CPD for Project Management Training Providers
If you train project management professionals and you're not sure whether your certificates will actually count towards a PMP, ChPP or PRINCE2 recertification, that feeling is completely normal — it isn't a sign you're missing something. PMI, APM and PeopleCert each set their own CPD requirements, but none of them endorse a commercial accreditation body whose logo makes your course count. What actually matters is whether your certificate gives the credential holder verifiable evidence they can log with confidence, and that's a documentation question you can solve directly.
What CPD accreditation actually means for a project management training provider
PMP credential maintenance through PMI requires 60 PDUs over a three-year cycle, logged directly with PMI under categories such as Category E for structured third-party education. APM's Chartered Project Professional status requires 35 hours of CPD a year, and PRINCE2 and MSP practitioners need evidence for recertification under PeopleCert's own requirements. Each framework is specific, but none of them require your course to carry an external accreditor's endorsement first.
APM has been explicit that it does not endorse commercial accreditation bodies — an 'APM-approved' badge from a third party has no official standing there. What both PMI and APM actually apply is an outcomes standard: does the certificate show the learner's name, the course title, the hours, and a reference that can be checked, alongside clear learning objectives and content.
That structure matters more than it might first appear. A PMP holder whose PDU log gets audited needs a certificate that satisfies Category E evidence requirements on its own merits — a generic PDF from an unreferenced email address is unlikely to hold up, however good the training actually was.
Open CPD offers a simple 3 step process for you
Run your risk management, agile or stakeholder engagement course as you already do.
Log in, set up the course profile, outcomes, hours, delivery mode, and accredit with one click.
Branded CPD certificates and digital badges are generated instantly for every learner.
What PM professionals and their PMOs actually check
A PMP or ChPP holder logging CPD isn't looking for a training company they've heard of — they're looking for a certificate that will survive PMI's Category E audit or APM's structured outcomes review, with their name, the hours, and a reference number that checks out.
A permanent, checkable verification link gives them exactly that. It confirms the certificate is genuine and tied to a real issuing record, which for many PM professionals is the difference between a credential they can keep and PDUs that get queried.
Each certificate resolves to an achievement page anyone can open, no login, no PDF attachment.
Your logo and course name lead. Certificates are powered by Open CPD, issued by you.
Once issued, the record is stored immutably and stays tamper-proof, the date and detail cannot drift.
How this plays out for project management training providers
Independent PM trainers are often practitioners themselves — former project directors, programme managers and consultants who've moved into education, delivering focused courses on risk, stakeholder engagement, agile methods and programme management. The training is rarely the problem. It's translating that expertise into a certificate PMI, APM or PeopleCert-aligned learners can actually use for recertification.
There is no PMI- or APM-endorsed accreditor for training providers, and you do not need one
PMI and APM both apply an outcomes standard to the CPD evidence their members submit — neither endorses a commercial accreditation body, and no 'APM-approved' logo carries any official standing. Open CPD doesn't sit between you and those frameworks; it gives you a structured way to define outcomes and issue a certificate that satisfies the evidence standard directly, without an intermediary.
Accredit your first project management course this week
Ready to see exactly how the structure comes together — aims, skills, outcomes, and the verification record that ties it all together? [How It Works](https://open-cpd.com/how-it-works/) walks through the full mechanism. Or [start now](https://open-cpd.com/opencpddemo/) and set up your first PM course profile in minutes.