Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Corporate Award Programme

The CIPS Corporate Award Programme forms part of the Welsh Government’s capability programme. It aims to provide staff with professional development opportunities, supporting procurement professionals of the future, aiming to reduce the capacity issues faced across the profession and raise the profile of procurement in Wales.

To date, over 330 places on the Corporate Award Programme have been funded by the Welsh Government, helping procurement professionals develop their skills and contribute to the ambitions of the Welsh Procurement Policy Statement.

The CIPS Corporate Award Programme is designed for procurement professionals looking to develop their professional skills and progress towards full Membership of CIPS (MCIPS). It is a work-based, modular and applied learning programme, offering an accelerated route to MCIPS through 2 levels of study.

The programme is currently delivered virtually, with live lectures via Microsoft Teams, giving learners the flexibility to balance their professional development alongside work and other commitments.

To support your understanding of the programme and help you assess whether it is right for you, the Welsh Government has developed guidance setting out the range of routes available in Wales to achieve MCIPS. Alongside this guidance, the short overview below introduces the CIPS Corporate Award Practitioner Programme.

This level develops learners’ knowledge, understanding and practical application of essential procurement principles and provides a route to CIPS Diploma membership. Further information is available in the CIPS Corporate Award Practitioner Programme product sheet.

Advanced Practitioner builds procurement professionalism, helps deliver greater organisational value and reduces risk. It's also a route to achieving MCIPS.

Assessment is assignment based, with a 10,000 word project required at the end of the Advanced Practitioner course. The project provides an opportunity for learners to apply their learning to a real business need, delivering practical benefits to their organisation.

On completion students will be eligible to apply for MCIPS status, having evidenced the desired number of years procurement experience required.

Applicants interested in joining this level will be required to evidence that they have already completed the CIPS L4 Diploma or CIPS Practitioner Corporate Award programme or have successfully passed the CIPS competency assessment upon application to apply for the Advanced Practitioner course.

Further information about the Corporate Award programme can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions document. For more information on the programme level, please visit the CIPS Corporate Award Advanced Practitioner Programme pages.

Prior to submitting a formal application, prospective students will be required to watch a pre-recorded online overview webinar hosted by CIPS that will provide students and employers a programme overview and the commitments expected from your engagement on the programme. A Learner Agreement will be implemented through the application process to protect the Welsh Government’s investment.

Join the Welsh Government Commercial and Procurement newsletter here. Further details on how to apply will be shared in the newsletter.

Alternatively, please e-mail CommercialCapability@gov.wales for an application pack.

Documents

Frequently asked questions

Developing professionals for the future of Welsh procurement

CIPS Corporate Award privacy notice

An independent review of the CIPS Corporate Award has concluded. Whilst this will not impact current or approved learners commencing this programme, there will be no guarantee of future funding as the programme may be subject to change.