One question we hear constantly: do I need provider accreditation, trainer accreditation, or both? A clear answer in two sentences — and a full explainer of when each is the right choice.
Recognises
An Organisation
Recognises
An Individual
Recognises
Internal Training
Combine
All Three If Useful
One of the most common questions The CPD Group receives from people exploring CPD accreditation for the first time is whether they need provider accreditation, trainer accreditation, or both. The answer depends on the structure of your business and how you deliver your learning. This page explains the difference clearly and helps you identify the right accreditation path for your situation.
A CPD Provider is an organisation — a company, business, institution, or other legal entity — that delivers CPD-accredited learning activities. CPD Provider accreditation from The CPD Group recognises the organisation as a whole as having met the criteria required to deliver CPD-accredited learning. It is the gateway through which individual activities can then be submitted for accreditation.
Provider accreditation is the right choice if you run a training business, operate a company that delivers courses or events, organise professional conferences, publish educational content, or manage an employer training function. The accreditation belongs to the organisation, not to any individual within it.
A CPD Trainer is an individual — a freelance trainer, independent coach, consultant, speaker, or subject matter expert — whose personal expertise, qualifications, and delivery capability have been independently assessed and accredited by The CPD Group. Trainer accreditation recognises the individual professional, not a company or organisation.
Trainer accreditation is the right choice if you work independently, deliver training through multiple organisations or platforms, are building a personal brand as a professional trainer or coach, or want to carry an independent credential that reflects your individual expertise rather than the company you work for.
Recognises an organisation, company, or institution
Required before individual activities can be submitted
Free to register as a provider
Suitable for training companies, event organisers, publishers, employers
The accreditation stays with the organisation
Recognises an individual professional
Assesses personal qualifications, experience & subject expertise
Portable — travels with you regardless of who you work for
Suitable for freelance trainers, coaches, consultants, speakers
Can be held alongside provider accreditation
A 10-minute conversation will pin down the right pathway — provider, trainer, employer, or a combination — for your specific situation.
Yes — and many professionals do. If you run a training business (which needs provider accreditation) but also deliver some work as an individual independent of that business (which benefits from trainer accreditation), holding both gives you maximum credibility and coverage across all the contexts in which you work.
For example, a training company director who also coaches independently would benefit from provider accreditation for their business's courses and events, and trainer accreditation for their personal coaching practice. Both credentials can be displayed on their website and marketing materials, offering clients assurance at every level.
Example: A director who also coaches
Provider accreditation
For the business's courses, events, and team-delivered training.
Trainer accreditation
For the director's personal coaching and independent engagements.
If you are a sole trader — an individual running their own training or coaching business — you likely need provider accreditation to register your business as CPD-ready and to then accredit your individual activities. You can also apply for trainer accreditation to carry a personal professional credential. The CPD Group's team will advise you on the combination that makes most sense for your specific situation — contact us.
Employer accreditation is a third distinct pathway for organisations that want to recognise their own internal staff training programmes. It is different from provider accreditation — which is for organisations that sell or deliver training to external audiences — in that it is specifically designed for businesses accrediting learning for their own employees. Some organisations hold all three: provider accreditation for their external training offer, employer accreditation for their internal programmes, and trainer accreditation for their individual trainers.
Employer AccreditationOrganisation selling training externally
Individual professional with portable credential
Internal training for own employees
Provider, trainer, employer. They're different pathways for different situations — and they combine cleanly when your work spans more than one.