Recognising the PDS – what do you think?

Completing the PDS is a major step towards the professional qualification for transport planners: the Transport Planning Professional (TPP).  Following their PDS final review successful candidates receive a TPS certificate, but no other formal recognition. 

Engineers have a number of recognised steps towards their equivalent to TPP - Chartered Engineer. They can progress from Engineering Technician (EngTech) and Incorporated Engineer (IEng) on their way to CEng.  TPS is working to define parallel stepping stones for transport planners and is asking its members what they think.

The PDS is well established with its own documentation, mentor training, operational procedures and auditing and so it would be relatively straightforward to create a new post nominal for those who complete it.  It will also allow us to test out the level of demand and how employers, clients and transport planners as a whole will react.  There has been consultation with our PDS licensees and we are now asking all those involved to send us their views and suggestions.  A more detailed paper is available here.

Please send any comments to skills@tps.org.uk