ABSTRACT
The adjective ‘professional’ appears to create an association with the traditional professional model by focusing on the qualifying criteria for membership of a professional association representing an occupation in the traditional professional model. The contemporary thinking about what constituted professionalism at the time the Institute made the application appears to draw upon the literature of the time. The sources acknowledge the role of the professional association in the development of an occupation towards professionalism. The Assistant Director of Membership and Education justified the move in this way: This is felt to be entirely appropriate—the Institute regulating entry to the profession by examining those areas where it was a work-based project, in the form of “a report to senior management”. The new qualification structure addressed the critical area of the assessment of professional competence.
