• Worldwide recognition - CIPS study programs are recognized around the world
• A clear learning path linked to career progress - Wherever you start your learning journey, every CIPS award is closely aligned to a specific job level, helping you to prepare for promotion and enhancing your personal and professional development.
• Greater choice of business specific subjects - Traditional purchasing skills and relationship management:With the new topics and key business essentials, the CIPS membership levels are more closely aligned than ever to real life business issues.
• Remuneration - Salaries have risen rapidly over the last decade, outstripping other professions such as IT, finance, HR or sales and marketing. Purchasers who are members of the institute can expect to earn around £2,000 more than non-members.  In addition, 57 per cent of procurement staff report good or excellent job satisfaction.(*Reference: CIPS / Croner Reward Purchasing and Supply Salary Survey, 2009) 
• Transferable skills give you a choice and variety of potential workplaces -  One of the most beneficial things about this career is that a well-qualified purchasing professional can walk into a wide range of environments where they can use their skills to buy a whole variety of products and services. 

The Foundation Diploma consists of five units as follows:

1. Effective Negotiation in Purchasing and Supply - provides students with the ability to apply a variety of theories relating to negotiation in respect of preparation, planning and participating in the negotiation process.
2. Developing Contracts in Purchasing and Supply - helps students to gain an appreciation of the complexities of both the legalities and commercial issues of contractual arrangements entered into with external organizations.  The Unit also analyses the processes used for tending or for requests for proposals from external suppliers through to contract award.
3. Measuring Purchasing Performance assists students to measure the effectiveness of the supply chain and its contribution towards aiding the competitiveness and effectiveness of the organization.
4. Managing Purchasing and Supply Relationships enables students to focus on the developing and managing effective relationships, old and new, within the supply chain
5. Purchasing Contexts - tackles the different challenges faced by a wide range of organizations and sectors as they strive to achieve best value, quality, effectiveness and competitiveness within the broader supply chain.

Download the CIPS Foundation Diploma Syllabus

Minimum requirement : Bachelor degree holder, with at least five years’ of experience in a business environment. Copies of certificate may be provided at the time of registration.

Spread over 8 months, classes are scheduled twice a week during evening hours / weekends.

International exams are scheduled during May and November.

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) is an international organisation, based in the UK, serving and supporting the purchasing and supply profession. CIPS dedicated to promoting best practice within the profession, is the largest provider in the U.K. offering specialist courses across all aspects and levels of the supply chain, from the start of a career to senior management level. For more information log on to www.cips.org