Latest News

Regulation Event on 26 June: Complaints, Hearings & Tribunals
Date:   26 June 2013 Time:   11.30am - 15.30pm (includes lunch & refreshments) Venue: CIPA Hall, Chancery Lane, London Price:    £40 + VAT   About this briefing Our Regulation Special Interest Group (SIG) will be having a briefing event on Complaints, Hearings

AAT seeks Membership Services Manager - £55k
The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) is the UK’s leading professional body offering skills-based accountancy and finance qualifications. AAT is recruiting for a Membership Services Manager to join their team in London.   About the role Contract: Permanent/Full time Salary: Up to

Spring Conference
Engaging and retaining members through your professional brand We're really excited that our (Re)defining Your Professional Brand conference on 24 April 2013! Come hear from speakers from leading professional bodies as they share their experiences and provide practical guidance on how to maximise and manage the

SfEP recruiting Development Manager - £22k London
The Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) is a professional organisation based in the UK for editors and proofreaders – the people who strive to make text accurate and readable. The SfEP is looking for a Development Manager to join their team based in Putney, London. The main aim of this

Read the Professional Body Sector Review 2013
Check out the our new annual publication, the Professional Body Sector Review, online to read articles and case studies from a variety of professional bodies. The publication will help define the sector in its own right, focusing on its distinctiveness, challenges and trends. The publication is the

CIEEM recruiting Registration Officer - £25,130
CIEEM is the leading professional membership body for ecologists and environmental managers. About this role Registration Officer (Winchester) Full Time 37.5hrs per week Salary: £25,130 per annum This new post will launch and manage a new professional Register of Chartered Ecologists. Key areas

Sterling recruiting Head of Professions & Membership - £40k
Sterling Solutions is one of the UK’s leading providers of multi-channel communication solutions, working with blue chip organisations throughout the UK. Sterling is looking for a new Head of Professions & Membership to join their team. They employ over 200 people across three locations in Kettering, London

CPD for the Maritime Sector
The Nautical Institute (NI) has recently been redeveloping its CPD policies and its member tools for recording and planning CPD online. The NI is an international representative body for maritime professionals involved in the control of sea-going ships. CPD is still a new concept within the nautical sector. Although

Meet the Institute of Hospitality's new CEO
The Institute of Hospitality recently appointed Peter Ducker FIH as their new chief executive at the beginning of 2013. Peter has given his assessment of the industry’s prospects for the year ahead and explained his goals and priorities in his new role as part of a feature article in the March 2013 issue of

2013-2014 Research Projects
Based on feedback from our members and the PARN Steering Group, we are busy planning two research projects for 2013-2014. Find out about each of the new projects from the links below: Managing Member Networks This research project is being supported by: Chartered Institute of Building Chartered

Last chance to fill in our survey for professional bodies
Last year we launched our triennial Benchmarking Survey for Professional Bodies to identify key trends in the sector. The survey closes on 31 January 2013 - here are two examples of the types of trends we'll be looking for...   Increase towards compulsory CPD In 2009, 35% of professional bodies that

High level apprenticeships set to fly at Atkins
Traditional entry routes to the professions have been evolving over the past few years with high level apprenticeship schemes becoming an alternative option to university. We were excited to hear how Atkins, a major player in the design and engineering consultancy field, is launching higher apprenticeships in its

Challenges and Opportunities of Dispute Resolution
Our Regulation Special Interest Group will be holding a briefing event on 22 January 2013 at the ICSA. The content for the sessions at this briefing are focused on key issues relating to challenges of dispute resolution.  This event offers the opportunity for professional bodies with an interest in

New Year - New Members!
Well we've kickstarted 2013 with a fresh lot of new members! We are so excited to announce four more professional bodies have now joined. Learn about each organisation from the links below...     Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) CIHT is a learned society

Account Manager for Professions & Membership at Sterling
Sterling is one of the UK's leading providers of multi-channel communications solutions. They are currently looking an Account Manager in their Professions and Membership division.    About the role As an Account Manager, you will be responsible for managing membership and marketing lead projects across

How are professional qualifications changing?
Thanks to our triennial International Benchmarking Survey in 2009, we were able to identify that around one third of professional bodies were awarding bodies... 33% awarded qualifications below degree level 37% awarded qualifications above degree level 28% accredited third parties’

How does your organisation implement and measure CPD?
Our upcoming survey will benchmark trends in the sector In our triennial International Benchmarking Survey in 2009, we identified a growing trend of professional bodies adopting compulsory CPD, sometimes prompted by the introduction of regulatory legislation but often as a result of a belief that CPD

Is volunteering in member networks still in decline?
 In our triennial International Benchmarking Survey in 2009, we found that volunteering in member networks was suffering a decline. 61% of professional bodies said that volunteering in their branches and special interest groups had either stayed the same or declined. Will this trend continue in 2012 as

Nautical Institute recruiting Deputy Manager - London
The Nautical Institute wishes to recruit a Deputy Manager, Research and Analysis to support their Head of Delegation at the International Maritime Organization.     About this role This full-time role based in London will include a full range of duties, including: Providing research and

Dental regulator wants patient views
The General Dental Council (GDC) is asking patients and members of the public to take part in a questionnaire about how dental professionals keep up to date throughout their careers. The GDC is proposing to reform its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements for dental professionals and wants to know

Association of Volunteer Managers join PARN
We're excited to welcome the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) as our newest member of PARN!   About AVM The Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) is an independent body that aims to support, represent and champion people who manage volunteers in England regardless of field, discipline or sector. It

(Re)defining Your Professional Brand: Spring 2013 Conference
Thinking about your professional brand? Professional bodies live or die by their reputation. How the organisation is perceived by members, potential members, their members’ clients, and the general public is at the very heart of professional body success. The brand of professionalism is a much sought after

BAAT rejoins PARN
PARN welcomes BAAT back to the network         British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) We're very happy to welcome the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) back as a member of PARN! The BAAT is the professional organisation for art therapists in the United Kingdom and

Financial Benchmarking Report published
The third edition of our Financial Benchmarking for Professional Bodies report is now available. This report is an important tool for planning, evaluating and directing your organisation's financial activities now and in the future.  This 82 page report can help your professional body to identify

IPA’s new approach to CPD reaps big rewards
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) have transformed their CPD approach through partnership with online distance learning experts WillowDNA. Increased learner numbers, great feedback from their members and the opportunity to extend their reach are just some of the benefits of moving accreditation

Research into e-learning published in new book
Our latest book E-learning for Professionals continues a series of publications on our research into the area of professional education and pulls together our knowledge on social networking and professionals’ use of online learning for CPD purposes. PARN investigated professional bodies’ development and

CPD Futures - Research Project by Kingston Uni & the Tomorrow Project
This November marks the launch of the CPD Futures research project, a joint collaboration between the CPD Research Project, supported by the Kingston University Business School, and the Tomorrow Project. CPD Futures will build on the first phase of the CPD Research Project and draw on the Tomorrow Project's

Conference on Combating Financial Crime
The International Compliance Association (ICA) is hosting a conference on combating financial crime on the 28 November 2012 in London. Delegates will learn about the latest developments in financial crime and how these will affect your business and the way you do your job in the future.   The UK financial

PARN wishes Ashridge well in continuing the work of TotalProfessions.com
Since its inception in 2010, PARN and Ashridge Communications have worked together on the TotalProfessions.com website to develop what is now a well established and increasingly popular website, bringing all professional bodies together on one platform. More recently, PARN has been developing a suite of

NAS seeks professional bodies' views on Higher Apprenticeships
To ensure Higher Apprenticeships best meet the needs of employers and individuals, and to support their continued development and expansion, the National Apprenticeship Service is consulting on how the current Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE) can be improved for Higher

Accrediting Employer Training
We are currently conducting some research into how professional bodies are accrediting employer training and what this means for CPD. We are aware of a number of bodies with such schemes but it would appear that they are in the minority. A recent Member Enquiry on the topic of accreditation of organisational or

New Member - British Parking Association
Welcome to the newest member in the network         British Parking Association (BPA) The British Parking Association represents over 700 organisational members from the entire parking and traffic management sector, including local authorities, manufacturers, car park

New Members - EI and IAM
Welcome to the newest members in the network                 Energy Institute (EI)   The EI is the professional body for the energy industry, delivering good practice and professionalism across the depth and breadth of the

Research into Internationalisation
Our newest research project on internationalisation will investigate a variety of ways that that professional bodies can develop their presence and their membership in countries other than their home nation. This project is being supported by two of our PARN Members: The Institute of Physics The Institute

Bespoke In-house Training from PARN
In addition to our regular courses, we can offer bespoke in-house training for group bookings at discounted rates, enabling your staff to learn in the convenience of your own office.   About our bespoke training Are you looking training that is tailored to the needs of your organisation? We can deliver

Lee Davies to chair upcoming PARN Conference
Update on our 'E-learning, M-learning & Beyond' event   We're pleased to announce that Lee Davies, CEO at Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys will be the chair for our next conference on E-learning, M-learning & Beyond on 8 November in London.    We have also confirmed

Research on New Approaches to Member Relations
Just a quick update on our New Approaches to Member Relations  research project which we started in 2011...   The research is now complete and the final report was submitted to the six professional bodies who supported it. Thank you to our PARN Members for supporting this work: Engineers

Collaboration with haysmacintyre on upcoming financial benchmarking report
Building on the success of the 1st and 2nd editions of our Financial & Operating Ratios for Professional Bodies Report, the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) is proud to announce haysmacintyre as this year’s report sponsor. PARN will be working in partnership with haysmacintyre to improve

Three Exciting New Courses for Autumn 2012
Our Training Courses have been going from strength to strength and we've been continuing to develop new content based on our research and specialist knowledge about the professional body sector. Our new courses are aimed at senior and strategic staff responsible for shaping and directing core activities in their

Would our CPD course be good for you?
Our CPD training course Developing and Managing CPD has now been running for over a year, and we have delivered it four times in different locations including Edinburgh. Developing and Managing CPD is relevant to a wide variety of sectors and a range of job positions within professional bodies. It encourages

The British Dental Association (BDA): E-learning for dentists
The BDA represents over 23,000 dentists working in a wide range of settings. As the regulator for the sector, the General Dental Council (GDC) sets requirements for CPD. One of the ways the BDA helps its members to complete the required CPD is by providing e-learning. The BDA first introduced E-learning in

Is e-learning more popular in a recession?
E-learning has been the coming thing for the last two decades, but have the recent recessions been the catalyst that has brought it into the mainstream? By 2015 the global market for e-learning provision is projected to be just less than $50 billion (USD). Early uptake of e-learning was generally from large

Happy VQ Day!
The Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) would like to wish all 120 of our professional body members a very happy VQ Day! VQ Day is a national celebration of vocational qualifications (VQs) for students, teachers and employers. It shines a light on and recognises the millions of talented and skilled

Facilitation of SoR Board & Council Meeting
Our CEO Andy Friedman recently facilitated a Board and Council Meeting for our PARN Member, the Society and College of Radiographers.  As part of the day, Andy presented information about the legal responsibilities of directors and trustees and also led a discussion of competencies as they are applied to the

Professional bodies support social mobility
Alan Milburn, who chaired the Panel that inspired TotalProfessions.com, is today releasing a report on social mobility. Milburn acts as an independent reviewer of social mobility for government.     What does social mobility have to do with the professions? Some professions,

Our latest book explores 'New Ways of Entering the Professions'
Our latest book Becoming A Professional: New Ways of Entering the Professions is out now! The book was launched in London at our Fit for Purpose Professionals conference on 25 April 2012 and author Will Hanson gave an overview of the findings presented in the book.  The book pulls together PARN knowledge

Who's weathering the recession well?
Report shows larger professional bodies faring better According to our report Financial & Operating Ratios for Professional Bodies 2009/2010, there is a fairly consistent and positive relation between the size of professional bodies and income per member. For instance: Less than £1M

Designing Competency Frameworks for CPD
PARN has noted that more and more professional bodies are developing sets of competencies which frame different aspects of professional skills, knowledge and practice. Professional bodies put competency frameworks to a variety of uses including defining qualifications, accrediting courses and  assessing

Great turnout at our Fit for Purpose Professionals Conference
Fit for Purpose Professionals: Exploring new entry routes to the professions Toni Fazaeli, Chief Executive of the Institute for Learning, chaired our recent conference which explored new entry routes to the professions. We welcomed speakers from organisations at the frontier of professional learning to provide case

ILEX Reviews CPD Scheme
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) has embarked on a comprehensive review of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) arrangements for their members. A Working Group within ILEX Professional Standards (IPS) has been established and over the course of a year, the Group will be looking to improve

PARN Lay Member case study: Janette Gulleford shares her motivations and rewards
Janette Gulleford, Managing Director of Professional Solutions, has a long history of service in the professional body sector. She has worked for the Royal College of Midwives, as technical director in the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and currently sits on the Board of the Institute of Association

Workshop Summary Available: Challenges for Professional Bodies
Workshop Summary Available: Challenges for Professional Bodies At our recent conference about Future-proofing Your Professional Body on 10 November, delegates participated in a workshop asking them to think about the future challenges for their own organisations and its members, and then discuss the issues and

Survey YOUR Members about E-Learning
In addition our survey of professional bodies, we are running a survey for YOUR MEMBERS to find out their views on and experiences of e-learning.     If you would like to find out how YOUR MEMBERS feel about e-learning and how they might be different to other professionals, then consider

Answer Our Survey: E-Learning for Professional Bodies
Answer Our Survey: E-Learning for Professional Bodies PARN's most recent survey forms part of a research project that we are conducting on e-learning for professionals, investigating how professional bodies are providing e-learning to their members. The project is supported by ACCA and

2011 Member Enquiries - Wrap up!
As 2011 comes to an end, we are looking back at the Member Enquiries that our members circulated via the PARN network. Topics varied from membership, CPD and discipline to governance and external relations.     35 member enquiries were posted during the year, and 70% of our member organisations

What's your approach to reserves?
For this article, we're sharing some of the findings about reserves from the 2nd edition of our Financial & Operating Ratios for Professional Bodies report.   On average, professional bodies saw reserves increase from £5.1M in 2009 to £5.3M in 2010.    We found that

Students polled about professional bodies
PUSH, an online guide to UK universities,  recently ran a poll to see if young people and students visiting their site knew what a professional body was...   40% recognised it as a way to get into a career 22% said they didn't know 21% said they are only for people already in a job

'Future-proofing' conference wrap-up
On Thursday, 10 November, PARN held a fantastic conference in London to examine what professional bodies need to do to support the changing nature of professionals and the demands on them in the future.   Neil Hunt, Chief Executive of RCGP chaired the event where we heard from those at the frontier of

Digital Exposure: Member Spotlight on ACCA's Helen Perkins
ACCA’s Helen Perkins explains how technology will change how accountants are made... It is clear that society is being transformed by technological developments – perhaps nowhere more so than through an increasingly rich and pervasive online world – which is becoming as prevalent as the physical

New Financial & Operating Ratios report out now!
Our second edition of Financial & Operating Ratios for Professional Bodies  report is out now! This unique report has been designed to help professional bodies evaluate their own performance relative to that of similar organisations in order to identify improvement opportunities. Based on two years of

e-Portfolios & professional associations
Application to professional body membership and the renewal process demonstrating Personal Development Planning (PDP) can often be a time-consuming, paper-based and paper chasing exercise. The result is a box file (or even several) of documents accompanying a completed form that cannot readily show the

Institute of Biomedical Science launches new CPD ePortfolio
Our new PARN member the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), have a new ePortfolio resource as part of their CPD scheme. The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) is the professional body for 20,000 members in the UK and abroad working across the biomedical science sector represented primarily by the NHS, university

CPD: Lifelong Learning of Millions
PARN Director Prof Andy Friedman’s new book titled Continuing Professional Development: Lifelong Learning of Millions offers the first comprehensive study on the subject of CPD. A fundamental change in the nature of professionalism is taking place; a change in what it is to be a professional and to be

Exciting news from TotalProfessions.com
It’s almost a year since TotalProfessions.com was launched with the support of many professional bodies, to provide advice, guidance and information for aspiring professionals. To celebrate, we wanted to look back at the achievements of the past 12 months, and also to make you aware of some of the exciting

Total Professions announces exciting new media partnership
www.TotalProfessions.com, the career portal for aspiring professionals, set up with support and impetus from many professional bodies, has agreed a 12 month media partnership arrangement with Cherry Publishing the major provider of web sites and related services for school and university students. The partnership

CPD and Revalidation
CPD Spotlight - June/July 2011 Think Piece by William Hanson There’s a way of describing revalidation that sounds almost exactly like CPD. It’s a regular check that professionals are keeping up to date and remain competent after qualification. Most professions already do that, don’t they?

Member Spotlight BPS
CPD Spotlight: June/July 2011 Our Member Spotlight this month is on the British Psychological Society (BPS) as they have set up an online CPD portal called The Learning Centre to enhance the provision of CPD opportunities available for their members.   About The BPS Learning Centre The BPS Learning

m-Learning
CPD Spotlight: July/July 2011 Special Feature by Amy Hannington We wanted to take a look at m-learning, otherwise known as mobile learning. Just got your head around e-learning? Well m-learning is part of it, not something wholly new; it simply refers to providing learning suitable for mobile devices. Maybe

New Training Courses: Autumn 2011
Training Courses Intro - Membership - CPD - Standards    ....unique one-day courses for staff & volunteers in the professional body

Pay structure for governing body members
 Pay structure for governing body members Ever wondered what other professional bodies pay their President, Vice President, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer or Chairman?    Find out in our Member Enquiry that investigated... Type and

Fellowship & Chartered status
Fellowship & Chartered status You can find out how other professional bodies deal with these grades of membership in our recent Member Enquiry. We looked at... Entry requirements for applying Accepted academic and qualification levels Proportion of members

Access over 200 Members Enquiries online
Our Members Only section of our website provides PARN members with access to over 200 past enquiry summaries on topics from membership subscriptions to examinations to governing body evaluations. We have categorised all of our past enquiries to enable you to find information on topics of interest quickly and easily.

Subscribe to CPD Spotlight for £10 per year (6 issues)
The first edition of CPD Spotlight this year has just landed in subscriber's inboxes. To kick off 2011, PARN took a fresh look at our e-newsletter design and have brightened it up. This month, our Member Spotlight is on the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute and its online CPD system. February also brings you a

Advertise your vacancy with PARN
PARN’s vacancy service is a great opportunity to promote your vacancy to a targeted audience of sector professionals. By advertising on PARN’s website your ad is guaranteed to reach the right candidates, including individuals interested in a range of professional issues from CPD and ethics and standards to

What's new on PARNPeople - Latest blogs, discussions and resources
From mentoring strategy to developments in e-learning, PARNPeople has got people talking and sharing. Have a look at the recent conversations and let others know what you think by logging on at www.parnpeople.com! Blogs: Commentary to get you thinking Thoughts from the Sector  •Prospects for

E-learning and Member Services come out on top for PARN's 2011 research ideas
We recently asked PARN members to give us their thoughts and views on a number of potential new research projects. We received 73 replies so many thanks for participating in the survey! Click here for full descriptions of the proposed research projects. The project which received most support was on E-Learning with

Further resource & case studies give insight into experiences of volunteers
A "Volunteer Skills and Career Paths" resource and three case studies have been added to the PARN Volunteer Resource Area. This is a go to resource if you're interested in supporting (or simply understanding) your volunteers a bit better! Follow the link below to access the resource in the Members Area

PARN report on professional bodies engagement with foundation degrees published
PARN was commissioned by FDF (Foundation Degree Forward) to carry out research to identify how Foundation Degrees fit in with routes to qualification in the professions and to discern opportunities for facilitating partnerships between professional bodies and providers of Foundation Degrees as well as any barriers

PARN publishes Professional Standards Regulation
PARN has today released the newest addition to our publications family - Professional Standards Regulation. Co-authored by PARN Director Andy Friedman and Research Assistant William Hanson, this book is intended to raise awareness of what is involved in professional standards regulation, taking in the reasons why

Snapshots now available to PARN members on PARNPeople Reviews
PARN's Snapshot series are now available for members to download in the Reviews section of PARNPeople. Through Reviews, you can also make comments and ask questions on the individual Snapshots. PARN's past Snapshots include: Extent of CPD: The lifelong learning of millions Responses to the

A Lasting Impact: A case study of PARN’s influence on governance
Bringing the Board up to speed “When Board members have a two year term, there is a risk that they might not be able to contribute early enough or in all respects” says Stephen Bennett, Strategy Director at the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). “While Board members have a

PARN Manifesto Update: Acknowledgement from Government
In May this year PARN developed a Manifesto for the new government, calling upon it to create a single point of contact for the professions to recognise and support the crucial role the professions play in society and ensure the expertise and advice they offer does not go unused. We sent the draft manifesto to the whole

Equally Professional publishes report "Like minds on different journeys"
A report was released today - "Like minds on different journeys" - on the work of Equally Professional, a network of 20 professional bodies committed to providing equality and diversity in and through their memberships, and thereby widening access to the professions. The report looks at what these