Join through Experience Assessment

Is Experience Assessment for me?

Experience Assessment is for those with recent experience working in the people profession. This route could suit you whether you’re an independent consultant, you’re working for a large corporate or smaller organisation. It’s about demonstrating you have the knowledge, behaviours and impact required for the CIPD membership grade you want to achieve.

Find out more about what we're looking for and if Experience Assessment is for you with the online Pre-Assessment.

The benefits of Experience Assessment

Experience Assessment is a time-efficient and rewarding route to membership that’s designed to fit into the lives of busy people professionals.

Delivers professional recognition through membership: you can use a designation after your name that shows your experience (Assoc CIPD, Chartered MCIPD or Chartered FCIPD).
Takes as little as four months.
Not a qualification, so no studying or exams: it’s all about your experience.
Rewards your achievements and contribution to organisational success.

A professionally rewarding experience

Gives you the opportunity to reflect on your career, skills and knowledge to date.
Highlights potential areas for development towards meeting your long-term professional goals.
Benchmarks your people experience against the industry standard.

See what our members say

Ann Halloran - Training Consultant

Ann was the first person in Ireland to achieve Chartered Membership of the CIPD through the Experience Assessment route

What does it involve?

The five steps of Experience Assessment can fit around your professional and personal commitments.

Step 1: Online Pre-Assessment

Find out which membership grade to apply for, based on your current level of experience. It’s free, flexible and quick with our online Pre-Assessment Tool.

Gives you an immediate result.
Takes around 10 minutes to complete.
Can help you identify areas for development.

Take the Pre-Assessment today

Step 2: Register and pay for Experience Assessment

Once you've completed the online Pre-Assessment you can register and pay for your complete Experience Assessment.

After registering you’ll get a preview of membership and CIPD member benefits, including access to professional resources, research and online communities. These will all support you throughout your online assessment.

Step 3: Online assessment

You can expect to invest around five to 10 days of your time over an eight week period to complete the following:

Knowledge and Impact Report. Demonstrate your expertise in people, work and change, and show how your work has made an impact.
Behaviour Report. Demonstrate the behaviours needed to be principles-led, evidence-based and outcomes-driven.
Your Professional Development. Provide feedback from the people you work with, reflect on your strengths and potential areas for progress, and show how your professional development is refining the way you work.

The timescale to complete the online assessment is only a guide. Our advice is to plan ahead, and give yourself enough time to think through and prepare your examples.

Step 4: Professional discussion

Approximately three to four weeks after you submit your online assessment, you’ll be invited to a two to three hour online interview with an experienced CIPD assessor. They’ll ask questions about your career, follow up on some of the examples you provided in your online assessment, and ask for additional examples of your work.

Step 5: Outcome

You'll receive the outcome of your Experience Assessment, along with a report to support your continuing professional development, within six weeks of your interview. If you're successful, you'll be awarded Associate Member, Chartered Member or Chartered Fellow grade and receive your CIPD certificate. You’ll also gain access to exclusive member benefits that will support your role every day.

Discussion forum

Discuss Experience Assessment online in the CIPD Community

Join the conversation

How much does it cost?

Experience Assessment fees - existing members

One-off assessment fee*

When registering for Experience Assessment, current Affiliate and Associate members of the CIPD only pay the assessment fee.

Assessment for Associate £1,996
Assessment for Chartered Member £2,045
Assessment for Chartered Fellow £2,375

*the assessment fee is non-refundable.

Annual membership fee

The next time you renew your membership, and once you’ve completed Experience Assessment, you’ll pay the membership fee for the grade you’re awarded.

Experience Assessment fees - new members


Membership type	Joining fee	One-off assessment fee*	Fee (1 Jan 2023 - 30 June 2023)	Fee (1 Jan 2023 – 30 June 2024)
Associate Member	£40	£1,996	£84	£252
Chartered Member	£40	£2,045	£98	£293
Chartered Fellow	£40	£2,375	£111	£332

Total = Joining fee + One-off assessment fee + 6 OR 18 month membership fee.

Our membership year runs from 1 July to 30 June and you can join membership at any time.

*the assessment fee is non-refundable.

Card payments

Fees are presented in Sterling, and card payments will be charged the exchange rate of your financial services provider.

For guidance on the euro rate click here to convert currency.

Eurozone Direct Debit

You can set up a SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) Direct Debit to pay in euros. Please complete our SEPA Direct Debit instruction form and send it with your membership application form.

Direct debit payment amounts are based on our current exchange rate €1.18 = £1 (rate is reviewed annually).

Experience Assessment not for you?

Study a Certificate or Diploma qualification which will lead to Associate membership.

Study the CIPD Advanced Diploma and upgrade to Chartered Member or Chartered Fellow.

Explore our free line manager support resources if you’re a people manager. This is typically professionals responsible for directly leading or managing employees and who enable and implement HR policies, practices and frameworks.

Ask about membership through Experience Assessment

Call +353 1 513 6796 *

Or

Call +353 1 513 6796 * Contact us

* Calls are routed through to the UK