through an access account we provide, which allows each client and accredited course to be entered manually. Technical capability is not a barrier to Certification.
Many organisations begin with Registration and progress to Certification once established. Registration is not a prerequisite: an organisation may apply for Certification directly.
Both standards are open to applicants of any legal form, including individuals and sole traders. The main difference in eligibility is geographic: Registration is open to organisations established outside the UK, whereas Certification requires the applicant to be ordinarily resident in the UK or to have a substantial presence here.
Our Certification Conditions are grouped under four headings. Below we explain what each requires and what we assess.
An applicant must be a clearly identifiable person, whether an individual or a body. There is no requirement to be a registered limited company — sole traders and other legal forms may apply.
An applicant must be ordinarily resident in the UK, or have a substantial presence in the UK.
Where the applicant is not an individual, it must be properly constituted in accordance with law, and must hold all registrations, authorisations or approvals required of a person of its type. For a limited company that means registration at Companies House; for a charity, registration with the relevant charity regulator. Where an organisation processes personal data and is required to register with the Information Commissioner's Office, that registration is required under this Condition.
What we look at: The applicant's legal form and constitutional documents; entries on Companies House, a charity register or another applicable register; ICO registration where required; evidence of UK residence or substantial UK presence; and verification of the identity of the individual or of those responsible for the body.
An applicant must be organised and governed in a way that provides appropriate support for its activities as a Certified CPD Accreditation Service Provider.
It must have arrangements to identify, monitor and manage any conflict of interest, so that a conflict does not prejudice its clients or their learners, does not affect its ability to deliver accreditation services in accordance with the Conditions, does not affect the standard of those services, and does not damage public confidence in CPD accreditation.
Where the applicant is not an individual, it must have arrangements ensuring continuing oversight of, and direct accountability for, its performance and its compliance with the Conditions.
What we look at: Governance structure and decision-making arrangements; the conflict-of-interest policy and how conflicts are recorded and managed; any relationship between the applicant and training providers it accredits; and how oversight and accountability operate in practice.
An applicant must be a suitable person to be recognised for CPD accreditation services. In assessing this we have regard in particular to:
A disclosed matter does not automatically prevent Certification. We consider what happened, when, and what has changed since.
What we look at: Declarations made in the application, together with public records including regulator decisions, published rulings, court judgments and insolvency records.
An applicant must have, or have arrangements to ensure it will have, the systems, processes and resources — and the financial resources and facilities — to deliver CPD accreditation services in accordance with the Conditions.
What we look at: Filed accounts, or a business plan and forecasts for a newer organisation; staffing and the capacity to assess the volume of work undertaken; the systems used to manage accreditation; and insurance appropriate to the services provided.
An applicant's understanding of, commitment to, and approach to CPD accreditation must be sufficient to ensure that it can deliver accreditation services in accordance with the Conditions, and that those services are, as far as possible:
Accreditation services must also be compatible with the requirements of Equalities Law.
What we look at: The applicant's accreditation framework in full; how it was developed and how it is reviewed; who carries out assessments and their competence and training; evidence that activities are assessed individually against the framework; how CPD credit is calculated; and how consistency between assessors and over time is maintained.
Alongside the Conditions, we assess what an organisation publishes. Transparency allows CPD providers and consumers to make informed choices, and supports several of the Conditions above. These are also the criteria we apply when assessing organisations for Registration.
We expect a Certified organisation to publish the actual criteria or framework it assesses against, and to provide it in full as part of the application. A general reference to unspecified 'standards', without the underlying criteria being published, does not meet this criterion.
We expect pricing to be published, so that prospective CPD providers can see the costs involved before committing. Where pricing is bespoke, we expect the basis on which fees are calculated to be published.
A clear, secure and well-organised website, with terms and conditions available to view and a privacy policy explaining how visitor data is protected.
We expect a published telephone number answered during normal office hours, and a monitored email address with responses ordinarily within one to two working days, so that CPD providers and consumers can make contact and get a substantive answer.
What matters is that enquiries are answered promptly and competently by someone able to help. We do not require an organisation to be structured in any particular way, or to be of any particular size. A live chat facility is a useful additional route, but is not required and its absence is not a mark against an organisation.
We expect a verifiable business address — a registered office or trading address at which correspondence is reliably received and where service of documents is effective. A PO Box alone does not meet this criterion. As part of the application we may seek to verify the address, which can include visiting the organisation and meeting the team.
We expect accredited activities and organisations to be reviewed on a defined, regular cycle, so that accredited material remains current and relevant for the end user.
Each course or activity should be assessed as a stand-alone CPD activity against the organisation's published criteria. We ask for evidence that individual assessment takes place in practice.
We expect a Certified organisation to issue a unique accreditation number for every CPD course or activity it accredits, and to submit its accredited providers and activities to The CPD Register's verification database.
Submissions can be made in either of two ways. Organisations with the technical capability can connect through our API, allowing their own systems to send records to us directly. Organisations not able to implement the API are provided with an access account, through which each client and accredited course can be entered manually. Both routes produce the same public verification record.
This allows an end user to verify directly with The CPD Register that the CPD they have purchased is accredited and in date — a level of independent verification available only through Certified organisations.
Certification is open both to organisations accrediting across many sectors and to those specialising in one. Where an organisation works across sectors we look for evidence of appropriate breadth of expertise; where it is sector-specific we look for evidence of expertise in that sector. Specialisation is not a barrier to Certification.
Certified organisations share with us the number of CPD providers they have accredited, as published on their own website and in our verification database. We check this quarterly so that the figure shown on the organisation's overview page is accurate. It is a measure of scale, not of quality.
Certification is not a one-off assessment. Certified organisations are monitored, and in some sectors we take a risk-based approach that can include unannounced spot-check visits and mystery shopping. We identify higher-risk organisations using an internal, objective method based on the nature and number of non-conformances recorded.
Where an assessment finds that a Certified organisation does not meet a Condition, we raise a non-conformance. The organisation has 28 days to address it and provide evidence. Where it does so, certification continues without interruption. A new applicant cannot be certified until it can demonstrate that all Conditions are met.
If a non-conformance is not corrected within 28 days, certification is suspended. Where an assessment finds a major non-compliance — for example a false accreditation — suspension is immediate, until evidence is provided that the organisation complies. While certification is suspended, the organisation cannot sell CPD accreditation as certified by The CPD Register.
A suspension can last up to three months. If the organisation has not demonstrated compliance within that period, certification is withdrawn. Certification can also be suspended or withdrawn where non-compliance raised by a third party is substantiated.
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