CII Accreditation of Professional Development Centres

Successful attainment of “CII Accredited / approved professional development centre” (APDC) status shall
enhance your organisation’s reputation through the achievement of a recognised quality benchmark. This can
be used to signify to prospective students that your centre has achieved and maintains an internationally
recognised high standard in your education and training provision.

The successful awarding of APDC to your organisation would mean it has met the CII’s Accreditation standards
and will:
• Provide an independent verification and benchmarking of the quality and relevance of your professional
development centre’s insurance and financial services learning programmes
• Demonstrates your commitment to the achievement of your students in gaining qualifications
• Validates your commitment to high standards in teaching and learning
• Supports your company in ensuring your students meet employers’ technical competence expectations
• Provides evidence of structured continuing professional development for CII and PFS members

The CII accredited / approved professional development centre accreditation focuses on two key areas:
1. Quality
• Effective evaluation of teaching
• Up to date teaching materials and learning support
• Suitable teaching facilities
2. Professionalism
• Credible and competent tutors
• Robust management systems
• Student support services

Overview of the CII Accredited / Approved Professional Development Centre Accreditation process: there
are several steps which will be undertaken in order to assess your education provision and are summarised
below:
1. On signing the accreditation agreement, the CII accreditation team in London will undertake a
comprehensive accreditation review to benchmark your education provision against APDC standards.
2. We will undertake an independent review of your education offering to demonstrate that a high
standard in teaching and learning has been achieved and continues to be maintained. This is in order to
confirm that it matches with the CII’s own standards relating to professional development support.
3. We will provide a summary report with the accreditation decision and, where any enhancements are
identified, we will work with your company to implement them. If successful certificate signifying that
your professional development centre meets CII APDC standards
4. The option of adding your professional development centre details to our website

The Accredited / Approved Professional Development Centre Standards are available through the following
link - http://www.cii.co.uk/media/28233/cii_accredited_professional_development_centre_standards.pdf
In order to conduct the accreditation review of your company’s training, CII will request a number of items for
example:
1. List of training programmes
2. List of roles and responsibilities
3. Information given to participants about your company’s training programmes
4. Learning content e.g. training materials, presentation material, trainer guides
5. Trainer profiles and evidence of their CPD maintenance
6. Details of your facilities, e.g. number of training rooms, photocopying facilities, library,
computer room, health and safety procedures.
7. Guidance/ procedures documents
8. Evaluation process details
9. Test examples
10. Process for updating the training
11. Quality assurance process information
12. Record keeping details

The process
Stage 1 Review of the application form, supporting documents and sample
training course material
Stage 2 Training observation, interviews, review of evaluation
methodology and the process for design & development and lecturer
selection
Stage 3 Benchmarking and measurement against standards
Stage 4 CII Education and Learning Committee review and sign-off
Stage 5 Written confirmation of decision and feedback (certification if
successful).
Stage 6 Annual/Ongoing review work

Centre Accreditation Fee - The accreditation fee is based on the number of units that your centre will be
offering (either CII or non-CII qualifications). The fee is payable on an annual basis.