Practitioner (PCIfA)

Practitioner (PCIfA) accreditation is open to those who

  • have a good working knowledge within an area of historic environment practice
  • have some responsibility for undertaking work using own judgement
  • have carried out some complex work under general supervision
  • perceive the importance of each role within a team
  • demonstrate understanding of the ethical requirements of the Code of conduct and are able to apply to own work
  • uphold the values of the Institute to work in the public interest
  • agree to be bound by CIfA's ethical Code of conduct
  • wish to reflect their knowledge and skills through professional accreditation

How to apply

To apply for PCIfA, you will need to provide

  • two appropriate references
  • a written statement of competence about your employed or voluntary work and how your current role demonstrates the competence matrix criteria for technical and ethical competence (see below). 

You can also include

  • qualifications
  • a list of projects/publications/grey literature
  • examples of work

where relevant, but these are not required for the application.

Please read the information in the sections below carefully before applying. If you are unsure if you are ready to apply for PCIfA, please see Professional pathways to sign up to our useful bulletins or refer to the FAQ page.

If you have recently graduated with a CIfA accredited degree you need to apply in the same way using the accredited degree matrix and guidance at the bottom of the webpage.

All applications are treated as confidential in line with CIfA’s Data Protection Policy.

If you have questions, please get in touch at membership@archaeologists.net

Preparing for your application

To prepare for your application, please refer to the useful links below and information in the other sections to ensure you are familiar with the application process. You might need to familiarise yourself with the work of CIfA, our Standards and Code of conduct to show that you understand and work in accordance with them. 

Application resources

Ethics resources

Application deadlines

Apply any time, as we assess applications for PCIfA regularly, approximately every month, when both references are received (excluding March and September 2025) 

What to include

Personal details and references

Personal details

Please provide your name, job title, post nominals where relevant (eg BA, MA, PhD) and contact details in the online form.

References

To help the Validation committee understand more about your professionalism, your understanding of the CIfA Code of conduct and your ability to comply with it, we ask for two references to support your application.

You need to provide the names and email addressess of two referees and state their relationship to you in the online form, or you can upload supplied references to the online form. If you are getting the references yourself, ask your referees to complete them using the CIfA reference template.

It's a good idea to discuss your application with your potential referees first to ensure they can provide a supportive reference.

Who can provide a reference?

You need to

  • use your current or most recent employer (line manager), as your first referee, ensuring they can comment on your archaeological work
  • provide a second referee who can comment on your archaeological work, for example a current or former supervisor. 

If you have only worked in one organisation you can provide two referees from the same workplace, or we can accept one from a degree course, if completed within the last two years. 

Referees

  • do not have to be CIfA accredited. However, individual members and those working for Registered Organisations are preferable, because it helps if they understand our work and accreditations.
  • must be familiar with your role and the work that you are using as evidence in your statement. They should be able to comment on the quality of your current work and your professionalism.
  • are given two weeks to return their reference. Missing or late references can delay applications – please contact your referees in advance to ensure that they can provide you with a reference.
  • should not be related to you or be a client, as this is considered a conflict of interest.

It is your responsibility to ensure your referees provide references within two weeks, although we will contact referees for missing references and let you know if we are still waiting. 

The Validation committee reserves the right to request additional references to reach a decision about your application. This is usually in cases where a reference is not current or does not include enough information to help the committee reach a decision.

If you are unsure who to ask for references, please get in touch at membership@archaeologists.net

Statement of competence

You need to provide a statement outlining your employed or voluntary roles and say how your current role demonstrates the four areas of the competence matrix – see below. It is the most important part of your application as it tells the Validation committee how your skills and experience demonstrate the criteria and helps them reach a decision.

You can use the Statement of competence template below to write your text and upload this to the online form, or write directly into the boxes in the online form.

Please note that incomplete new applications online cannot be saved and returned to so it may be easier to complete the statement template and upload this to the online form.

For further information on how the competence categories apply in specialist areas of practice, please see our supporting specialist competence matrices. You can use these alongside the main competence matrix to see how your work fits into the criteria and to help you write your statement of competence.

If you have recently graduated with a CIfA accredited degree you need to apply in the same way and write your statement using the accredited degree matrix and guidance.

Employed or voluntary roles

Please give detailed information about your role and responsibilities for your current and most recent roles over the last two years. Use each heading of the competence matrix (below) as a guide. You need to explain how you demonstrate the four areas – knowledge, autonomy, coping with complexity and perception of professional context – giving specific work examples.

You can find some example statements in the 'Templates and further guidance' section below.

For any roles you’ve undertaken more than two years ago, please give a brief description of the responsibilities held, including any career breaks where relevant.

Writing your statement

You can approach your statement of competence in different ways, but we recommend that you use the four areas of the competence matrix as headings, write something for each and describe a specific example of where you applied this in your role.

Competence matrix for Practitioner (PCIfA)

KnowledgeGood working knowledge of key aspects relevant to area of historic environment practice, and competence in its application, in accordance with relevant professional standards.

What you need to demonstrate

 

 

1) Demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of archaeology and the historic environment relevant to your area of historic environment practice.

  • Give examples which show how you apply that knowledge and understanding in your work and how you keep that knowledge up to date; describe the work that you do/have done and the knowledge and understanding of the historic environment that underpins it.
  • Use the professional and technical language that you know and use in your role. 

2) Demonstrate your understanding of professional standards and the industry processes and procedures relevant to your work and describe how you have applied them.

  • Explain how any examples of your work that you give meet the appropriate CIfA Standards, any relevant specialist codes of practice or standards, and your employer’s quality standards.
AutonomySome responsibility for achieving tasks using own judgement and autonomy, whilst working under general supervision. Collaboration with others is expected.
What you need to demonstrate
  1. Describe how you take responsibility for your own work.
  • Explain how you ensure that your work meets professional standards and the expectations of your employer. Describe or give an example of how you judge when it’s appropriate for you to make a decision and when to consult with others.
  1. Demonstrate that you understand your role within the wider team in your organisation (if this is applicable to your role).
  • Explain how the work you do relates to other people in your team. Who looks to you for help and who do you report to?
  1. Demonstrate your communication skills and your understanding of the importance of teamwork.
  • Give examples of the skills you need to work with others. Why is good communication important, and what happens if it breaks down? How have you contributed as a team member and/or how have you tried to resolve differences of opinion?
Coping with complexityAppreciates complex situations within the role held and able to achieve partial resolution alone. Some activities are complex and non-routine.
What you need to demonstrate
  1. Demonstrate how you solve problems relating to your work
  • Give examples of effective problem solving you have undertaken. Describe a situation where you had to carry out a particular type of work for the first time, or where you encountered an unexpected discovery, result or scenario.
  1. Describe the frameworks or tools you used to identify the issues and achieve a resolution.
  • Give examples to show what steps you took to ensure you were able to proceed. Who did you consult? Were there particular challenges to overcome? How would you recognise that a situation is beyond your skillset and where might you go for help? How did you find out what the best approach might be?
Perception of professional contextSees actions as a series of steps and recognises the importance of each role in the team. Demonstrates understanding of the ethical requirements of the Code of conduct and can apply to own work. Upholds the values of the Institute to work in the public interest.
What you need to demonstrate
  1. Demonstrate that you apply the professional codes underpinning your work and how this guides your practice.
  • Give examples of the organisational codes or good practice documentation you refer to. How do they ensure you work to the appropriate professional standard? How does the CIfA Code of conduct guide your practice?
  1. Demonstrate that you are aware of the implications of your work within the wider team, your organisation or the historic environment sector as a whole.
  • Give examples of the key organisations you come into contact with and what they do. Who does your organisation answer to and who are its stakeholders? Who benefits from its work?
  1. Demonstrate your contribution to effective public benefit within the context of your role.
  • Give examples of how you have helped other people access information about the historic environment and/or shared your own knowledge and understanding with them. You could also give examples where you have engaged with individuals or communities or contributed to the future management, conservation or interpretation of a heritage asset.

Qualifications (where relevant)

Please list any relevant qualifications, including title, institution and month of completion and a brief outline of the areas covered.

If you work in academia, please provide a more detailed outline of your qualifications.

If you do not hold any qualifications, you are still eligible to apply.

Additional relevant information

Please include any additional information that may be useful for the Validation committee to take into consideration when assessing your application. For example

  • any additional volunteer work in the sector
  • any societies or organisations you are involved with, including volunteering for CIfA
  • if your experience has been gained outside the UK, please include some background information about how the profession operates in that country and how your role fits within the profession

You can upload a job description or CV to the online form, but you must still include a statement of competence (above).

List of projects/publications/grey literature (where relevant)

Please list any relevant projects, publications or grey literature from your work in the last two years. Where work is co-authored or the authors are not defined, please indicate which part(s) you were responsible for.

If you do not have any publications, you are still eligible to apply.

Examples of work

You do not need to provide any examples of work for a PCIfA application, but if you would like to submit up to three examples you can. These should be recent examples that support your statement, preferably from within the last two years. Examples are not limited to reports or finalised/published work but can take many different forms, such as:

  • skills passport (eg BAJR or Oxford Archaeology)
  • project briefs and specifications
  • environmental assessments
  • portfolios of graphics-based work
  • individual illustrations and/or plans, including context sheets – please include the reports they are from
  • survey data
  • finds/environmental strategies or reports
  • post-excavation assessments
  • fieldwork reports (geophysics, landscape survey, building/survey recording, excavation, evaluation, characterisation)
  • published works or journal articles
  • presentations you have compiled and delivered
  • displays created and the research behind them
  • HER audits
  • Archiving of finds spreadsheets

You can upload examples to the online application form (less than 6MB in size) or email them using a file sharing service such as WeTransfer to membership@archaeologists.net. All material will be treated as confidential under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), only shared with the Validation committee, and deleted after the application process is complete.

If you are unsure what to provide, please get in touch at membership@archaeologists.net

PDP and CPD log (upgrade only)

For all upgrade applications we require a Professional Development Plan (PDP) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) log from the last two years. You can either upload these to the form or tick the box to say you have an online log with us on the CIfA website.

You can use your company’s templates or the CIfA templates for your PDP and CPD log.

If you are currently a Student or Affiliate member, or have had a recent career break, please provide what you can.

Application fee and declaration

A new PCIfA application fee is £25. Upgrading to PCIfA application fee is £20

Application fees are payable via ClearAccept (we cannot take American Express) or by invoice, and can be paid by the applicant or their employer (please check before applying).

This is a non-refundable payment for the administration and assessment of your application and is not the annual subscription fee.

Before submitting your application you will be asked to declare that the information you have provided is correct at the time of applying and whether you have been subject to a professional conduct investigation. Please tick the relevant boxes.

Please note you will not receive immediate confirmation of your submission, but we will contact you within a week to confirm.

If you have any problems when paying, please select ‘invoice’ in order to submit your application and email membership@archaeologists.net.

Templates and further guidance

Templates

We encourage applicants to use the statement of competence template to apply.

Referees will be sent a CIfA reference template to complete, or you can send them the template yourself.

Statement examples

These are statements from PCIfA applicants who have successfully applied.

Further guidance

Application process timeline - what to expect after you have submitted your application.

BAJR guide 47: A guide for early career field archaeologists applying for PCIfA membership (PDF)

Apply now

Please make sure you have read the guidance above before you apply. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch at membership@archaeologists.net.

The application webform will open shortly. In the meantime, you can apply by emailing your application documents and the Word form below to membership@archaeologists.net

For your application to be reviewed at the end of April, make sure your application is in by Thursday 10 April at the latest. 

Practitioner (PCIfA) - apply now