CIPS Level 6 Professional Diploma study guide
CIPS Level 6 Professional Diploma · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CIPS Level 6 Professional Diploma in Procurement and Supply is the advanced stage of the CIPS qualification ladder, sitting above Level 5 Advanced Diploma and below the Level 7 Professional Diploma. It is designed for practitioners who already hold mid-level responsibility and are moving into strategic, managerial or leadership roles - category managers, senior buyers, contract managers, supply chain leads - or for graduates entering procurement who want a route to MCIPS. The CIPS Level 6 Professional Diploma study guide has 5 sections and about 2,571 words.
01Strategic Supply Chain Management
The Strategic Supply Chain Management domain tests whether you can connect supply chain design to competitive strategy: how the network of suppliers, internal operations and customers is configured, measured, de-risked and improved to deliver organisational goals. Questions typically ask you to diagnose a supply chain problem and justify interventions using recognised models, not merely to describe those models.
427 words, about 2 min02Strategic Procurement and Contract Management
The Strategic Procurement and Contract Management domain tests your ability to translate business need into a procurement strategy, design a contract that allocates risk and incentivises performance, and then manage that contract through to exit. Questions reward decisions you can defend, not descriptions of tender procedure.
443 words, about 2 min03Strategic Sourcing and Category Management
The Strategic Sourcing and Category Management domain tests segmentation and sourcing decisions: how to analyse spend, group it into categories, understand supply markets, choose a sourcing approach, evaluate offers on total value, and manage supplier relationships by segment. Cleanse and classify spend (UNSPSC, eCl@ss or an internal taxonomy), apply Pareto to find the small share of suppliers carrying most spend, and separate addressable from non-addressable spend.
430 words, about 2 min04Leadership and Management in Procurement and Supply
The Leadership and Management in Procurement and Supply domain tests how you get work done through other people: building team capability, influencing stakeholders you do not control, leading change and managing performance. Leadership and management differ.
416 words, about 2 min05Professional Practice
The Professional Practice domain assesses how you operate as a procurement professional and how you evidence that competence. It covers judgement, standards, reflection and impact: applying professional and ethical standards in ambiguous situations, working as a business partner, communicating with senior stakeholders, and showing what changed because of your work.
855 words, about 4 min