CIPR Foundation in Public Relations

Level 3 | A-Level |6/7SQA
Kickstart your PR career

Build essential skills and foundational knowledge to plan and deliver effective public relations activities. Achieve a recognised CIPR qualification and take your first confident steps in the world of professional communications.

Learn with nesma and get more tutor time! 

Accredited qualification

Digital Marketing Institute
Format
Live online
Start anytime
Live cohort start dates
October 2025
January, April, June 2026
Duration
2.5 days
Course Lead
Anne-Marie Lacey
Course fee

£495+VAT
Plus Institutional fees
CIPR Fees
Membership £38
Registration £81
Assessment £91
*Team discounts and payment options available

Get a recognised qualification

Join a 300,000 strong digital marketing community!

Over 75,000

Learners

5.0 (62 reviews) 

Why learn with nesma ?

We offer personalised learning that adapts to your changing situation at work and home, and more tutor hours to make sure you achieve your learning goals faster! 

Plus using our exclusive SkillsView™ and dedicated advisors, we work with you to help you build learning pathways to help you get that promotion! 

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Unique offers for this programme: 

We provide a unique range of offers to support your learning experience when completing this qualification:
  • Flexible dual award options to enhance your qualification portfolio
  • Free Marketing 101 course to cover the marketing principles
  • Earn nesma credits for smoother progression to other programmes.
  • Dedicated expert support available throughout your learning journey.

Course description

Advance your PR career with the CIPR Level 3 Foundation Certificate. Develop practical skills in media relations, stakeholder engagement, and effective communication strategies.
With nesma, you’ll benefit from expert tutor guidance, interactive learning, and a clear pathway to a respected professional PR qualification.
Ideal for aspiring communicators ready to build confidence and deliver impactful public relations activities that drive business success.
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What you'll learn

No matter your background, this course equips you with essential skills to create compelling content, engage the right audiences, and understand how PR drives organisational success.
  • Create engaging content for both written and audio-visual platforms tailored to connect with diverse stakeholder groups.
  • Identify, prioritise, and justify the selection of audience groups and communication channels to build and strengthen relationships between an organisation and its stakeholders.
  • Explain the role of public relations in supporting organisational objectives and understand how it integrates with related disciplines like marketing communications and advertising.

Your course includes

  • 2.5 days of expert-led live online classroom sessions
  • Curated resources and case studies to support your learning.
  • 121 sessions with tutor to support with assignment 
  • Live online learning with lifetime access 
  • Qualification Certificate

Fast-track your future in PR!

This course is ideal for early-career communicators, career changers, and anyone looking to build a strong foundation in public relations.

Learn how to create engaging content, identify key audiences, and understand how PR supports wider organisational goals—giving you the skills to contribute with confidence.

By the end, you’ll be ready to support PR activities or take on junior comms roles, earning a respected CIPR qualification that opens the door to future opportunities.

With nesma, you’ll qualify faster and get expert support every step of the way—better than any other study centre.

All of our learners gain access to the nesma learning hub via your own homepage.

From here you can access all of your courses, materials and activities, see your progress and work with other students. 

The platform provides broader benefits including skills passport, activity badges, and access to skills intelligence, offers and news!

Aims

You’ll develop the practical knowledge, core PR skills, and professional confidence to succeed in a communications role.

In short, you’ll become a CERTIFIED PR practitioner, ready to create content, build stakeholder relationships, and support strategic goals in any organisation.

Assessment 

To complete the course, you’ll submit two assignments:


Content Portfolio – Four pieces of written or visual content (approx. 1,000 words) promoting a positive news story.


Discussion Paper – A 1,000-word reflection on audience targeting, channel choices, and how the content supports organisational goals.


You’ll get clear guidance and support to help you succeed.

CIPR Membership  & Assessment Fees

We handle all the admin – you focus on learning
We’ll arrange your membership (£38), registration (£81), and assessment (£91),  and help you prepare with practice tests and revision sessions.
Plus, as a CIPR member, you’ll gain access to expert resources, practical toolkits, on-demand webinars, and exclusive networking opportunities. You’ll also benefit from ongoing career support and become part of a vibrant community of PR and communications professionals committed to ethical, high-impact practice.
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Who is it for?

This course is designed for aspiring PR professionals and anyone looking to build a strong foundation in communications.

It’s ideal for early-career communicators, career changers, marketing assistants, and junior executives who want to gain a recognised qualification and the skills to create content, engage audiences, and support PR campaigns with confidence.  If your not sure talk to us  

Entry requirements

There are no formal entry requirements for this course.

If English is not your first language, you will need to demonstrate you’ve achieved an equivalent qualification.  If your not sure talk to us  

Your course tutor

Anne-Marie Lacey

PR Expert 

Anne-Marie Lacey is a senior tutor at nesma and founder of Filament PR, a virtual agency providing consultancy and coaching to leading brands. As a Fellow of the CIPR and Chartered Practitioner, she brings extensive experience in crisis management, international trade fairs, and communications strategy. Anne-Marie combines practical industry knowledge with a passion for teaching, helping students develop the skills and confidence to succeed in their CIPR qualifications and professional careers.

Learning outcomes


Course structure

Component 1: PR skills and content creation

This component explores the types of content PR professionals create, how to tailor messaging for specific audiences and channels, and builds hands-on skills in producing effective PR content.

Component 2: The role of the PR Practitioner

This component explores how PR supports organisational objectives, the importance of working alongside other disciplines, and the practitioner’s responsibility to act ethically and maintain up-to-date professional knowledge.

What our learners say

Flexible learning that works!

This qualification is just the right length. 2.5 days worked perfectly. It allowed me to combine studying and working full-time alongside freelancing

Insightful learning with real support

The course has helped me understand the bigger picture, and I enjoyed the tutor/student interactions.

Concise and practical content

After completing this course, I feel much more confident that I’ve got the right tools and knowledge to use different types of media for relevant communications.

Very Professional!

It was an excellent training program, and I am very pleased. The instructors were very knowledgeable, and the content was relevant to our industry.

Simple to understand!

Armed with the knowledge and techniques obtained from your school, I feel more equipped to navigate the challenging social aspects of the real world and become a professional in my field of choice.

Excellent Training Program!

The presenters were amazing. They were engaging, timely, and knowledgeable

5% off for nesma students and alumni!

If you have registered or attended a course
with us before, copy/ use the promo code
on the right when you enrol*
*We will of course verify you have previously learnt with us
Use promo code:

nesmaAlumni2025

Still not sure?  Talk to an advisor now 

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