How to get AI certified,
step by step.
The Institute of AI is the UK's professional body for AI, and its Accreditation is earned, not bought. Here is the whole route, from a free account to an accredited grade you can display, with the fees, the assessment and what actually happens at each stage.
Four steps from a free account to an accredited member.
Getting certified follows one path. Read it left to right: each step leads into the next, and only one of them has a fee attached.
Join the Institute of AI for free
Create a free membership in a couple of minutes. Browse Learn AI and read the published competency framework so you can see exactly what each grade expects before you spend anything.
FreeA few minutesChoose the level that fits your practice
Pick the grade that matches what you can already do: Student, Associate, Professional or Fellow. You apply for one level at a time. Associate suits practitioners working under guidance; Professional suits those accountable for delivery end to end.
Four levelsReapply at the same levelSit the assessment
Pay the assessment fee on your first professional application. Repeat applications after a successful Accreditation go straight to an evidence-based assessment for your chosen level with no further assessment fee. It probes how you frame problems, handle data and account for decisions, reviewed against the published criteria for your level, alongside your references.
£29.99Referees requiredBecome an accredited member
Once approved, pay the one-off Accreditation fee to activate your grade for 3 years, with public verification for your CV and LinkedIn. Keep logging your annual CPD throughout the term.
Public badgeCPD by level
Joining, reading the framework and browsing Learn AI cost nothing. The one-off £29.99 assessment fee applies to your first professional application. Once approved, the one-off Accreditation fee activates your credential for 3 years.
What the assessment actually asks of you.
This is not a multiple-choice quiz on tool names. The assessment looks at how you practise across the AI lifecycle, so a pass says something specific about your judgement.
Framing and judgement
Whether you can scope a problem, decide if AI is the right tool at all, and set expectations you can actually meet.
Data and method
How you handle data responsibly, choose an approach that fits the task, and evaluate the result honestly rather than optimistically.
Delivery and operation
Moving work past a demo: deploying, monitoring and standing behind the outcome under real constraints, not ideal ones.
Responsibility and governance
Risk, oversight and the limits of what a model can be trusted to do, so the decisions hold up when someone asks how they were made.
Pick the grade that matches the work you already do.
Fees rise with the grade because so does what it demonstrates. Apply for the level that fits your practice today, then progress upward as it deepens.
| Level | Best suited to | Accreditation fee | CPD a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student | Still learning the field | £49.99 | 10 hours |
| Associate | Early-career practitioner | £99.99 | 15 hours |
| Professional Independent practice | Independent practitioner | £199.99 | 25 hours |
| Fellow | Senior leadership in the field | £299.99 | 25 hours |
The £29.99 assessment fee is paid on your first professional application only. Each successful application carries a one-off Accreditation fee for 3 years. You can apply again at your current level or above at any time, with no further assessment fee.
What certification gives you on the day it is issued.
- A badge anyone can verify
- Your accredited grade carries a public verification badge, so an employer or client can confirm your level in seconds.
- Accreditation for a fixed term
- Your Accreditation fee holds your grade for 3 years. Apply again before or after expiry, with no further assessment fee and the Accreditation fee payable on approval.
- A clear route upward
- Apply again at your current level, or choose a higher level when your evidence supports it. Every application is assessed against the published standard.
The standard is published before you apply, the same framework decides every grade, and the Institute of AI is the UK's professional body for AI, setting that framework independently of any tool vendor. That is why a grade means something the moment it is awarded.
The questions people ask before they apply.
How long does it take to get certified?+
Do I have to start at Student?+
What does it cost to get certified?+
What happens if my application is not approved?+
Is this tied to a particular tool or cloud?+
Ready when you are.
Apply for Accreditation.
Read the framework, choose your level, and sit the assessment at the grade your current practice supports. It costs £29.99 to sit, and nothing to find out where you stand.
What Accreditation costs
Every fee laid out: the £29.99 assessment, the four one-off Accreditation fees, and what each one buys you.
View the pricingAI professional Accreditation
The four grades in full: who each level is for and what it demonstrates across the framework.
Compare the levelsThe competency framework
The published standard behind every grade, so you can read exactly what the assessment expects.
Read the framework