Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner

Accreditation as a Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner (CTSP) is the highest accolade CTSI bestows on trading standards professionals. As such, it has a number of additional requirements and a rigorous application process.

CTSP is a nationally recognised professional status, providing individuals with the opportunity to promote not only themselves but the trading standards profession as a whole. CTSP status is an acknowledgement of exceptional standing from the holder’s professional institute.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are looking to train and qualify in trading standards enforcement, please visit our Qualifications Page.

CTSP Requirements

Candidates for CTSP status must fulfil ALL the following criteria:

Full CTSI Member
Provide a completed CTSP Application form
Provide evidence of up-to-date CPPD or evidence of employer CPPD. Copy certificates only. 20hrs total required (for the calendar year)
Registration into the CTSI CPPD scheme
Provide evidence of Degree or NQF Level 6 form of study (Level 9 SCQF); OR a reflective statement in lieu of a Level 6 Qualification (Level 9 SCQF)
Provide a copy of appropriate TS Qualification (DTS/DCA 1&2/DCATS/Trading Standards Practitioner Diploma or antecedent); OR a reflective statement demonstrating TS knowledge
Provided evidence of a Personal Development Plan (for the calendar year), using the Mandatory Form 2
Completed Evidence Schedule using the Mandatory Form 4.

Applicants should note that we require ALL applicable documents listed above, as these will be reviewed by an external verifier. Examples can be found in the CPPD Handbook. Guidance on these points can be found under the CTSP Requirements tab.

PLEASE NOTE: A Personal Development Plan and CPPD evidence must be submitted each year.

Application Timescale

All CTSP Applications are reviewed by the appointed verifiers in batches. In general, the application process takes between one month and six weeks, from receipt to completion. Please contact us if you have any queries.

CTSP Fees

CTSP REGISTRATION FEE: The standard CTSP Annual Registration fee is £50. Applications received after 1st July will receive a 50% discount (the fee will be reduced to £25).

The CTSP Annual Registration fee is in addition to your normal yearly CTSI Member fee and it can be added to your tax relief claim. If you are already registered into the CTSI Professional Competency Framework (CPCF) and have paid the CPCF Annual Registration fee, the CTSP Annual Registration fee is NOT applicable.

Reflective Statement FEES: If your application for Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner status, includes Reflective Statement(s), a one-off fee is applicable.

This fee is £242 plus VAT per Reflective Statement. If you are submitting two reflective statements, one for your trading standards knowledge and one to demonstrate your level 6 capability, then a 50% discount is applicable against the second reflective statement. Reflective Statement fees are in addition to the CTSP Annual Registration fee.

CTSP Retention

In order to retain your Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner (CTSP) status, you must submit the following each year, to prove ongoing competency is being maintained.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN: A personal development plan for the forthcoming year (using the mandatory form 2 PDP). This needs to be signed off by you and your internal line manager
CPPD CERTIFICATES: A minimum of 20 hrs CPPD certificates (copies only) with a minimum of 10 hrs core Trading Standards activities to be demonstrated. Events where no certificate was issued should be listed on the evidence schedule and signed by you and your internal line manager. Should you not receive a certificate, or if this has been lost, the submission should be accompanied by an agenda and learning outcomes from the event in question. If neither are available, a CPPD claim form should be completed and signed by the candidate and line manager.
EVIDENCE SCHEDULE: An evidence schedule document (using the form 4 Evidence Schedule), listing training courses attended and relating to the above certificates. To be signed by you and your internal line manager
QUALIFICATIONS CERTIFICATES: Certificates demonstrating trading standards qualifications are only required with the first submission, to obtain CTSP Status, Copies of these certificates are not required to be seen again, nor are they required if CTSP Status is lapsed and then reinstated.

PLEASE NOTE: Although you may submit your annual CTSI CPPD Confirmation Certificate, this is not in itself an acceptable level of evidence to retain CTSP status. Both your initial application and subsequent retention submissions are verified independently by external verifiers. CPPD Certificates obtained throughout the year must be included in the submission.

The CPPD year runs on a calendar basis, and submissions should be tailored accordingly.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Feedback from CTSI verifiers on Previous Cycles

The verifiers would like to provide all candidates with the following feedback with regards to future submissions. As this feedback/guidance is intended to help you with your application, please read it before submitting your application.

Personal development plan, evidence schedule, CPPD Claim forms: Many candidates did not include the required signatures on their documents. CTSI have informed candidates previously that where applicable the form 2 4 and CPPD claim forms need to be signed by the candidate and line manager
Personal development plans: Many using the form 2 were short on information and/or relevant dates. CTSI understand that when preparing a PDP some information will not be available, (such as the specific date of a course) however should the candidate be required to attend a refresher or has been delegated a new task an approximate date of when this should be achieved is required. If in doubt refer to the CTSI form 2
Additional guidance for the measure of success column includes: Attendance/completion at a course in itself does not demonstrate what you have learned from attending the course/meeting. The candidate needs to expand on these points giving examples of how it was beneficial and how this will be applied to work situations. Use of terms such as 'specialist knowledge' should be supplemented with comments on how this will be achieved
Evidence: Some candidates are including all CPPD obtained in the calendar year, this is unnecessary. Please note only 20 hrs evidence needs to be supplied. If further evidence is required, CTSI will return to the candidate accordingly
Evidence schedules: candidates are asked to note the CPPD year runs on a calendar basis, any other dates will not be accepted and therefore the submission returned to the candidate
Evidence schedules: Items listed on the form 4 should be accompanied by the appropriate evidence, do not list on your form 4 if no evidence can be provided
Examples: we have attached a sanitised CTSP submission sample of an actual submission which met the current CTSP and CPPD 10% review criteria. We would advise candidates follow these as examples of best practice
CPPD Claim Form: Candidates are asked to complete and sign the form as near as possible to the event, ideally within a calendar month, as advised in the CPPD handbook. Some candidates completed the forms 12 months after the event. This is unacceptable
Form 4: Candidates are advised to list if an item is core or non-core hours on form 4. Full definitions of core CPPD activities can be found in the CPPD handbook