Chartered Fellowship
For people professionals who combine strategic insight and people expertise to change the way organisations think about their people

Be a role model for the profession
Chartered Fellow status recognises senior people professionals who are changing the way organisations think about their people, and using their professional expertise to deliver long-term value for their organisation and the profession. As a Chartered Fellow you will be committed to promoting and sharing the highest standards, developing others and improving yourself.
Chartered Fellowship offers you an exciting platform to affect change and engage in the big debates with business and government policy.
You'll be able to deepen your engagement with the CIPD and the profession through:
- shaping the policy agenda
- voting on key CIPD matters
- contributing to key CIPD research
- using the professional designation and letters Chartered FCIPD after your name.
What we’re looking for
To become a Chartered Fellow, you’ll need to have worked consistently at this level for at least one year within the last five years. This is a minimum requirement, and to demonstrate the standards it’s likely that you will need more than a year. Your work will usually be entirely strategic in thinking and / or delivery, and require a significant level of complexity.
You’re typically:
- Using your significant expertise in people, work and change to create organisations that value people, and deliver long-term value for the organisation and / or the profession.
- Shifting collective mindsets and influencing a wide range of senior stakeholders to change the way organisations think about their people.
- Developing evidence-based thinking on topics which shape the profession or drive complex people programmes.
- Role-modelling integrity and ethics in your decision making.
- Having a strategic impact that fundamentally changes the thinking around people, and has a significant impact in the organisation, sector or profession.
- Creating long-term value for the organisation or the profession (value which is sustained for more than a year).
All Chartered Fellows need to:
- Have a full understanding of people practices across a range of specialisms, and how they integrate to create a holistic people offering.
- Have an excellent understanding of your organisation’s business and people strategy, performance and sector trends.
- Be a role model for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) by reflecting on your work, connecting with networks of leaders, promoting a learning culture and enabling the development of others.
- Comply with our Code of Professional Conduct.
Explore the Chartered Fellow standards
The membership grades are now aligned with the levels of our new Profession Map. If you are interested in coming into Chartered Fellowship via Experience Assessment or Upgrading, use the membership standards to determine if this is the right membership level for you.
What sort of job roles are at Chartered Fellow level?
Whether you’re employed or working on a consultancy basis, Chartered Fellows usually work at senior management or director level. In larger organisations you’ll typically be a Director or Head of specialist area, working through teams to deliver the people strategy. In smaller organisations – or if you are delivering services as a consultant – you’ll demonstrate long-term value creation in a strategic context.
The level of membership that’s right for you will depend on the work you do, your knowledge, behaviour, and impact you have. However, examples of Chartered Fellow roles may include:
- Group HR Director
- L&D Director
- Head of Reward
- Head of Talent
- External People Consultant
- Head of L&D
- HR Director
What's in it for you?
Becoming a member means immediate access to a range of benefits. Look at some of our most popular benefits below, or go to our member benefits page to see the full range.
Resources

- Research, surveys and policy reports
- 100s of online business, HR and L&D journals supplied by EBSCO
- Time-saving email updates, including In a Nutshell and a weekly HR news bulletin
- Practical podcasts, topic summaries, factsheets and guides, and more.
Communities

Connect, learn and be inspired
- Online Community forum - Socialise, discuss and learn from an interested and supportive community of professionals.
- Join CIPD networks.
- Find inspiration at CIPD conferences and events.
Career

Career support
- CIPD Profession Map - assess your capability and access recommendations on what you need to know and do at every stage of your career.
- My CPD Map - an online assessment tool to identify your strengths and areas for development
- CIPD Career hub - an online gateway to information, tools and advice to help build key employability skills and enable you to make the most of career opportunities
Rewards
Save money
- Receive a 20% discount on all CIPD books and business titles from our Kogan Page bookshop
- Receive preferential rates on CIPD products and services, conferences, training and events
Choose your route into Chartered Fellowship
Complete Experience Assessment
This flexible route requires no studying and allows you to use your current experience when applying for membership
Study a CIPD-accredited Advanced Diploma
You’ll be awarded Associate status at the end of your studies. Then, you can upgrade to Chartered Fellow if you have the right work experience
Upgrading your current membership
If you are currently an Associate member holding a CIPD Advanced Diploma or Chartered Member, you may be able to upgrade to Chartered Fellow
Which qualifications can lead to Chartered Fellowship?
Study an Advanced Diploma and on successful completion of your studies you'll be awarded Associate membership status. You can then apply to upgrade your membership to Chartered Fellow, provided you can demonstrate you have a minimum of one year’s experience at this level within the last five years.
Advanced qualifications - equivalent to Master's-level
- Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management (HRM)
- Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Development (HRD)
Find a course or learn more about CIPD-accredited professional qualifications.
Chartered Fellow membership fees
Cost of membership routes
Total fees for Experience Assessment = Experience Assessment fee (£2,375) + joining fee (£40) + 12 month Chartered Fellowship fee* (£216) = £2,631
Total fees for Qualification = Qualification fee + 12 month Chartered Fellowship fee* (£216)
Total fees for rejoining membership = joining fee (£40) + 12 month Chartered Fellowship fee* (£216) = £256
Membership fees for up to 12 months (from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020)
Membership fee: £216
* Dependent on when you join in the year, we offer different membership fee options.
You may also be interested in
- Membership terms and conditions
- Membership fees for new and existing members
- Our professional membership agreement with AHRI - the Australian Human Resources Institute
- Re-joining CIPD membership
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