Professional Accreditation

Professional accreditation is carried out by Systems Practitioner Assessment Ltd (SPA) for SCiO.

If you have a Systems Thinking in Practice Apprenticeship qualification, you can get certification at Advanced Practitioner level by submitting a fee of £10 to SCiO. Alternatively, you can go through the Competency Framework assessment process (see below) which also gives possible grades of Practitioner, Certified Practitioner and Fellow:

Professional Qualification in Systems Practice

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CF self-assessment form

SCiO CF assessment uses a four-step process:

  1. To apply for a professional qualification, please download the Competency Framework (CF) self-assessment portfolio form (or click the image on the right). Review your capabilities as a practitioner against the criteria in the form, using the references in the CF Resources as needed. You can obtain advice about these documents, or get an editable form of the self-assessment form, by contacting us.
  2. If you would like a practitioner grading awarded, you may submit your CF self-assessment to us and we will contact you within 20 working days, to arrange a CF assessment interview.
  3. Self-assessment review and competency grading is supported by an assessment interview with two Systems Thinking practitioners, using a method based on exploration of a number of practice situations, using standard criteria: Situation, Objectives/Goals, Actions, Results and Aftermath/Learning, the SOARA method.
  4. On completion of this 2-hour assessment interview, we will award you a practitioner grade.

The fee for undertaking the assessment is £95. Once qualified, you may be invited by SCiO or SPA to carry out assessments of other members of SCiO applying for a professional qualification.

SCiO Competency Framework

SCiO has created a framework of competencies for practitioners of systems thinking, based on our Systems Thinking Body of Knowledge (SysBoK) and the systems laws, and this is aligned to the Institute for Apprenticeship (IfA) Systems Thinking Practitioner L7 accreditation and their framework of Knowledge, Skills & Behaviours.

This framework gives the details of competencies, in the fields of..

  • Systems Knowledge and Skills
  • Systems Thinking Knowledge and Skills
  • Intervention Skills

The CF resources guide (click on the image to the left) provides references and links for each item in the competency framework. Note that many of those references should be available via the resources on this website.

Grading Structure

Grading is based on the following criteria:

Practitioner

  • Able to use one or more systems methodologies or methods with support, with at least a skill level of ‘2’ in your primary approach.
  • Able to use one or more of the intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methodology or method.
  • May have practiced on systemic issues in only one sector or organisation, and may have only practiced in a part of an organisation that they control or manage.

Certified Practitioner

  • Able to use one or more systems methodologies or methods without support, with at least a skill level of ‘3’ in your primary approach.
  • Can use several intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methods or methodologies, and has applied a range of options for how to plan, manage and execute an intervention.
  • May have practiced on systemic issues i only one organisation, and may have only practiced within their own organisation, but will have worked in or on organisations outside their immediate control.

Advanced Practitioner

  • Able to use and supervise others in at least three systems methodologies or methods, and can apply systems laws and principles directly to situations.
  • Can use several intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methods or methodologies, and has applied a range of options for how to plan, manage and execute an intervention.
  • Will have practiced on systemic issues outside of their own organisation. This does not mean being contracted out of a “home” organisation, but must have worked on situations wider than just contained within the home organisation.

Fellow

  • Has developed one or more new systems methodologies or methods that others can use, and can apply systems laws and principles directly to situations.
  • Can use several intervention approaches that are consistent with and required for their chosen systems methods or methodologies, and has applied a range of options for how to plan, manage and execute an intervention.
  • Will have practiced in multiple sectors, and/or on systemic issues outside of their organisation. Will have worked on multi-organisational problems.

In addition to the above gradings, SCiO may also award a supplementary title of Technical Expert in specific fields to applicants who are able to show that they:

  • Can supervise others in the use of one or more systems thinking methods or methodologies.
  • Can train others in the use of one or more systems thinking methods or methodologies.

Classification at skill levels will support mentoring, continual professional development priorities and support for IfA systems thinking practitioner apprenticeship assessment.