The CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement & Supply is a UK national qualification that has international recognition. As such, it has been designed to comply with the requirements of the UK Government’s qualifications regulator Ofqual so that it has official recognition and standing.
At Level 4, the assessment standards principally focus on testing a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the learning content in the CIPS syllabus document.
But what does this mean in practice?
There are currently two main forms of assessment used by CIPS at Level 4: the Objective Response exam (a 90-minute exam with 60 multiple-choice questions) and the Constructed Response exam (a 3-hour exam comprising 4 essay-based questions). The CIPS exam team will use the same assessment principles for both types of exam.
This is best explained using an example and, for ease, let’s consider a fictitious multiple-choice question from a Level 4 Objective Response exam…
EXAMPLE QUESTION 1:
Which ONE of the following international standards provides best practice guidance on organisational measures to prevent bribery within organisations and their supply chains?
A. UNFCCC Paris Accord 2015
B. ISO 37001
C. World Trade Organisation 1994 Marrakesh Agreement
D. Vienna Convention
This question assesses Learning Outcome 4.1 from the L4M4 Ethical & Responsible Sourcing module, which requires candidates to “…Describe the impact of international ethical standards on procurement and supply”. There are five bullet points of potential content within the syllabus, including the first that simply says: “Bribery”. The question requires CIPS exam candidates to know and understand which one of the four standards listed provides guidance on anti-bribery measures, thus fulfilling CIPS’s stated aims to test knowledge and understanding of the syllabus content.
Now let’s consider another example from the same study module:
EXAMPLE QUESTION 2:
How should a procurement manager reduce the risk of an inexperienced supplier being sourced to provide critical services to their organisation? Select ONE from the following:
A. Make it a contractual obligation for all suppliers to have sufficient experience
B. Prepare a specification that only experienced suppliers could understand
C. Apply selection criteria to exclude suppliers with insufficient experience
D. Only source from large international suppliers
This question assesses Learning Outcome 1.3 which requires candidates to “…Define selection criteria that can be commonly applied when sourcing requirements from external suppliers.” Here the CIPS candidate definitely needs both to know and to undersatnd the effect of selection criteria. It is a good question for assessing this particular part of the syllabus because it deals with knowledge and understanding in a practical way.
Now by way of contrast let’s consider questions that do not meet the CIPS Level 4 criteria. Here is an alternative to Example Question 1:
What does ISO 37001 cover…?
This is purely a knowledge-based question and, while it covers almost exactly the same as the original example we provided, it simply requires the exam candidate to know a particular fact. It becomes a lottery for the student - either they know it or they don’t. Strictly speaking this is a Level 2 or 3 question.
Now consider the following as an alternative to Example Question 2:
What is the term used for decision-based criteria that could be used to exclude suppliers with insufficient capability?
Again, this is a poor alternative as it is simply looking to assess a superficial understanding of the term selection criteria. Once again, it is a Level 3 question at best.
So what can you conclude from this?
CIPS Level 4 is considered to be ‘entry level’ for the full set of professional qualifications. It is pitched at a similar level to entry level for an ordinary degree and as such you can expect your exam questions to have the same depth of search in them.
Level 4 requires more than just head knowledge (i.e. more than just lists of facts). You are expected to have deep understanding of what each aspect of the syllabus actually means and to be able to demonstrate this in your exam answers. Later on, when you reach Levels 5 and 6, you will also be required to demonstrtate your application of the knowledge as well as your critical thinking about it.
We hope you have found this insight helpful about CIPS Level 4 exams. Do please reach out and get in touch with the Cordie team if we can be of further help with your CIPS qualifications studies.