---
title: "CIPR Diploma update"
url: https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2007/11/29/cipr-diploma-update/
description: "Consultant and fractional COO for scale-up businesses. I help founders, leaders and investors in scaling businesses create sustainably high performing organisations."
published: 2007-11-29T09:33:25+00:00
modified: 2026-04-11T16:25:12+00:00
author: Simon Wakeman
---
# CIPR Diploma update

## CIPR Diploma update

I’ve been studying for the [Chartered Institute of Public Relations](http://www.cipr.co.uk) Online Diploma since June this year.

It’s been hard work so far, but it was nice to hear that [Ellee,](http://elleeseymour.com/2007/11/21/my-pr-diploma/) who started the diploma well before me, has passed her third paper on the course.

Ellee found the qualification helped her get a better strategic understanding of the practice of public relations. That’s a benefit I’ve experienced too.

The first part of the course was heavily focussed on academic theories and research reading, which was a bit of a shock having not read or written academic text since 1999.

That section of the course culminated in the Critical Reasoning Test (CRT) which I completed in September. Last week I heard that I’d passed this with a “merit”, which gave me some comfort that I was making progress with my learning.

We’re now well into the planning assignment which needs to be completed by early January. This is a combination of a “real-life” scenario where students need to write a PR plan and writing an academic rationale for the decisions made in the plan.

I’m finding this easier than the CRT although it’s still a bit odd writing a PR plan and having to justify everything in it using academic research. The rigour this introduces into my thinking can only be a good thing.

Once the planning assignment’s out the way, there’s the small matter of the 10,000 final project to think about, but that’s for next year…