Experiential Route to the Executive Diploma

You can apply for the Experiential Route by emailing a copy of your current up-to-date CV to exdipenquiries@cips.org

CIPS will then check that you meet the eligibility requirements. Once we are satisfied that you meet the eligibility requirements we will confirm acceptance on to the ExDip Experiential Route and request that you contact us on +44 (0)845 880 1188 to make the payment for the next stage of your assessment.

A non-refundable payment of £250 will be due from you at this point.

Once we have received your payment you will receive an email with a link to the online competency assessment.

We request that the competency assessment is completed within 30 calendar days of receiving the link.

The online competency assessment tests your level of knowledge and understanding against 10 themes in the CIPS Global Standard for Procurement and Supply at the Advanced Professional Level.

Timings
The assessment should take approximately 90 minutes. You will need to set aside at least this amount of uninterrupted time with reliable internet access to complete the assessment.

Results
Your results from this assessment will determine the next stage of your process.

• PASS
  If you achieve a pass rate of 75 % in each of the 5 Essential Themes. You will move to Stage 3 of the application process.
• STATEMENT
  If you achieve a pass rate of 75% in 4 out of the 5 Essential Themes of the online assessment, then you will move to Stage 3 of the process, however, we will require you to complete an extra written statement at Stage 3.
• WITHDRAWAL
  If you do not achieve a pass rate of 75% in more than one of the Essential Themes then this is considered as failure to meet the required standard. You will be withdrawn from the process and eligible to re-apply after a minimum of 6 months from your initial application. The report that you will receive at this stage will identify your areas for development. You will need to re-apply as a new applicant and this will incur the full application fee.

Upon successful completion of this part of the process, you will receive a report providing your benchmark scores and instructions for your next steps. This report will come to you within 15 calendar days of you completing the test.

Upon a successful outcome in the online assessment, a non-refundable payment of £545 will be due from you at this point, to move to the next stage of the process.

You are required to write four personal statements, each one to consist of 1,000 words.  You are required to choose four tasks from the following list, all of which are specialist segments from selected themes within the Advanced Professional Level of the CIPS Global Standard.

• Improving systems capabilities for supply chain management
• Improving Data integrity in supply chains
• Developing operational expertise in procurement
• Developing organisational expertise in procurement
• Leading improvements in contracting practice
• Applying improvement methodologies for the supply chain
• Developing metrics for supply chain

You can use the CIPS Global Standard as a reference point. 

In your personal statement you should reference the relevant knowledge and capabilities in the Global Standard for the specialist task and provide evidence of how you have been successful in your career in relation to the segments. Your statement should also focus on demonstrating your capability and behaviours. 

Your submission can include up to 4 appendices per statement.

Additional Statement
In the event that you are unsuccessful in meeting the required standard for one theme of the online competency assessment (Stage 2), you will be required to complete an additional personal statement of 2,000 words, on that theme. This should be submitted together with the other four personal statements and the Statement of Ethical Intent.

Statement of Ethical Intent
A final step in Stage 3 is the completion of a statement of ethical intent. This is mandatory for all candidates. In 1,000 words please illustrate how you propose to adopt ethical behaviours both personally and within your organisation in the future, using the CIPS Global Standard as your reference. This is an essential aspect of being an ExDip Chartered Procurement and Supply Professional and at the heart of the CIPS Code of Conduct.

Submission
You must submit your completed Personal Statements to exdipapplications@cips.org. We will acknowledge your submission by automated reply email.

Resubmission
If you are unsuccessful at meeting the required standard for any of the elements of the Stage 3 assessment (personal statements), CIPS, at its own discretion, may choose to offer you one further submission opportunity. If this is the case you will receive a message from us making that offer, and providing you with a deadline for completion of your reattempt.

The final stage of the process is a 90 minute (approximately) interview.  CIPS will offer an interview date for no sooner than 1 month and no later than 3 months after you submitted your personal statements.

The actual interview assessment will take place via Webex, Skype or a telephone conference. Your interview will be recorded for quality and training purposes.  The interviewer will ask you a range of questions based around both your online skills assessment and the specialist themes from the Global Standard that you selected as part of your personal statements submission in Stage 3. 

Your results and final report will be sent to you within 30 calendar days of you completing Stage 4 (viva interview assessment) of the Experiential route to ExDip assessment process.

If you successfully pass all stages of the Experiential ExDip assessment process, then CIPS will approve you to be awarded ExDip Chartered Professional Status. We will send you an email with your outcome, and then you will receive a welcome pack and certificate in the post within 60 calendar days of your outcome email (please note, this timescale may depend on your country of residence). 

Your new designation should always be written as per the example below:

Josephine Bloggs FCIPS/MCIPS ExDip
Chartered Procurement and Supply Professional
Job Title

If you are unsuccessful you will have a detailed report outlining areas for development and can re-apply to go through the entire process after one year has elapsed.  You will be required to pay the full application fee again.

Resubmission
If you are unsuccessful at meeting the required standard for any of the elements of the Stage 3 assessment (personal statements), CIPS, at its own discretion, may choose to offer you one further submission opportunity. If this is the case you will receive a message from us making that offer, and providing you with a deadline for completion of your reattempt.