Foundation Certificate
Training isn't time away from the agency. It's time growing

The award-winning learning program provides graduates and junior staff members with the knowledge to perform their roles with confidence and expertise regardless of discipline.
Written for the industry, by the industry, using webinars, forums, expert opinion videos, and podcasts, the Foundation Certificate is the definitive program for newcomers to advertising.
Who is this qualification for?
Individuals with less than a year's experience in an advertising, marketing, or communications role. From recent graduates in their first year to young professionals just starting or people entering the industry from another profession.
What are the benefits?
- Prove the value of your contribution to your client’s business.
- Improve your client relationships by speaking their language.
- Design a measurement program to evaluate multi-platform activity, from sponsorship, digital, and promotional to CRM and DM activity.
- Confidently and correctly analyze the impact and effect of any campaign.
- Write a brilliant effectiveness paper.
How is the qualification delivered and assessed?
- This qualification is delivered via 30 hours of online learning, delivered in 7 modules that can be accessed and downloaded when it suits you on any browser or device or via the IPA Learning app.
- Gwyn March is the dedicated tutor for this qualification, available to answer candidates’ queries right up until their exam date.
- This qualification is assessed via a formal 2-hour online exam, 3-hours for non-native English speakers in non-English speaking countries.
- Candidates will need to answer five short-form essay questions. The passing grade for the final exam is 50%. Candidates who pass will be awarded a digital certificate of completion and 2 MIPA stars for personal accreditation.
The 2022 Intake Dates
The 2022 intake commences on 30 May 2022.
Module 1
The Business of Creativity
This opening module celebrates the role of creativity in both communications and the wider business community. Exploring the history and evolution of creativity, and its exciting future.
Module 2
The Communications Landscape
This module highlights the transformation of the communications landscape and how agency models have changed as a result of the increasing fragmentation in the industry. This includes the arrival and influence of newcomers such as Facebook and Twitter and the significance of the communications industry to both culture and the economy.
Module 3
The Client & Agency Roles
This module has three parts: the first is client focused, including the dynamic role of the marketing director and considering clients’ work and priorities. The second part centres on agency response and interaction, while the third part outlines some of the necessary paperwork and processes.
Module 4
Theories, Tools & Techniques
The focus of this module is the key theories, techniques and tools at the disposal of today’s marketers and agencies. This includes behavioural economics and the role of memory, the planning cycle and the role of data, and how these theories help brands grow.
Module 5
Communications Review
This module demonstrates the media’s invaluable role as a source of inspiration and enhancer of the creative process. It is approached from a media neutral standpoint and includes relevant theories to illustrate the relevance of different types of media.
Module 6
The Creative Development Process
This module focuses on the creative development process. From fostering creativity in your everyday environment through to the creative communications development process: from receipt of the client brief to creation of the internal briefs, and to the art of creative feedback.
Module 7
Evaluating effectiveness
This module outlines the importance of effectiveness to our industry. It illustrates the ways in which the IPA has been at the vanguard of this drive with the globally renowned IPA Effectiveness Awards and the development of theories such as those from Les Binet and Peter Field.
Become qualified in evaluating and measuring advertising and marketing effectiveness