In-House Recruiters | STAR Membership & Certification
BIOR membership includes the certification assessment. Pass it and you are certified for five years.
STAR (Specialist in Talent Acquisition & Retention) is the BIOR membership and certification for recruiters who recruit for the company they work for, in-house recruiters, talent acquisition specialists and internal hiring teams. It shows your employer, your hiring managers and your candidates that you work to a published standard, the BIOR Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct, and that your processes have been tested against current UK recruitment law.
What you get, £120 per year
- The STAR letters after your name, and the STAR logo.
- Your listing on the public directory of BIOR members and certified members, and your own verification page that anyone can check in a minute at ior.org/verify.
- The BIOR credential on your LinkedIn profile in one click, and the badge for your email signature.
- The weekly Member Briefing. What changed in the employment law that governs hiring, in plain English.
- The STAR certification assessment, included. Online, about 45 minutes, taken from your dashboard when you are ready. Pass it and your entry shows STAR Certified for five years. Then you take it again, free, and the mark continues without a gap.
Prefer a PDF? Download the STAR Membership brochure (two pages).
How it works
Join online, log in to your dashboard, complete your profile and take the STAR certification assessment when you are ready. Once it is graded as a pass, your STAR certificate and logo are in your dashboard and your directory entry shows Certified.
The in-house recruitment qualification
The Summit Qualifications UK Level 3 Certificate in Principles of Recruitment covers sourcing, screening and selection, working with hiring managers and building an employer brand, and also earns the STAR letters.
Employers and hiring managers. Check any BIOR member or certified recruiter in one minute at ior.org/verify. Recruiters in an agency, see personal membership; recruitment businesses, see Agency Membership, which also includes Ask BIOR, the written answers desk on the rules for the whole business.
Questions in-house recruiters ask
Is there a professional body for in-house recruiters in the UK?
Yes. In-house recruiters and talent acquisition specialists join The British Institute of Recruiters through STAR membership, which includes the certification assessment, a public listing and the weekly Member Briefing. The rules written for agencies do not apply to an employer hiring its own staff; the Equality Act, the right to work checks, data protection law and the Employment Rights Act do, and the STAR assessment tests your processes against them. Read the guide at ior.org/professional-body-for-in-house-recruiters.
What is STAR?
STAR, Specialist in Talent Acquisition and Retention, is BIOR membership and certification for recruiters who hire for their own employer. It includes the STAR certification assessment, the STAR letters and logo, a listing in the public directory, a verification page anyone can check, the BIOR credential for LinkedIn and email, and the weekly Member Briefing. £120 a year.
How does the STAR certification assessment work?
Online, about 45 minutes, taken from your dashboard when you are ready. It tests your hiring processes against current UK employment and recruitment law and the BIOR Code. Pass it and your entry shows STAR Certified for five years; then you take it again, free.
Is STAR a qualification?
STAR is a membership and certification. The related regulated qualification is the Summit Qualifications UK Level 3 Certificate in Principles of Recruitment, which also earns the STAR letters; Summit Qualifications UK is BIOR's Ofqual regulated awarding brand.
I work in an agency, not in-house. Which membership is mine?
Personal Membership (MBIOR or FBIOR) for a recruiter joining in their own name, or Agency Membership for the business, which covers everyone in it.
How can my employer check that I am a member?
At ior.org/verify, by your membership number or your name. The page shows Active or Lapsed, the credential and the dates, and the certified mark where it applies.
Questions? Email support@ior.org.
Written by The BIOR Membership Team. Last reviewed 29 September 2026.