Many CIPS students think the only place to get study resources for CIPS qualifications is directly from CIPS itself. While it has a degree of logic to it, this simply isn’t true - and in fact there are several alternative places where there are far superior, less expensive and better quality learning resources. In this blog, we will explain more!
CIPS produces hefty study guides for each one of its study modules. Over the years, as the number the study modules in the professional qualifications has increased, this has meant the opportunity for CIPS to produce and sell more study books and therefore increase revenue. However there is a conflict of interest. Unfortunately many of the CIPS study guides have not contained the necessary accuracy or quality of information to support students through their exams. There has been a disconnect between the published CIPS syllabus of learning content and the written content of each study guide, thus leaving students in the lurch when it comes to exam preparation.
Elsewhere, we have written about this conundrum for CIPS students and the fairness of this and so we are not repeating these challenges here. Suffice it to say, if a professional body markets and sells professional study resources for their own professional qualifications then they really ought to be getting the content right.
One alternative to the CIPS study guides are the study guides published by Profex (see image below). These are similar in size and scale to the CIPS study guides, but are often written with greater precision around the syllabus learning content and accuracy of information.
Profex is a small UK-based publishing company primarily set up to support students through their CIPS studies. In effect they are a study support centre. They publish large study guides for each of the CIPS modules as well as a smaller revision guide and a set of practice multiple choice questions. The aim is to give every CIPS student the necessary study information to equip them for their exam.
Here are some of the advantages Profex study guides have over the CIPS study guides:
They are more comprehensive, giving 100% syllabus coverage
They are often written in better English, easier to understand and therefore to study from
They are generally more accurate than the CIPS study guides (i.e. less errors and mistakes)
They are supported with a smaller ‘bite-size’ revision guide
They are supported with several ‘mock’ practice questions to help prepare for the exam.
However, these study resources are not perfect. Here are some of their disadvantages:
Profex study guides are more expensive than CIPS study guides
The mock exam questions are not representative of real assessment questions from CIPS.
During the summer of 2022, CIPS upgraded its website and online commercial platform. This is the site you purchase memberships, exams and books from. Unfortunately the upgrade project did not go as planned and several deadlines were missed as the new functionality was worked on - and this left students struggling to obtain CIPS study resources.
During these issues, many study centres have advised their students of the benefits of the Profex study guides as an alternative to CIPS. There do not seem to be the same commerce or fulfilment problems with Profex and so this may be an appropriate alternative for any student suffering difficulties in obtaining CIPS study resources. Please do speak to your study centre for further guidance.
As an alternative to big hefty study guides, Cordie has produced a digital alternative in the form of our eLearning. This is a free study resource to all of our CIPS students and has also been offered to some client organisations throughout the world. The eLearning takes an in-depth comprehensive overview of the required learning content of the CIPS syllabus for each study module, as well as providing extensive multiple choice practice exam questions written by [former] trained CIPS assessors.
Level 4 has been complete for some time now and this is offered to all of our Commercial Apprenticeship learners, as well as our CIPS Diploma students. Level 5 is currently work-in-progress.
To find out more, please get in touch using the contact form below or via any of our social media. We would love to hear from you and support you through your studies. We have a wealth of relevant and ‘world-class’ learning resources to support your CIPS studies, so please do get in touch soon…!