Commissioners operate at different levels within an organisation. The National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting developed specifically for the social care, children’s and young people’s workforce and the more generic ones for Public Sector Commissioning identify entry, middle and senior levels of commissioning professionals which broadly correspond to levels 3, 4, and 5 respectively of these standards.

There are a variety of training options to help commissioners to develop their commissioning skills. Broadly, there are three types of off the job training, and hence qualifications, relevant to commissioners: academic, vocational and unaccredited. Academic training is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate courses awarded by higher education institutions, which generally result in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or degrees each worth a specified number of CATS points (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme). Vocational qualifications are designed to be flexible work-related qualifications that are made up of units that can be combined in different ways to make up a full qualification. Unaccredited training covers the wide range of training activity, regardless of who delivers it, that does not lead to an awarding body accredited qualification. Training that is not accredited is not included in the Training Directory.

There is currently no specific vocational training to cover the full range of commissioning tasks in England. However, qualifications are currently being developed under the title National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting for Care Services (CPCC) on behalf of the Sector Skills Council - Skills for Care and Development. The qualifications awarded will be diplomas within the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). CThey will be at 3 different levels (3, 5, 7) corresponding to National Occupational Standards levels 3, 4 and 5 and will be broadly comparable with NVQs in size and function.

It is worth noting that currently there are no defined routes into commissioning, no set career paths and no specific professional qualifications. Currently the procurement route is far better recognised across all sectors with a hierarchy of qualifications provided by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) in particular. A ‘ladder’ of 6 levels of qualifications from level 2 to Level 7 are awarded by CIPS. They are regulated by Ofqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulator) and appear on the National Database of Accredited Qualifications (NDAQ). 

There are also a number of professional associations and organisations that aim to support commissioners such as the Academy for Justice Commissioning, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), the Society of Procurement Officers (SOPO), and the Institute of Commissioning Professionals (IoCP).