Search for cherry picker or scissor lift training and you'll meet two different card schemes: the IPAF PAL card and the CPCS A25/A26 categories. They cover the same machines, and confusingly, both are legitimate. Here's the practical difference — including when the honest answer is that we're not the right training centre for you.
The Short Answer
If MEWPs are the only kit you operate — warehouse, facilities, events, telecoms — IPAF is usually the quicker, cheaper and more commonly specified route. If you're a construction plant operator, CPCS A25/A26 keeps your scissor and boom tickets on the same scheme as your excavator, dumper or telehandler categories, with the NVQ-backed Blue Card route major contractors recognise. On construction sites both are accepted: Build UK's Training Standard lists CPCS and the IPAF PAL card as CSCS-logo cards that should be accepted when presented on site.
What Each Scheme Is
- IPAF PAL card — issued by the International Powered Access Federation, a not-for-profit body for the powered access industry worldwide. The categories that matter here are 3a (mobile vertical — scissor lifts) and 3b (mobile boom — cherry pickers). Courses run about a day for a combined 3a+3b, the card is valid five years, it's issued digitally via the ePAL app, and training is independently certified to ISO 18878.
- CPCS A25 (MEWP Scissor) and A26 (MEWP Boom) — part of the Construction Plant Competence Scheme used for most construction plant in the UK. Pass the CITB HS&E test plus CPCS theory and practical tests for a Red Card (valid two years), then complete an NVQ Level 2 to upgrade to the renewable five-year Blue Card — the same progression as every other CPCS plant category.
Side by Side
| IPAF (3a/3b) | CPCS (A25/A26) | |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Powered access across all industries | Construction plant operators |
| Course length | Typically 1 day (3a+3b combined) | 1–3 days depending on experience |
| Typical cost | ~£150–£300 | From £325 test-only at our centre |
| Card validity | 5 years | Red 2 years → Blue 5 years (renewable) |
| NVQ involved | No | Yes — NVQ L2 for the Blue Card |
| CSCS logo / site acceptance | Yes (with valid HS&E test) | Yes |
| Recognised beyond construction | Widely, internationally | Construction-focused |
What the Law Actually Requires
Neither card is a legal licence. HSE's guidance on MEWPs (GEIS6) is clear that specific courses are not a strict legal requirement — the employer's duty under the Work at Height Regulations and PUWER is that operators are adequately trained and competent, and recognised schemes are how you evidence that. The same guidance adds two things worth knowing whichever card you hold: operators need familiarisation on the specific model they'll use, and in boom-type MEWPs you wear a full-body harness with a short restraint lanyard where the risk assessment requires it.
How to Decide in Two Minutes
- Ask what you'll operate besides MEWPs. Nothing else? IPAF is probably your route. Excavators, dumpers or telehandlers too? Keep it all on CPCS.
- Ask the site. Acceptance is set by the principal contractor — one phone call to the site or agency tells you which card their compliance system wants.
- Think five years ahead. The CPCS Red-to-Blue route with an NVQ is construction's recognised path to competent-operator status; IPAF renews with a short course every five years.
We're a CPCS centre, so we'll only sell you what we offer: CPCS A25 scissor lift training and A26 cherry picker training on our own machines in Staffordshire. If IPAF is the better fit for your work, we'll say so — call 01782 503 500 and we'll give you a straight answer either way. You can also read what a CPCS card costs or how CPCS compares with NPORS.