I thought I’d take the opportunity in this month’s column to highlight some of the changes that the IFP will be making to its qualifications over the next year.

The IFP has been delivering Certified Financial PlannerCM certification in the UK very successfully for a number of years, with the result that we have over 900 CFP professionals. It really does represent the global standard of excellence in Financial Planning. From the very start, the basic assessment process we use has not been changed. There are however some significant changes coming that will have an impact on what we deliver. So, if you’re thinking of starting the process to become a CFP professional, read on.

The IFP is close to achieving Ofqual recognition. We have submitted our application to become an awarding organisation and are awaiting feedback. We will then have to submit our qualifications to the Qualifications and Credits Framework (QCF). This will mean rewriting them in QCF terminology and splitting them into “bite-sized” units.

Last year the IFP successfully completed its regular audit by the FPSB. We fared extremely well but to bring us in line with the way that other affiliates around the world run CFP certification, we’ll be making some changes. One of these changes will, in 2012, be the introduction of an exam in addition to the existing case study assessment.

Of course, we cannot ignore the fact that by the end of 2012, all advisers and Financial Planners will need to cover the FSA-defined learning outcomes either by qualification or gap-fill. This means that we need to consider again our CFP Certification entry requirements. Not because we want to put additional hurdles in the way of advisers becoming CFP professionals but we need to be completely in line with our global colleagues. I’d be interested in your thoughts. Lucy Courtenay is qualifications director of the IFP This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.