With just a month to go before the May 2024 exams, we repeat our frequent reminder to all CIPS learners that you must not rely on the content of the CIPS study guides for your exam preparation! Although they have been published by CIPS, they are actually written by independent freelancers and, at times, the technical content is misleading and inaccurate. Even CIPS itself makes it clear that it does not assess the content of its own study material, for reasons that we explain below.

It’s CIPS exam week and, once again, we are excited to support all our learners through the final preparations for their ‘big’ day! This year we have introduced an additional “CIPS Exam Essay Writing Skills” workshop to support first-time CIPS students with the skills and techniques to write great essay answers during their Constructed Response (CR) exams.

Do you know how to access and use the “Performance Report” for your CIPS exam results? In this short article we give you advice on how to interpret your feedback scores and use them to improve your results at the next exam.

Back in November last year, we reported that CIPS had announced a 60% cut back on its Regional Exam Centre network in the UK. Here we update you on how those plans are going and discuss what impact this might have on you as a CIPS learner.

Back in May last year, we reported that the CIPS Level 4 Diploma was in the process of changing. Those changes have now occurred and the first set of exams on the new 2024 syllabus are set for March. Here we update you on those changes and give you the “inside track” on how they came about.

Life can be hectic! You may have a demanding job, homelife pressures, an unexpected change of plans or any manner of things to juggle on a day-to-day basis. Studying for your CIPS professional qualifications can be a challenging extra burden to squeeze in to the rest of your busy life. So what happens if you can’t make one of the pre-scheduled study or exam dates?

Earlier this week, CIPS announced plans to reduce the availability of its exam centres throughout the UK. During 2024, there will be a phased rationalisation, as CIPS shuts down 16 of its public exam centres in the hope that learners will opt for the more expensive “remote invigilation” offering. Here we detail which exam centres will close when and how you can take advantage of the Cordie exam centre, which will be remaining open for business as usual.

There has been a sudden and dramatic price increase in the CIPS study guides. Some have increased as much as 25%. Unfortunately, even though Cordie is an approved study centre and a “centre of excellence” partner of CIPS, we were given no notice of these increases, and so it with great regret to all of our CIPS learners that we bring this news retrospectively to you.

Earlier this week, CIPS released the all-important “theme” for next month’s L6M4 Future Strategic Challenges for the Profession exam. This time round the theme is: Digitalisation of Procurement & Supply Chains, and once again CIPS has chosen a key forward-looking disruptive technological influence on procurement and supply chain processes. This one should be a belter!

Are you confused about what is going to be in your CIPS exam? Don’t worry, we will clarify that here - you are not alone! Right now, there is a lot of confusion about what constitutes “assessment material” (and also what doesn’t). This is really important, because learners want to know what will be tested in their exam!

Once again, we were delighted to achieve a 100% pass-rate for the daunting CIPS L6M4 “Future Challenges for the Profession” study module at the May 2023 exam results. While we are delighted to share this success with you, we are mindful that this has not always been the case. Indeed, many CIPS learners find the L6M4 module to be one of the hardest they encounter across all Levels of the CIPS professional qualification. Here we explore why that is so often the case, and what you can do to improve your chances of exam success on this tricky module.

An important announcement has just been made by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) regarding a major change to their Special Considerations policy. Notably, the permitted time allowed to make a claim for special considerations is going to be reduced from 7 days to 48 hours after your exam, with effect from 2024. Here, we assess what this means for you as a CIPS learner.

HOT OFF THE PRESS: CIPS has just announced the shake-up to their annual exam schedule is being postponed until 2025. The dates of when and where you can take your CIPS exams will now be changing with effect from January 2025 and not next year, as previously planned.

It’s such a great word. Not is it only difficult to pronounce and spell, but it also nicely sums up its true meaning: to place oneself into a position of confusion, disorientation and mystification. Unfortunately, many of us feel this during exams, but it needn’t be this way.

The CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement & Supply is changing next year! Here is a brief overview of the changes and what you can expect to be different and where you can get hold of a copy!

We often get asked about the duplications of learning content across study modules and different qualification levels on the CIPS syllabus. The same content and theories regularly reappear again and again throughout the syllabus and it is unclear what new material (if any) the Institute would like you to learn.