IAM Certified Leadership Programme

The IAM Certified Leadership Programme is a professional certification for people who lead — team and project leads, supervisors, and specialists who lead without formal authority, managers, heads of services and functions, leaders of cooperatives, community organisations and schools — in public, private, and non-profit organisations of any size, in any country.

The programme has two designations, IAM Emerging Leader and IAM Organisational Leader. The title and the designations are generic so that they travel across countries, sectors, and languages. The programme treats leadership as a capability that anyone can develop, not a position. It covers leading yourself, leading others, leading teams and leading improvement, and — at the strategic level — setting direction, shaping culture and inclusion, leading change, and leading ethically while developing future leaders.

The programme is built for busy professionals. Courses are short and workplace-based, portfolios are assembled from work candidates have already done, and every step is completed in the candidate’s own account on the IAM Portal. Experienced leaders may go directly to assessment without taking a course.

Each designation has two routes to the same assessment. On the course route, the candidate takes the IAM course and then the assessment. On the direct route, an experienced candidate goes straight to the assessment. The standard, the assessment and the designation are identical on both routes.

Emerging Leaders progress to IAM Organisational Leader once they reach three years of leadership experience at that level, by taking the Certified assessment; the Associate assessment is not repeated. Holders of recognised leadership credentials — for example, a regulated qualification in leadership and management — will normally take the direct route. IAM Certified Managers may also take the IAM Organisational Leader assessment by the direct route.

The membership grade is assessed in the same application under Regulation 3 of the Membership Regulation (Section 8), so the candidate makes one application and pays one fee.

• Monthly intakes, with a single registration valid for 12 months.

• Mobile-friendly online units of 60 to 90 minutes; live sessions in evening and weekend slots suited to the time zones of each intake, all recorded for catch-up.

• Three practice activities need live participation: the feedback conversation practice and the team meeting practice on the Emerging Leadership Course, and the portfolio clinic on the Organisational Leadership Course. A learner who cannot attend submits a recording, or draft work for the clinic, and receives tutor feedback.

• Progress is tracked under the Learner Progress Tracking Process (IAM-LPT-2026-001): a tutor contacts any learner who misses a fortnight’s activity and agrees a catch-up plan.

• Portfolios built from existing work on IAM templates. Each case study may be written or submitted as a recorded presentation.

• Stakeholder evidence the candidate already holds replaces reference letters, so no application waits on someone else to write something.

• Professional discussions held online and booked by the candidate through the IAM Portal.

• A published maximum: the decision is issued within 10 working days of the final assessment component.

• In-house delivery for employer cohorts of 10 or more, as contact days at the employer’s premises or as a closed online cohort.

• Delivery by the Institute or by IAM Recognised Centres holding a Programme Approval.

7.1 Country tiers

Fees follow the Institute’s published country tiers, based on the World Bank income classification: country of residence for individual candidates, country of delivery for per-learner fees, and principal office for organisations. Candidate fees use the individual scale; organisational fees use the corporate scale. The standard, the assessment and the designation are identical in every tier.

7.2 Fee schedule

All amounts are in pounds sterling and exclusive of VAT and equivalent taxes.

Included in every package and assessment fee: all assessment components with three opportunities each; the eCertificate and verifiable digital badge; listing in the IAM Directory and Verify a Member; and 12 months’ membership at the grade the evidence supports. No application and administration fee is charged.

Recognised Centres set their own tuition and pay the Institute the assessment-and-award fee per learner, at the tier of the country of delivery, plus the standard Programme Approval fee under the Centre Recognition Scheme.

7.3 Worked examples

• A team leader resident in a Tier 2 country takes the Organisational Leadership Course package for £650, covering the course, assessment, award, and a year’s membership at the grade the evidence supports. If that grade is MInstAM, the subscription from the second year is £62.

• A head of service in a Tier 1 country with 12 years’ experience applies directly for IAM Organisational Leader and pays £700, including a year’s membership. If admitted as FInstAM, the subscription is £160 a year thereafter.

• A government ministry in a Tier 2 country enrols 20 staff on an in-house Emerging Leadership cohort: 20 × £300, less 15%, is £5,100.

• A company in a Tier 1 country enrols 12 senior leaders on a closed Organisational Leadership Course cohort: 12 × £1,300, less 15%, is £13,260.

7.4 Payment terms

• Individuals pay through the IAM Portal before the course or assessment starts. Organisations are invoiced in pounds sterling, payable within 30 days.

• Instalments are available by agreement, as for other Institute fees. Bank charges and currency conversion costs are borne by the payer.

• Refunds follow the Refund Policy (IAM-REF-2026-001); the 14-day cooling-off period applies to the membership element.

• No fee secures or influences an assessment or award decision, and these fees are added to the published Fees schedule before they are charged.

7.2 Fee schedule

The fees below are the Institute’s published rates, in pounds sterling and exclusive of VAT and equivalent taxes; where they differ from the figures in the specification, the published Fee Schedule prevails. Every fee includes twelve months’ membership at the grade the evidence supports.

Subscriptions from the second year, Recognised Employer fees, payment terms, and the sector discounts for charities, non-profits, educational bodies, and public bodies are on the Fees page.