To be a Chartered professional, in any area of work, means you are a member of a professional body relevant to your industry. In order for that professional body to award ‘Chartered’ status to its members, that body will have to hold a Royal Charter from the British monarch. Here are a few examples of professional bodies: the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), received their charter in 1912; the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), chartered in 1974 and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), who received their Royal charter in 1989.

In order to become a Chartered member, professional bodies will insist on a number of criteria being met. The individual must have reached a specific level of skill, competence or experience in their role. This can be demonstrated through their work experience but will also usually include meeting a particular qualification level. Many professional bodies look for post-graduate qualifications and/or completion of their own industry qualifications.

A Chartered member must also agree to uphold the standards and reputation of the professional body. It is not unusual for bodies to have a code of practice that applicants must commit to before they will be approved as Chartered, which often sets out the standards and best practice. A professional body would be within its rights to cancel the membership of an individual found to be ignoring these standards and jeopardising the reputation of their profession.

Chartered status will usually also bring with it a requirement to do CPD – continuing professional development. CPD is what it says it is: that you will continue to develop your professional skills, to keep up with technologies and developing ideas related to your industry. Most bodies have a set number of CPD hours members must meet each year in order to remain Chartered. We have talked about this in a previous article if you want to read more about CPD.

In other words, being a Chartered professional indicates that you have reached a certain level of experience and qualification that is recognised by your fellow professionals, that you commit to maintaining the reputation of your industry and that you regularly keep up-to-date with developments in your field.

It is worth noting that a number of Chartered professionals exist outside of regulated professions. Regulated professions are those where it is defined in law who can work in them. These include Doctors, Dentists and Architects, all jobs where we wouldn’t want just anyone calling themselves qualified. These regulated professions will also have the same standards as Chartered professions but they don’t need to use the word Chartered as they are already defined by UK law.