New qualification – Certificate in L&D Practice (CDP) from the CIPD

Today I was lucky enough to be in a meeting with one of the leading providers of the old CTP , looking at the new CDP programme on offer. The changes to the new qualification are substantial, making the qualification much more relevant to todays business and  L&D needs for the future.

More hours, deeper content, more ‘lifelike’ assessments, learner centred approach, accelerated learning.. a great package.

CTP to CDP – More than just a name change

While many providers will no-doubt ‘re-badge’ their existing offer, this particular provider has literally started with a clean slate. Everything about the course is new:

• More realistic assignments
• More learning time
• More peer reviews
• Focus on what L&D do now – not what training functions did 20 years ago
• Gone has the tutor – in comes the facilitator with a very different remit
• Gone – pass, merit, distinction – in comes Satisfactory – Not Yet Satisfactory (NYS)
• Out goes the bias for old theory – in comes practical and tangible application

None of the existing centres have yet had their content verified by the CIPD, although some are due to start 2010 programmes in the coming 6-8 weeks. many have written the material to the new standards and are starting on the premise that approval will be awarded. While this may seem a strange way to work, the approval of qualifications can be a protracted process and commercial organisations need to make money! the risk is with the providers who may need to make adaptations to the content or assessment process “on the fly”. this is not an un-common strategy by both qualification bodies and providers.

As one of the tutors for a provider of the current CTP, and facilitator to be on the new CLP, I can say hand on heart this is a better qualification and participants will gain more from the new format than they will the old one. This is not to say there is anything wrong with the CTP – but it is a little past its sell-by-date, and both the world and the learning and development expectations of our employers has also changed.