How far do professional associations influence the direction of public relations education?

This paper examines the way in which the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), the PR professional association in the UK, has sought to influence the content and direction of public relations education. It considers the fields in which intervention has been promoted and reflects on how meaningful this has proved. In particular, the paper considers the professional association’s interests in establishing a training framework; linking the framework to its approval of university degrees and diplomas in PR; the rationale behind and launch of a continuous professional development scheme; and the management of its own practitioner qualifications.