IFD College marks 25th anniversary
The Independent Funeral Directors’ (IFD) College, which has delivered training and qualifications to hundreds of funeral directors, is marking its 25th anniversary amid plans to enhance its course offering in 2021.
The College, which is aligned with the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), was established to ensure employees at family-run funeral businesses are able to access high-quality training leading to fully-accredited qualifications.
Since its establishment in November 1995, the organisation has developed a national network of trainers who are experienced funeral directors, underpinned by qualified assessors and verifiers.
Qualifications range from the latest health and safety certificates to infant and child death training. The College also offers funeral operative and administrator courses to NVQ Level 3.
Whilst celebrations will be muted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the crisis hasn’t stood in the way of vital work to launch a new funeral director training programme next year.
Commenting, IFD College Principal and Director of Curriculum Development, Christine Parker, said the organisation had a proud history and an exciting future.
“It’s no secret that we would have loved a gathering this December to mark 25 years of achievement and celebrate our work in equipping a generation of funeral directors with best-in-class qualifications. However, that’s not to be and instead, we’ve focused our efforts on preparing a new NVQ Level 4 funeral director course.
“This is planned to go live in 2021 and will complete our prospectus of courses for modern funeral directors. Modules will include conducting funerals and care of the deceased. It’s an incredibly exciting development for the College, and I believe it will play a vital role in promoting best practice as the profession prepares for statutory regulation. Indeed, I am confident the sector will view it as the industry standard in training,” she said.
Christine hoped an event to mark 25 years of providing education and training to the funeral profession would be able to take place in 2021, subject to coronavirus restrictions.
As a result of the pandemic, the College has switched many of its courses to online learning, with students accessing tutors via Zoom video conferencing.
Places are filling up fast for courses in early 2021 which will include Arranging Infant and Child Funerals and Funeral Administrator courses.
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