Yes, we encourage aromatherapists to undertake additional training and expand their knowledge. In support of this we charge members half the price of their additional postgraduate membership (or more if more than one).

For example FULL membership (£80) + PEOT membership (£80 - 50% = £40) = Total £120 to appear on both registers.

FULL membership (£80) + PEOT membership (£80 £40) + Carer Membership £35 £5) = £125 to appear on all three registers.

The minimum requirement to professionally practice is to hold a qualification that meets the National Occupational Standards in aromatherapy, which equates to a level 3.

Full membership of the IFA is reserved for the elite who have completed the IFA professional aromatherapy diploma course, which surpasses the national occupational standards and core curriculum standards and is pitched at a level 4 -5.

You will need to provide evidence of qualifications in aromatherapy, massage and anatomy & physiology to be entered on the register of aromatherapists. Alternatively, if you would like to be entered on the register of Essential Oil Therapists please contact a training provider to undertake additional training to meet the criteria.

Guided Learning Hours (GLH) and Self Study Hours will be adapted and adjusted accordingly to acknowledge, previous study and student's current upgrade needs. Successful completion of each unit along with any relevant APL/APEL evidence will entitle the student to the Diploma Credits attributed to the unit.

If you already have a qualification in aromatherapy and would like to know if it meets our requirement, please see list of qualifications we accept. If you would like to train as an aromatherapist to gain a world-class qualification click here.

In the event you do not have a copy of your qualification certificate you will need to contact your training provider for a replacement (the IFA cannot request this on your behalf).

If you have exhausted all avenues of contacting the school, the only thing we could suggest is to try and contact the teacher and ask them to write a letter confirming the year you passed and content of the course.

The onus of responsibility lies with the applicant to prove their eligibility and provide the necessary evidence.

If the IFA were the examining body of your qualification then you can order a replacement/reissue in the IFA shop (if you are a registered member). For those who are not currently a registered member please complete the Certificate Replacement Form.

Please note before 2018 the IFA retained examinations results on its system for up to 10 years and it has only been a compulsory requirement of the IFA since 2008 that all learners registered on an IFA course be registered as a student member with the IFA. Therefore before this date the IFA may not be able to verify if a learner undertook a course at one of our schools. In any event please email the office with the name of the school you trained with, name of teacher and year you undertook IFA examinations so we can try our best to assist you or advise you to contact your training provider to provide confirmation.

If you registered after 2008 then no, you do not need to send us your certificates, all you will need to provide us with is your IFA student membership number for us to confirm your qualification. If you do not know your IFA student membership number (printed on your confirmation letter and student ID card) or have misplaced this then yes you will need to provide your certificate as evidence.

If you have not been professionally practising for 5 years or more due to illness, injury or other personal circumstances we recommend that you go on a refresher course to update your skills. This is assessed dependent on the following: the amount of time you have not been professionally practising, the amount of professional practice you have undertaken during this time, whether or not you have been working in a similar field in the healthcare profession during this time and the type of CPD you have undertaken i.e. attending a bodywork workshop, massage or aromatherapy workshop, professional business development or essential oil seminars etc.during your sabbatical or recently. For more information click here.

In short your qualification won’t meet the Aromatherapy Core Curriculum requirements.

Distance learning can work extremely well for certain theory-based subjects, e.g. Anatomy and Physiology, as long as the student is motivated enough to work alone and has the capacity to problem solve in the immediate absence of a tutor. If learning via Skype, etc additional technical problems may also have to be overcome, such as a poor signal and distractions in the student’s home.

However, distance learning cannot work for certain practical based subjects, like hands-on massage, essential oil blending skills, product making, etc. The student and tutor need to be in the same room in order for effective teaching to take place. For example, the tutor needs to be able to demonstrate massage techniques in front of the student and correct the student’s techniques where necessary. Students cannot be taught practical blending and product making techniques just on paper, or through Skype - they need to be together with a tutor to smell and assess the blend, feel its consistency and make any necessary adjustments.

For these areas of study, in particular, the IFA cannot support distance learning.

Yes you will need to be qualified and hold insurance to perform a massage using essential oils.

An automated reminder will be sent to registered members 30 days before their membership expires and a second reminder 7 days before it expires.

To renew, click on the renewal link in the email, complete the form and make payment.

If you do not renew your membership before it is due your details will be removed from the IFA website and you will know longer be able to access it.

If you have forgotten your password please enter your email address and click ‘forgot password’. A link to reset your password will be sent to your email.

If you haven’t already, please add office@ifaroma.org to your contact list to avoid emails going to junk or spam folder and missing out on any updates or reminders.

If you dont renew your membership, or if you dont renew before the due date - your membership will be lapsed and your details will be removed from the register. You will also not be able to access the website anymore and will be required to remove the IFA member logo from your website and all reference to being a current registrant.

You only need to send in evidence of CPD when you receive a request letter or email from the IFA. Members are selected at random to send in their CPD.

Please submit your evidence by email. You may scan or photograph your certificates/paperwork, but please ensure that any images are large enough and clear enough to read all the writing. Also, make sure that you attach the images to an email instead of pasting them into the body of the email.

When submitting your CPD activity, please ensure this is accompanied by a copy of the IFA CPD log.

Yes you may apply for the IFA to approve your CPD courses, please see CPD & Short Course Accreditation.

Yes, you need to meet the 12 CPD point annual requirement, regardless of the hours you work to remain on the register.

No, you are free to choose which courses meet your particular needs at any given time.

The IFA is willing to consider exceptional circumstances, however the intention of CPD is to ensure that registrants are continually updating their skills rather than all in one go. Please contact the office to discuss various options.

The CPD requirement starts from when you join the IFA as a member, so you will need to ensure you gain 12 CPD points in the year you are registered.

The member will then carry the points of the activity which did not qualify for CPD to the following year. Use the experience positively and look for what you can learn from it, if you are in any doubt if the IFA will accept an activity towards your CPD please do contact us.

No, the IFA will update its members CPD activities when they attend a CPD event hosted by the IFA. Members will still need to record this on their CPD log but do not need to provide certificate as evidence.

Failure to provide evidence of CPD on request will result in the member being removed from the register. Commonly their membership will be downgraded to friend membership until you are able to meet the requirements again or potentially termination of membership.

We would advise you to consider friend membership. If you have special circumstances that only affect your points for one year, please contact us to discuss various options with you.

No. We no longer allow members to carry CPD points over to the next membership year which defeats the object of CPD.

We can only provide you with information of what’s covered under the IFA member discounted insurance provided by the Alan Boswell Group, which can be found by clicking here.

No, the Alan Boswell Group insurance package does not extend to Europe. We would suggest that you contact Balens http://www.balens.co.uk/ for insurance in Europe.

The Alan Boswell Group, more information can be found by clicking here. You can contact Tom Head or his team on 01953 455 600.

Not unless you are insured to use essential oils (regardless of the fact that you have not blended the oils yourself).

Firstly please ensure that your membership is current before contacting us. Members are provided access to the IFA’s website within 3 working days of their membership being processed.

Enter your membership number here and then select forgot password. Then, enter your email address. Details of how to reset your password will be sent to your email. Please ensure the email you enter matches the email we hold for you on our database.

If you still have problems logging in please contact us.

Enter your membership number here and then select forgot password. Then, enter your email address. Details of how to reset your password will be sent to your email. Please ensure the email you enter matches the email we hold for you on our database.

If you haven’t already, please add office@ifaroma.org to your contact list to avoid emails going to junk or spam folder and missing out on any updates or reminders.

Enter your membership number here and then select forgot password. Then, enter your email address. Details of how to reset your password will be sent to your email. Please ensure the email you enter matches the email we hold for you on our database.

If you haven’t already, please add office@ifaroma.org to your contact list to avoid emails going to junk or spam folder and missing out on any updates or reminders.

If you are a UK tax payer you can donate as a ‘gift’ the tax you have paid on your membership known as 'Gift Aid'. This comes at no extra cost to you!

Your consent to gift aid means as a charity we can claim back the tax you have paid on your membership (25p for every £1) through Gift Aid. To find out more about Gift Aid from the HMRC click here.

What we need from you to claim Gift Aid:

• Your full name and address
• Membership number
• Gift Aid formed signed by yourself
• Gift Aid forms can be used indefinitely once signed so you only need to it the once and notify us if your circumstances have changed

Download a Gift Aid Form here to consent

By giving your consent to gift aid, it allows the IFA to claim back the tax you have paid on your membership (25p for every £1) at no extra cost to yourself. This applies to those who have a UK bank account only.

All funding goes back into increasing the benefits for you as one of our members.

No, the IFA do not endorse products. The IFA Corporate Member Logo™ shows the companies commitment to the IFA ethos.

This is so that the IFA can check appropriateness of a sample of the company's products before it can be associated with the IFA’s name.

These are checked by members of our education committee who will ascertain if any components of the product should pose a risk to the public or mislead them in terms of information stated on labels.

We only request a sample of 5 products across the range and therefore will not have sampled each and every product and batch nor do we intend to in the future. We therefore cannot endorse product ranges.

This procedure is in place to protect the public and IFA corporate member quality mark.

When considering whether your qualification equates to associate or full membership, we take into account topics covered (like-for-like), the depth of content covered during training and breadth of study which includes the number of hours dedicated to training. The IFA Aromatherapy Diploma is 37 credits (1 credit = 10 hours), which entitles graduates to be eligible for full membership, qualifications pitched between 25 - 36 credits entitle graduates to associate membership. For more information regarding general course credits read our blog post.

If you want to know if your qualification is equivalent to full membership please complete the Accredited Prior Learning (APL) mapping questionnaire and submit the supplementary evidence.

If you want to know if your qualification is equivalent to full membership please complete the Accredited Prior Learning (APL) mapping questionnaire and submit the supplementary evidence.