Comparisons between your Associate Options
This guidance offers you all the information you will need to make an informed choice about achieving IEMA Associate membership. But if you would like to discuss your options nad the various routes to Associate, speak to your Professional Development Adviser.
Associate membership is the first professional level of IEMA membership, recognised internationally. It’s an essential professional qualification for anyone who has environmental responsibility; employers now require Associate membership – it’s a pre-requisite for securing an environmental job role.
The Associate membership standard provides the learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Whichever route to Associate membership you choose, they will all be based on the Associate membership standard. Recognising that individuals will have differing amounts of environmental knowledge, understanding and experience we have developed two routes to Associate membership – both available internationally. The options you have are: Self-study or the Associate Certificate Training Course.
Which is the best route for you?
The guidance below will help you to choose the best route for you.
| Route | Who is it for? |
|---|---|
| Self-study | Anyone who has knowledge and experience of environmental management and assessment issues – perhaps you have done an environmental degree or training programme, providing you with a good level of knowledge and understanding across the Associate Standard. It’s suggested that you spend 80 hours preparing for the self-study route, depending on your existing knowledge and experience. |
| Associate Certificate Course | If you have introductory level environmental knowledge and understanding, perhaps you’ve completed the IEMA Foundation Course in Environmental Management, and you want to increase your knowledge and understand to the Associate level. This route is also good if it has been a while since you studied environmental management and need a refresher. |
What do the routes involve?
| Route | Who is it for? |
|---|---|
| Self-study | This route requires you to complete an online examination to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding across the Standard for Associate membership. You register for the exam; you then have 28 days from receiving your confirmation email in which to complete the exam. The exam will be 2 ½ hours and have 10 questions. Once you have registered for the exam you will receive a confirmation email with your online registration details and a web link. You can log on at any point in the next 28 days to start your exam. |
| Associate Certificate Course | The training programmes are a minimum of 80 hours and are delivered in a whole range of formats including: distance learning, applied learning, intensive delivery and e-learning. IEMA Training Centres include both commercial organisations and educational establishments. At the end of the course you will do an IEMA examination, typically paper-based. The only exceptions are for the applied learning route which is assessed by portfolio and the academic programmes that are assessed as part of the ongoing course assessment. |
Next steps
If you would like further guidance or to discuss your specific experience then contact IEMA’s Professional Development Advisor. If you have decided the route you will take to achieve IEMA Associate membership then follow the steps below.
| Route | How to apply | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Self-study | Complete the registration form and submit this with payment to IEMA | To help with your revision against the Associate Standard we have developed some useful resources available from here . |
| Associate Certificate Course | Go to the IEMA Associate Certificate Course page and select a course that meets your learning needs. | Visit the individual Training Centre websites |