Award in Pensions Essentials

Organisations wishing to offer this qualification must apply to the PMI for Examination Partner, unless they are already a PMI Approved Centre.

It will be necessary to apply to become an approved centre - the process involves three stages:

• A Centre Recognition Form is completed and returned to PMI along with the approval fee.
• An approval visit to the centre is carried out.
• Once approval is agreed a PMI Examination Partner Certficate is issued and candidates can be registered for the approved qualification(s).

Single Site Centre

This is a centre where all the candidates are at one location.

Multi Site Centre

If candidates are based at more than one location, it is possible to become a multi site centre where it will consist of one Examination Partner and minimum one satellite centre. In this setup there must be a Examination Partner contact who will be responsible for dealing with the administration of the qualification across all locations. All correspondence and examination material will be sent to the main centre contact who will be responsible for distributing it to the different locations. Each location must have a designated local contact. The alternative is to register each location as a single site centre.

Annual Examination Partner /Approved Centre fee 

Once approved, an Examination Partner/Approved Centre fee is payable. This commences in the year the of the approval and is paid in April.

It is broken down as follows:

Application for centre approval £900

Application for Examination Partner approval £700

Multi-Site Examination Partners £700 + £400 per satellite centre

Multi-Site Centre approval £900 + 250 per satellite centre

We would expect you to be confident that the candidates have achieved the Learning Outcomes set out in the Guidance Notes. The key to the flexibility of these qualifications is such that you, as a company, can decide how and when you want to train & test your staff following attendance at the training course. An Assessment test will need to be taken, but you design the questions based on the Learning Outcomes.

Level 2 is broadly equivalent to GCSE's and represents 20 learning hours on a particular subject and Level 3 equates to A levels and represents 30 learning hours on a particular subject.   Following completion of these qualifications, a suggested route for administrators could be CPC/DPA which are set at Level 4.

Level 2 gives attendees a rounded knowledge of pensions (learning on the job, accessing an individuals records, being able to do a basic calculation etc) whereas Level 3 builds on this knowledge and can follow the career progression of an administrator.

They will need to achieve the 5 mandatory units for the Award and then claim a final qualification certificate from the PMI.

The Certificate in Pensions Essentials is slightly different in that each time candidates pass the Assessment test, candidates should claim a certificate from the PMI confirming that they have passed that individual unit. Upon completion of all 10 units, you can claim a final certificate.

PMI will ensure that a check on standardisation has been undertaken on the Assessment test questions and candidate answers to ensure that the qualifications meet the quality approved standards and are consistent between various companies. 

The PMI wants individuals to start and complete these qualifications in a realistic period. It is the PMI's expectation that the Award should be completed within 12 months and the Certificate within 18 - 24 months of registration.

PMI is the approved Awarding Organisation for these two qualifications. The PMI cannot approve or recommend a company's training material.

The units (listed below) detail the areas of knowledge that could to be included in the training session in order to prepare candidates for their 'End of Unit' written question and answer test. Training sessions can be formal or in formal, tutor led or online.

Assessment is in the form of written question and answer test which we recommend is carried out at the end of the training session. All questions are prepared in-house and should be sufficient to ensure the learning outcomes listed at the end of the Unit Guidance Notes can be satisfied.

The Examination Partner sets an appropriate time period for the test to be completed.

All tests are marked in-house and Examination Partners should ensure records are maintained to show completion of the unit.

Click on each of the units below to access each unit guidance note.

Pre 2017 version units

Introduction to UK Pensions

Disclosure Regulations & Whistle-blowing for Occupational Pension Schemes

Occupational Pension Scheme Design, Investment and Administration

Member Benefit Events and Rules for Defined Benefit Pension Schemes

Member Benefit Events and Rules for Defined Contribution Pension Schemes

Certificates are awarded when all five units that make up the Award have been successfully achieved. Centres must record, for every candidate, when each unit has been achieved. The certificate claim form must be completed and returned to PMI with the appropriate fee.

Certficates can be claimed at any time providing centre approval is maintained and there are no standardisation issues outstanding.

Each final qualification certificate will have the following details:

• the PMI name and logo
• the candidate's name as registered (please ensure this is correct at point of registration and inform us promptly of any changes)
• the accredited qualification title and level
• the national accreditation number for the qualification
• the unit titles, national number, credit value and level per unit
• a unique identifier for the certificate
• date on which PMI confirms the achievement by the candidate
• the signature of PMI's Chief Executive

This qualification can be used as part of the Workplace Pensions Trailblazer Apprenticeship. Amongst the many benefits of the apprenticeship is the opportunity to access Government funding to cover the cost of the qualifications and any associated training.  

Employers/training providers wishing to use this qualification as part of the apprenticeship should use the apprenticeship specific registration/entry forms. To obtain copies please contact our team.

The PMI is committed to providing fair and consistent examination, verification, approval and assessment processes.

Details of the PMI’s complaints and appeals policy for Centres and in-house assessment can be found in the Wider information set.