The Institute of Logistics and Transport is to award formal qualifications to members whose skills and experience meet a benchmark. The institute, a professional body for logistics, transport and integrated supply chain management in Europe, has designed a professional development and assessment service which is open to all 23,000 members of the industry. The service is designed for candidates who have the know-how in logistics and transport, but who have never studied for qualifications, as well as for those who can demonstrate a track record of learning through attendance on accredited courses. With the help of guidance materials and an allocated assessor, candidates on the course are able to have their professional experience and competence assessed against the institute's qualifications standards to gain the ILT certificate in logistics, the ILT diploma in logistics and the ILT advanced diploma in logistics. Candidates undergo an initial competence analysis after completing a self-assessment questionnaire, which establishes their overall level of competence and identifies areas where their knowledge or expertise against the benchmark criteria is lacking. Institute assessors then create a personal development plan which identifies further skills or training needed by the individual to match the standards needed to gain a recognised qualification. Helen Chambers, the institute's assistant director of professional development at ILT said: "This is a vast industry with a large number of employees, some of whom have extensive experience and knowledge of the industry which, as yet, is not recognised by a formal qualification. By establishing the professional development and assessment service we are able to offer these experienced people a route to gaining a recognised qualification which contributes to their personal development and opportunities within the industry." {{PEOPLE MOVES }}