Advanced Certificate in Consultation and Engagement.
The knowledge, skills, and credentials to lead consultations with confidence.
Why this qualification
Consultation and engagement professionals face growing pressure to demonstrate that their processes are fair, lawful, and capable of withstanding public and legal scrutiny. The Advanced Certificate gives you a structured pathway to build that capability, grounded in real practice and recognised across the public, private, and third sectors.
What you will be able to do
The Advanced Certificate develops the practical judgement needed to design, lead and justify consultation and engagement activity in complex, real-world environments.
Plan with confidence
Design consultations that are proportionate, well-governed, and defensible from the outset.
Engage more effectively
Apply proven methods for community engagement, stakeholder mapping, and coproduction.
Navigate legal requirements
Understand the law around consultation, equality duties, and what counts when a process is challenged.
Lead with credibility
Carry a recognised qualification that signals competence to colleagues, clients, and decision-makers.
Build team capability
Transfer learning into your organisation, reducing dependence on external support over time.
What our learners say
The programme unites practitioners from various sectors, providing a platform to experiment with ideas, question assumptions, and gain insights from others’ experiences.
“Often you’re going onto a course and you’ll think ‘Oh, this is stuff that I know. I didn’t need to do that module.’ I don’t think there was a single day that we spent that was like that.”
“This course has given me the confidence to be a powerful advocate of consulting properly so consultees get a genuine voice and the decision makers really do understand what stakeholders think.”
“As a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), I have noticed there are many qualifications you can do for communications, but a gap on the consultation and engagement side, which is what appealed to me to take the course.”
Sixteen courses in three formats
Virtual sessions
Applying Equality Duty to Consultation and Engagement
x2 Half DaysBuild a comprehensive understanding of the Equality Duty, how to integrate it into consultation and engagement and enable better decision making. Since 2011, equality grounds have been the most successful basis for challenging consultation decisions.
Preparing for Public Consultation
x2 Half DaysMaster the range of pre-consultation and preparatory processes to be undertaken before consultation. Cover scoping, planning, audiences and materials, so the exercise launches fair, clear and ready for scrutiny.
Conducting Public Consultation
x2 Half DaysDevelop and deliver a well-evidenced dialogue and involvement plan that will withstand external scrutiny. Manage a live consultation from launch to close, engage respondents and handle the unexpected.
Digital Engagement, Tools and Techniques
x1 Half DayIn an increasingly interconnected world your digital strategy defines how savvy and resourceful you are for your stakeholders. Learn to choose, combine and run digital tools that widen participation without leaving anyone behind.
Making Community Engagement Meaningful
x2 Half DaysBuild trust and beneficial interaction with communities so your engagement activities meet their needs and yours. Reach the voices most often missed and move beyond tokenistic consultation.
Artificial Intelligence for Engagement and Consultation
x1 Half DayAs we accelerate towards greater AI use, it benefits those who learn how to turn it to their advantage. Generative AI has reached the consultation profession faster than the guidance to govern it.
Face-to-face sessions
Applying Law of Consultation
Full Day · First sessionExplore the extent of consultation and how to manage your programmes to reduce risk of legal challenge. Work through the Gunning Principles, the duty to consult and the case law that decides challenges, then turn them into practical steps.
Coproduction for Public Engagement and Consultation
Full Day · Final sessionLearn why coproduction is such a powerful method for meaningful citizen dialogue. Learn to share power, design genuine collaboration and avoid co-production in name only.
Face-to-face sessions are typically delivered in Birmingham.
e-Learning
The Consultation Charter
The seven Charter Principles and what they mean in practice.
Stakeholder Mapping for Public Consultation
Identify and understand the stakeholders for your programme.
Comms and Engagement Planning
Plan communications that shape how the public engages with your programme.
Surveys and Questionnaires
Plan and test questions that work for respondents and for you.
Collecting Information, Data and Sampling
The essentials of what data collection and sampling can and cannot do.
Creative Dialogue Methods
Match engagement methods to the people you want to reach.
Involving Young People in Decision Making
How to give children and young people a say in their services.
Data Analysis and Report Writing
Turn consultation responses into evidence decision-makers can use.
Virtual delivery, cohort-based, formally certificated
Virtual delivery
Live sessions run online, making the programme accessible to professionals across the UK and beyond.
e-Learning at your pace
Self-directed modules fit around your working schedule, with no fixed deadlines between live sessions.
Cohort-based learning
You progress alongside peers from different sectors, creating room for shared discussion and challenge.
Expert practitioners
Every session is delivered by a tCI Fellow with current, first-hand experience in consultation work.
Formal certification
Completers receive the Advanced Certificate in Consultation and Engagement, issued by tCI.
Recognised across the public, private, and third sectors
Consultation and engagement officers
across local government, health, fire and rescue, police and infrastructure
Policy and communications professionals
who run or commission public consultations
Senior managers
who need to recognise what good practice looks like
HR and L&D leads
building shared capability across their organisation
Consultants and advisers
seeking a formal credential to support their practice
Individual place or team cohort
Choose your cohort
Three cohorts run each year. Tell us which one you would like to join, or register your interest in a future cohort.
Secure your place
Pay online by card, or contact us to arrange an invoice or purchase order.
We confirm everything
Joining instructions and programme details arrive before your cohort starts.
Not sure which route is right for you?
If you are considering the programme for yourself or for a team, speak to us before enrolling. We can discuss your development needs, upcoming cohorts and whether an individual place or dedicated team cohort is the best fit.
Ready to enrol?
Contact tCI to discuss cohort dates, team places, and how the Advanced Certificate fits your development plans:
We'll arrange a short conversation to understand your experience, your team's development needs, and the cohort that suits your schedule, then confirm your place.