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THE INSTITUTE OF AI | IOAIUK AI CHARTERAI FOR ALL
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— The two senior grades —

Professional or Fellow,
side by side

Both are senior. They are not two sizes of the same thing. Professional asks you to answer for your own AI practice; Fellow asks you to answer for everyone else's.

Find your level, freeRead the framework

Professional

PIoAI
Practising independently

You own AI work end to end and answer for the result. Nobody is checking your framing, your evaluation or your handling of risk before it ships.

  • You scope AI problems yourself, including deciding when AI is the wrong answer.
  • You take delivery through evaluation and into responsible operation.
  • You hold the risk, governance and impact questions rather than escalating them.
  • Your judgement is relied on by colleagues who are less experienced than you.
Accreditation fee
£199.99, valid for 3 years
CPD target
25 hours a year

Fellow

FIoAI
Leading the practice

You set how AI is done, across teams or an organisation, and you have moved the field on beyond the projects with your name on them.

  • You set direction where the stakes and the ambiguity are highest.
  • You show breadth across the whole lifecycle, not depth in one corner.
  • You are accountable for the standard other practitioners work to.
  • You contribute beyond your own delivery: mentoring, standards, or published work.
Accreditation fee
£299.99, valid for 3 years
CPD target
25 hours a year

The assessment itself is a one-off £29.99 at either grade.

— Where they diverge —

Five differences that decide
the grade

Both grades are assessed against the same published competency framework. What changes is the scope of the evidence it is applied to.

DimensionProfessionalFellow
Scope of the evidenceYour own practice, shown end to end on real AI work.Practice across teams, plus contribution to the wider field.
AccountabilityYou answer for the AI work you deliver.You answer for the standard others deliver to.
Breadth expectedCompetence across the framework as it applies to your practice.Demonstrated competence across the full framework.
Route inApply at the level your practice supports today.Reached from Professional, not applied for cold.
Annual CPD target25 hours, logged and evidenced.25 hours, the highest expectation at IoAI.
— Staying current —

The senior grades carry the heaviest CPD

Accreditation is not awarded once and left alone. Professional carries a target of 25 hours a year and Fellow 25, logged and evidenced through your membership, which is what keeps either credential worth holding.

See CPD requirements
Professional
25h

Logged each year.

Fellow
25h

Logged each year.

— Common questions —

Choosing between the two

Which grade should I apply for?+
Apply at the grade your current practice supports. If you lead AI work and answer for its outcome, Professional is the honest place to start. Fellow is reached from Professional, so it is the next step rather than an alternative entry point.
Is Fellow just Professional with more years on it?+
No. Fellow is not a long-service award. It recognises leadership and a contribution to AI practice beyond your own delivery, which is a different kind of evidence rather than a longer version of the same evidence.
What do the two grades cost?+
The assessment is a one-off £29.99 at either grade. The one-off accreditation fee is £199.99 at Professional and £299.99 at Fellow, which holds your grade and your public verification for 3 years. When it expires you apply again with no assessment fee.
What happens if my evidence falls short?+
You are awarded the grade your evidence supports rather than the one you applied for, and you progress upward from there. The free self-assessment is the sensible way to find that out before the formal assessment.

Stop guessing which grade is yours

The self-assessment is free, takes a couple of minutes and needs no account. Joining the Institute of AI as a Member is free too.

Find your level, freeJoin free
— Related pages
— Standard

How hard AI accreditation is

An honest account of the bar at each grade, and the evidence that will not carry one.

— Senior grade

Fellow of the Institute of AI

What the senior grade recognises, what the assessment expects, and how to progress to it.

— Upkeep

CPD for AI professionals

How continuing professional development keeps your accreditation current, with targets by level.