An assessed entry standard for CPD Accreditation Organisations. We verify who you are, check what you publish, and audit your advertising against the CAP Code.
Apply for Registration
The CPD accreditation sector is not statutorily regulated. Anyone can set up as a CPD Accreditation Organisation, and there is no legal requirement to publish criteria, hold insurance, or verify who is behind the business. That makes it difficult for training providers to tell a serious accreditation organisation from a website.
Registration is our response to that. It is a voluntary standard, applied for and independently assessed by The CPD Register against published conditions. It confirms three things:
Registered organisations are listed on The CPD Register with a registration number, and are licensed to display the "Registered with The CPD Register" badge for the period of their Registration.
We are specific about the limits of Registration, because a standard that overclaims is worth nothing.
Every Registered organisation's public entry carries a statement of exactly this scope, so that anyone reading it knows what has and has not been assessed.
Registration is open to any CPD Accreditation Organisation, whatever its size, age or legal form.
There is no minimum trading period and no minimum number of clients. Organisations that are not registered at Companies House are welcome to apply: where there is no public register record, we verify the identity of the people responsible directly.
Organisations may operate remotely. We ask for an address at which correspondence can reliably be received, not for premises.
If you are already Certified by The CPD Register, you do not need Registration.
Our Conditions of Registration are grouped under five headings. The full conditions are published in the document linked at the foot of this page.
Who operates the organisation, verified by identity documents; the organisation's legal form and registrations; declarations about court and regulatory findings and insolvency; and disclosure of associated organisations and connected businesses.
A published address at which correspondence can be served, a monitored telephone number and email address, and a named individual a client or consumer can reach if something goes wrong.
A secure website; published privacy policy, terms and complaints policy; published pricing or the basis of pricing; published accreditation criteria; a way for consumers to verify an individual accredited activity; and current ICO registration where required.
Compliance with the CAP Code across your website, paid search and social advertising, organic social media and email marketing — including substantiation for any superiority claim, and no wording implying regulatory or governmental status you do not hold.
Accurate information, notification of material changes, cooperation with the annual review, and continued compliance throughout the period of Registration.
Claim your listing. Find your organisation in our Directory and claim it. This creates your portal account. If you are not yet listed, email us and we will add you after a check.
Complete the application. Seven steps, mostly URLs of pages you already publish. You can save and return as often as you like. A prepared applicant should finish in under thirty minutes.
Submit and pay. The £500 assessment fee is taken when you submit. Nothing is charged while your application is a draft.
We assess. We check public records, review what you publish, and audit your advertising. We aim to report within 20 working days.
We report. You receive a Findings Report. If we have found nothing that breaches a Condition, your application proceeds to decision. If we have, each finding tells you which Condition it engages and what your evidence needs to show.
You close any findings. You have 45 days. How you fix something is your choice — we identify the gap, we do not tell you how to fill it, and we do not act as consultants. One closure review is included.
Decision. If no findings remain open, Registration is granted. You receive your registration number, your public entry goes live, and your badge is issued.
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | £500 | On application |
| Annual renewal | £150 | Years two and three |
| Additional closure review | £100 | Only if needed |
| Re-registration | £500 | Every third year |
All fees exclude VAT. VAT is added for organisations established in the United Kingdom. Fees for organisations established elsewhere are outside the scope of UK VAT.
Registration runs in cycles of three years: an assessment, then two annual renewals with a lighter review each time. At the end of each cycle you can either progress to Certification or re-register for another cycle with a full re-assessment. There is no limit on the number of cycles, and there is no obligation to progress.
The assessment fee pays for the assessment, not for the outcome. It is not refundable if Registration is refused. We think that is the honest way to run it: if the fee bought the badge, the badge would not mean anything.
Registration is designed as a route towards Certification, though you are not required to take it.
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, either through our API or through an access account for manual entry. That allows an end user to check an individual course directly with us — something Registered organisations cannot yet offer their clients.
If you progress from Registration to Certification, your first annual Certification fee of £650 is waived.
| Listing | What it means |
|---|---|
| Certified | Assessed against our Conditions of Recognition and Conditions of Certification. The highest standard we operate. |
| Registered | Assessed against our Conditions of Registration: identity verified, publication confirmed, advertising audited. |
| Directory | Our public listing of CPD Accreditation Organisations operating in the sector, compiled from public sources. Not applied for, and not an assessed status. |
Being listed in the Directory is not a criticism, and not holding Registration or Certification is not a finding about an organisation's service. Many organisations have simply not applied.
No. We tell you what does not meet a Condition and what your evidence needs to demonstrate. How you get there is your decision. We do not provide consultancy to organisations we assess, because an assessor who designs the remedy cannot then judge it impartially.
Most findings can be closed within the 45-day window — publishing a missing policy, correcting an advertising claim, adding a contact route. If findings remain open at the end of that period, Registration is refused, we tell you why in writing, and you can appeal or reapply.
Yes. Legal form is not a barrier. Where there is no Companies House or charity register record, we verify the identity of the people responsible directly, using photographic identification and proof of address.
No. We ask for an address at which correspondence can reliably be received and where documents can be served. That can be an accountant's or agent's address. Remote operation is fine.
Yes. We audit your website, your public social media, and paid advertising using public transparency sources including the Meta Ad Library and the Google Ads Transparency Center. The declarations in the application do not replace that audit.
Twelve months, renewable. Registration runs in three-year cycles, with a lighter review at each annual renewal and a full re-assessment at the start of each new cycle.
Yes. Registration can be suspended or removed — for example if an advertising ruling is upheld against you, if information you gave us turns out to be false, or if you stop meeting a Condition. The grounds and the process are set out in the Conditions of Registration, and you have a right to make representations and to appeal.
Applications are made through our organisation portal. You will need identity documents for the people responsible for your organisation, your ICO registration number, and the web addresses of the pages you publish.
Find my organisation and apply
