Guidance

Recognising professional qualifications or experience: guidance for regulatory bodies on complying with the UK Internal Market Act 2020

Updated 16 February 2022

What you need to do as a regulatory body responsible for a profession or professions regulated in law to be compliant with the UK Internal Market Act 2020.

This guidance is for regulatory bodies responsible for professions regulated in law and covered by the UK Internal Market Act 2020. The UK Internal Market Act defines a ‘regulatory body’ as the body ‘responsible for determining whether a person has the qualifications or experience’ necessary to practise a profession in the relevant part of the UK where recognition is being sought.

If there is no such body, the responsible body will be the relevant responsible administration in charge of that profession. This is defined in the UK Internal Market Act as either the relevant Secretary of State or where that profession is regulated separately in one of the devolved administrations, the relevant Welsh Ministers, Scottish Ministers, or a Northern Ireland Department, as appropriate.

Disclaimer

This guidance clarifies and explains the practical operation of the automatic recognition principle, individual assessment process, and the equal treatment provisions as outlined in Part 3 of the UK Internal Market Act 2020. It does not create or amend any legal obligations. You should also refer to relevant legislation for the relevant profession, and the UK Internal Market Act 2020 itself, when checking your obligations.

Overview: the UK Internal Market Act 2020

On 1 January 2021, following the end of the transition period, European Union (EU) rules that govern how each UK nation trades with the others fell away, and powers previously exercised at the EU level flowed directly to the UK government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The purpose of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 (the UKIMA) is to preserve the UK’s internal market as powers previously exercised at EU level return to the UK, providing continued certainty for people and businesses that they can work and trade freely across the whole of the UK.

The recognition of professional qualifications is a facilitator of the movement of professionals and provision of professional services in all parts of the UK, and is therefore covered in Part 3 of the UKIMA.

Professional qualifications and regulation: Part 3 of the UKIMA

Some professions, such as architects, are regulated on a UK-wide basis, while some professions, such as social workers and school teachers, are regulated separately in different parts of the UK. Where a profession is regulated separately in different parts of the UK, there is likely to be a regulatory body for that profession in each part of the UK it is regulated and therefore several regulators responsible for that profession across the UK.

Some UK professionals may seek to practise in a different part of the UK to where they gained their professional qualifications or experience. In such cases they may need to have their professional qualifications or experience recognised in the part of the UK in which they are seeking to practise. For the purposes of the UKIMA, ‘part of the United Kingdom’ means England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, as defined in section 58 of the UKIMA.

To ensure UK professionals do not face new barriers within the UK with respect to the recognition of their UK professional qualifications or experience, sections 24 to 26 of the UKIMA introduces a system for the recognition of professional qualifications or experience, which apply across the entire UK internal market following a ‘qualifying change’ after 31 December 2020. Section 27 of the UKIMA also sets out some exceptions where the recognition provisions may not apply.

In addition to these recognition provisions, section 28 of UKIMA also establishes general principles for equal treatment of qualifications and experience from different parts of the UK.

Automatic recognition

Section 24 in Part 3 establishes a principle of what is referred to as ‘automatic recognition’ in this guidance.

The automatic recognition principle allows a UK resident who has the necessary qualifications or experience to practise a profession in one part of the UK, to be treated as if they had the qualifications or experience required to practise the same profession in another part of the UK, without needing to re-qualify.

For example, once a ‘qualifying change’ is introduced with respect to a profession that is regulated separately in all four nations, and a professional is qualified to practise that profession in Wales, then that professional would be treated as qualified with respect to that profession in England under the UKIMA unless one of the exceptions applied.

Individual assessment process

Alongside this, section 26 in Part 3 also provides for a process which can disapply automatic recognition, which is referred to as an ‘individual assessment’ in the UKIMA, and in this guidance.

An individual assessment process, which complies with the requirements set out in section 26 of the UKIMA, will disapply the principle of automatic recognition.

Such a process allows you to assess the professional’s qualifications or experience on a case-by-case basis. Once you have done this and concluded that the qualifications or experience held do not meet the relevant standards in the part of the UK where recognition is being sought, you can require the professional to undertake a separate test or assessment. This assessment or test can then be used to determine if the professional has the required knowledge and skills to practise in the relevant part of the UK, before you decide to grant recognition.

An individual assessment process has also been referred to as an ‘alternative recognition process’ in other documents related to the UKIMA, including in the UKIMA’s Explanatory Note, and the UKIM Bill 2020: recognition of professional qualifications’ policy statement, published on 17 November 2020.

Equal treatment

Section 28 in Part 3 of the UKIMA introduces the principle of ‘equal treatment’. Equal treatment is separate to the recognition provisions and relates to ongoing requirements to practise for professionals whose qualifications or experience are already recognised and are currently practising a profession in a part of the UK. They apply to all professions regulated in law from 31 December 2020 when the UKIMA came into effect.

Ongoing requirements to practise include, for example, registration, monitoring, insurance or continuing professional development.

The equal treatment provisions ensure that professionals qualified in another part of the UK cannot be, with respect to the ongoing practice requirements, treated less favourably on the basis of where in the UK they obtained their qualifications or experience than those qualified in the relevant part.

The provisions on recognition of professional qualifications and equal treatment ensure that, even if the regulatory landscape changes, appropriately qualified UK professionals can practise with relative ease in the different parts of the UK, without compromising the UK government and devolved administrations’ ability to set and maintain their own relevant standards.

Eligibility

The provisions in Part 3 of the UKIMA, both those on recognition and equal treatment, only apply to UK residents who are relying on qualifications obtained, or experience obtained mainly, in the UK, as defined by section 25 of the UKIMA.

For the purposes of this guidance, an ‘applicant’ refers to a UK resident from any one of England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland that is seeking recognition in a different part of the UK to the one in which they obtained their qualifications or experience.

UK resident

Only UK residents are within scope of the provisions in Part 3 of the UKIMA. A ‘UK resident’ means an ‘individual who is lawfully resident in the UK’. An individual is not lawfully resident in the UK if the individual requires leave to enter or remain in the UK but does not have it.

Relevant qualifications or experience

The UKIMA defines qualifications as ‘any record, issued by a body whose ordinary activities include the issuing of such records, of having attained a particular standard following a course of study or training’. Only UK residents holding professional qualifications obtained in the UK and experience obtained mainly in the UK are in scope of the recognition provisions under the UKIMA.

The territorial origin of a qualification is determined by where the body that issues the qualification or experience is based. In most cases, this will be where the body’s registered office is. If the body does not have a registered office, then this would be where its head office is. If the body has neither a registered or head office, the territorial origin of the qualification or experience would be where that body’s principal place of operation is.

Qualifications obtained or experience obtained mainly outside the UK

Professionals who hold qualifications obtained, or experience obtained mainly, outside the UK will not be able to benefit from Part 3 of the UKIMA. This is irrespective of their being a UK resident, and even if their qualification or experience has been recognised by a regulatory body in a part of the UK. Most regulators have separate processes in place for the recognition of individuals with professional qualification experience gained overseas. The Professional Qualifications Bill will introduce a new approach to the recognition of individuals with professional qualifications and experience gained overseas. Please see further information about topics covered by the Professional Qualifications Bill.

If an individual holding overseas qualifications or experience moves within the UK, and their profession is regulated separately in the part of the UK they move to, that individual will need to seek recognition of their overseas qualification and experience through the applicable third country routes with the relevant regulatory body in the area to which they have moved.

Recognition of professional qualifications

1. Check whether the recognition provisions apply to a profession

Part 3 of the UKIMA only applies to professions which are regulated in law. This is where access or the ability to practise a profession is limited by legislation in some way to individuals who hold specific professional qualifications or experience.

Examples of legislation which restricts access to professions to those with specific qualifications or experience include The Social Workers Regulations 2018, as amended, with respect to social workers in England, and The Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 2005, as amended, with respect to approved driving instructors (ADI) in Great Britain.

The limitation on the ability to practise the profession to those holding specific qualifications or experience can be either; contained in legislation or made under and given effect by, legislation.

The ‘ability to practise a profession’ includes the ability to:

• undertake activities that comprise the practice of a profession
• use a particular professional title, or
• be registered, licensed, or similarly authorised, where that is required to undertake such activities or use such a title

Professions that do not have a basis in legislation

Part 3 of the UKIMA does not apply to professions that do not have a basis in legislation, such as professions that are voluntarily regulated by professional bodies without underpinning legislation. This includes professions regulated through voluntary membership of a professional body, including many chartered professional bodies, which often require compliance with certain requirements and qualification standards, but do not restrict access to a profession generally.

Exceptions

There are specific professions which are excluded from the recognition provisions in Part 3 of the UKIMA, as set out in Section 27 of UKIMA. These professions are excluded to reflect long-standing differences concerning these professions across the UK. These are:

• school teaching
• legal professions, specifically barristers, solicitors, advocates, notaries, chartered legal executives, costs lawyers, licensed conveyancers or licensed CLC (Council for Licensed Conveyancers) practitioners, conveyancing practitioners, executry practitioners, commercial attorneys, and patent or trademark attorneys

2. Check when the recognition provisions apply to a profession

The recognition provisions in the UKIMA do not immediately apply to all professions regulated in law, as section 27 of the UKIMA provides that automatic recognition does not apply to ‘existing provisions’ in respect of qualification or experience requirements for a profession. This means that existing qualification or experience requirements in force on or before 31 December 2020 are not immediately affected.

The recognition provisions will only start to apply to a profession regulated in law once a change has been made to the qualification or experience requirements for access to that profession after 31 December 2020. Specifically, it will apply where there is either of two ‘qualifying changes’:

• when a new provision is made which limits access to a profession in a part of the UK to those that have certain qualifications or experience. This could be to an existing profession regulated in law, or for a profession newly regulated in law
• when a change is made to existing provisions relating to qualification or experience requirements for a profession, which affects the circumstances in which individuals are qualified with respect to the profession concerned

Once the recognition provisions in Part 3 of the UKIMA apply to a profession regulated in one part of the UK, the recognition provisions apply to all parts of the UK for that same profession, including with respect to existing provisions.

For example, if the Welsh Government changes the qualification requirement to access a profession in Wales after 31 December 2020, a professional that has the necessary qualifications or experience to practise that profession in England will be treated as if they had the qualifications or experience to practise it in Wales. Additionally, as the automatic recognition principle applies across the UK internal market, a professional that is qualified to practise that same profession in Scotland would also be treated as qualified, with respect to qualifications or experience, in Northern Ireland under the UKIMA.

3. Check what you must do under automatic recognition

When a ‘qualifying change’ to qualification or experience requirements is introduced, the automatic recognition principle will apply to an applicant with relevant qualifications or experience from another part of the UK.

The automatic recognition principle means that if an individual has the qualifications or experience required to practise a profession in one part of the UK, the professional must be treated as meeting the qualification requirements in all other parts of the UK.

The principle will apply by default unless there is an existing individual assessment process that is compliant with the requirements in section 26 of the UKIMA, or one is implemented after the qualifying change is made.

The automatic recognition principle also applies to relevant professions that are unregulated in one part of the UK but regulated in another part. In such cases, a UK professional practising in the part of the UK where the profession is unregulated would be considered qualified to practise in the parts of the UK where the profession is regulated. In this situation, regulators may decide to have an individual assessment process in place in the parts where the profession is regulated to ensure that professionals would have to have the required qualifications or experience and reach the required professional standards before recognition was granted.

Additionally, where there are overlapping professions in the ‘other’ part of the UK, only qualifications to access the profession closest to the one for which recognition is being sought in the ‘relevant’ part of the UK count.

Implications for you

When dealing with applications under the automatic recognition, nothing in the UKIMA prevents you from verifying the applicant’s documents (qualifications, identification documents) in question.

If you are satisfied with the applicant’s documents, and that the individual meets any other requirements in the part of the UK you are responsible for (such as fit and proper person test), you must treat the individual as if they have the qualifications or experience required to be able to practise the profession in the part of the UK where recognition is being sought.

Regulatory co-operation

As a matter of good practice, you and/or your responsible administration, as appropriate, should engage early with your counterparts in other parts of the UK, and inform them ahead of regulating new professions, introducing new qualification or experience requirements, or changing existing ones, which would result in the application of recognition provisions in the UKIMA across the UK.

Early engagement will ensure that other regulatory bodies and/or responsible administrations have time to consider whether they are content with the automatic recognition principle applying for a particular profession, or if they want to put in place an individual assessment process.

Process to check whether automatic recognition applies for a profession and what it means in practice

This diagram outlines how to determine whether the automatic recognition principle applies for a profession and, if it does, how it works in practice.

Download a higher quality version of the flowchart

4. Check what you must do when disapplying automatic recognition and putting in place an individual assessment process

The individual assessment process is the means by which the presumption of automatic recognition can be disapplied.

Where a compliant individual assessment process is in place, you will not have to automatically recognise an applicant with qualifications or experience from another part of the UK. Instead, you can assess the applicant’s qualifications or experience and in certain cases test or assess the professional’s knowledge and skills.

Who must ensure compliance with an individual assessment process?

Section 26 of the UKIMA sets out the requirements that an individual assessment process must meet in order to disapply automatic recognition. It does not, in most cases, specify who must ensure that the process fulfils these requirements as this will vary depending on the profession concerned, and how regulatory functions for that profession are structured.

It is, however, expected that either you or your responsible administration, depending on how the given profession is regulated, will be responsible for ensuring that any individual assessment process complies with these requirements.

Disapplying the automatic recognition principle and using the individual assessment process

If you or your responsible administration (as appropriate) are concerned about differences in qualifications or experience from other parts of the UK, you or your responsible administration can disapply automatic recognition by putting in place an individual assessment process that complies with the requirements in section 26 of the UKIMA.

There are no criteria that must be met in order to be able to put in place an individual assessment process. This is at the discretion of the relevant regulatory body or responsible administration for that profession in that part of the UK.

An individual assessment process can be implemented for applicants from just one, two, or all other parts of the UK, as appropriate. This could also be an existing recognition process, as long as it complies with all the relevant requirements.

For example, if the automatic recognition principle comes into effect for a profession, the relevant responsible administration, for example the Scottish Government, could decide to implement an individual assessment process for applicants who are qualified to practise that profession in Wales and Northern Ireland but choose to keep automatic recognition for applicants who are qualified in England.

Requirements of an individual assessment process in accordance with section 26 of the UKIMA

An individual assessment process must satisfy all of the following requirements:

• allow a qualified UK resident to practise the profession in the relevant part of the UK following a successful application
• comply with the 4 principles set out in section 26(4) of the UKIMA relating to how to treat qualifications and experience from another part of the UK, and offering a test or assessment to applicants in certain situations
• ensure applications are processed within a reasonable timeframe
• ensure that information about the procedure for making an application and how the process meets the 4 principles are published

Implications for you or your responsible administration

You or your responsible administration must ensure that an individual assessment process:

1. Allows an applicant to practise the profession in the relevant part of the UK following a successful application

A compliant individual assessment process must have the result that, following a successful application, the applicant is able to practise their existing profession in the part of the UK they are seeking recognition in. This should be despite the applicant not holding the qualifications or experience from the part of the UK where they are now seeking recognition.

An applicant should not be subject to further assessment in the part of the UK where they are now seeking recognition, except as provided for by the individual assessment process, or in connection with other ongoing professional requirements, such as continuous professional development.

2. Complies with the principles in section 26(4) of the UKIMA

Any individual assessment process instituted by you or your responsible administration must require the application to be dealt with in accordance with the following principles:

Principle	Explanation
Like qualifications or experience should be treated equally	Qualifications or experience obtained in any other part of the UK should be treated the same as like qualifications or experience obtained in the part where recognition is sought, to the extent that they can demonstrate the necessary knowledge and skills required.
Existing qualifications or experience should be able to be relied on	Applicants can rely on qualifications or experience obtained in any other part of the UK to demonstrate the necessary knowledge and skills (so far as those qualifications or experience are reasonably capable of demonstrating).
A test or an assessment should be offered if necessary	To the extent that the applicant cannot demonstrate the necessary knowledge and skills on their qualifications or experience alone, they should have an opportunity to do so by way of a test or assessment. This test or assessment must be proportionate to the deficiency in the skills and knowledge demonstrated by their qualifications and/or experience compared to what is required in that part of the UK. A regulatory body can refuse an application without offering a test if an applicant’s knowledge and skills are such that an individual assessment would be just as demanding as doing whatever would be needed for the applicant to obtain the qualifications or experience that are normally needed to access the profession in that part.
The applicant should be recognised following satisfactory demonstration of necessary knowledge of skills	If the applicant can, on the basis of their qualifications or experience alone, or combined with the test or assessment, demonstrate the necessary knowledge and skills required for that profession, the regulatory body should recognise the applicant.

3. Provides for a response within a reasonable period

You or your responsible administration must ensure that the individual assessment process considers, processes, and informs the applicant of a decision within a reasonable period from the receipt of application.

The UKIMA does not specify a timeframe for responding to these applications. Good practice is to inform applicants of the outcome within 4 months of receipt of their applications.

Failure to comply with this requirement could result in an individual assessment process being invalidated and the automatic recognition principle applying instead.

4. Ensures that information about the process is published

You must publish information about the procedure for making an application under any individual assessment process. In doing so, you must stipulate the way in which the process is in accordance with the 4 principles set out in section 26(4) of the UKIMA.

If there is no regulatory body for a profession, section 26(10) provides that the responsible body for this requirement will be the responsible administration in charge of that profession in the relevant part of the UK.

Failure to comply with the publishing duty does not result in the individual assessment process being invalidated.

Process to check whether an individual assessment process is compliant with the UKIMA

This diagram outlines how to determine whether an individual assessment process is compliant with the requirements set out in section 26 of the UKIMA.

Download a higher quality version of the flowchart

Equal treatment of professionals

1. Check whether the equal treatment provisions apply

The provisions on equal treatment, provided for in section 28 of the UKIMA, are separate to the qualification recognition provisions, and apply to ongoing requirements to practise. Some professions impose certain requirements to continue practising a profession which can relate to, for example, registration, monitoring, insurance or continuing professional development. The equal treatment principle applies to these requirements.

The equal treatment principle applies to all professionals with UK qualifications or experience working in professions regulated in law across the UK (including school teachers and legal professionals, which are excluded from the recognition provisions of the UKIMA). The equal treatment principle applies regardless of whether an individual has been recognised under the automatic recognition principle, individual assessment process, or any other process before or after 31 December 2020.

2. Check what you must do under the equal treatment principle

The equal treatment principle means that when imposing other requirements or restrictions with respect to the ongoing practice of the profession, you or your responsible administration (as appropriate) must treat professionals, who hold qualifications or experience from other parts of the UK, as if their qualifications or experience were the same as the qualifications or experience held by a locally qualified professional. You cannot impose more onerous requirements or restrictions (in relation to ongoing requirements to practise) on a professional with qualifications or experience from one part of the UK than a professional with qualifications or experience from another part of the UK.

For example, if there are two professionals practising the same profession in England and one has qualified in Scotland, while the other has qualified in Northern Ireland, the professional that was qualified in Northern Ireland cannot be required to pay a higher annual registration fee than the professional who qualified in Scotland.

Section 28(7) sets out an exception to the equal treatment principle. If the qualifications or experience are different in type and cannot be obtained in the relevant part of the UK, the professional should be treated on the same basis unless more onerous requirements can reasonably be justified due the differences in the qualifications or experience.

The Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland

The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a long-standing arrangement between the UK, the Crown Dependencies (Bailiwick of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) and Ireland that pre-dates both British and Irish membership of the EU. Under the CTA, British and Irish citizens can move freely and reside in either jurisdiction and enjoy associated rights and privileges, including the right to work, study and vote in certain elections, as well as to access social welfare benefits and health services.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the CTA was signed by the UK and Irish governments in 2019, reinforcing both parties’ existing commitments to the CTA as the UK prepared for exiting the EU.

The 2019 MoU states that the recognition of professional qualifications ‘is an essential facilitator of the right to work’ and, therefore, both the UK and Irish governments have agreed to ensure there are adequate routes to recognition for qualified professionals across the UK and Ireland.

The UKIMA applies to England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. As the UKIMA solely concerns the UK’s internal market it does not directly have an effect on the CTA.

To uphold the CTA commitments, both the UK and Irish governments are encouraging their respective regulatory bodies to engage with their regulatory counterparts, to ensure that arrangements are agreed and in place to allow for the continued recognition of professional qualifications.

More information

• UK Internal Market Act 2020 in full
• Office for the Internal Market online service for reporting UKIM issues
• Guidance for regulatory and professional bodies on arrangements to facilitate the mutual recognition of professional qualifications with international trade partners
• Guidance for regulators on Part 2 of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 for Trade in services

Contact

Email [email protected] if you have any questions about this guidance.