Guidance

UK Internal Market Act 2020: Policy statement on the operation of Part 3 of the act (recognition of professional qualifications)

Published 18 March 2026

1. Overview of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 (the act)

1. The UK government is committed to ensuring a well-functioning UK internal market, underpinned by a framework that supports businesses to trade without unnecessary costs or other barriers. This benefits both businesses and consumers across the UK.

2. This is particularly important for people and businesses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as around 20% of Scotland’s, Wales’s and Northern Ireland’s economy is dependent on trade with the rest of the UK.

3. The UK government’s review of the act, published in July 2025^{[footnote 1]}, gets the balance right between devolved governments exercising their powers and ensuring unnecessary barriers to trade do not emerge for businesses across the UK, unlocking growth, protecting jobs and delivering prosperity through the government’s Plan for Change^{[footnote 2]}.

4. The provisions in the act to create a smooth functioning UK internal market include:

• parts 1 and 2 – the principles of mutual recognition and non-discrimination of goods and services, which form the ‘market access principles’

• part 3 – the automatic recognition of professional qualifications across the UK

5. This note provides the UK government’s policy view of how part 3 of the act should work. It does not provide a legally binding interpretation, as the provisions are untested in court.

2. Part 3: professional qualifications

6. The act introduced a system for the recognition of professional qualifications across the UK internal market. This allows professionals qualified in one of the 4 nations of the UK to access the same profession in another part without needing to requalify.

7. This applies to professions ^{[footnote 3]} that are regulated in law. This is where access to a profession, including undertaking certain activities or using a professional title, is limited by legislation to individuals who hold specific qualifications or experience.

8. Access to a profession or occupation will often require specific professional qualifications, such as a degree, diploma or award, confirming an individual has attained a certain level of competence, training or knowledge relevant to that profession.

9. The Explanatory Notes^{[footnote 4]} accompanying the act and the 2022 guidance to regulators^{[footnote 5]} also provide information on the operation of part 3 of the act.

10. The main objective of this part of the act is to avoid new barriers to the movement of professionals within the UK internal market. It does this by establishing an overarching system of mutual recognition of professional qualifications regulated in law that applies across the UK.

11. This part of the act establishes that an individual who is qualified to practise an profession in one of the 4 UK nations will, when a ‘qualifying change’ occurs in one part of the UK (the ‘relevant part’), automatically be recognised in respect of the equivalent profession in another part of the UK without needing to requalify.

A qualifying change is either:

• when a new provision limits access to a profession in the relevant part to those who have certain qualifications or experience^{[footnote 6]}; or

• when a change is made to an existing provision relating to qualification or experience requirements

The exceptions to these provisions are school teaching and legal professionals^{[footnote 7]}.

12. This means that if a government within the UK introduces an additional restriction on the practice of a profession, or recognises a new profession in one part of the UK, the operation of automatic recognition (sections 24 and 25), or an alternative recognition process (section 26), will need to be considered.

13. To trigger automatic recognition:

• there must be provision in the relevant part that limits the ability to practise a profession in the relevant part to individuals who have certain qualifications or experience (section 24(1)); and

• the provision must be “contained in legislation; or provision not of a legislative character but made under, and given effect by, legislation” (section 29(8))

14. In the UK government’s view, this would be the act working as intended. The act is not designed to prevent any part of the UK from legislating to introduce new professional qualifications or other measures where necessary.

15. However, it is designed to support individuals already qualified to work within those professions, or who have the required experience, in one part of the UK to continue to practise that profession in other parts of the UK where the practice of a profession falls within scope of the act.

16. Part 3 of the act only applies to professions regulated in law. It does not apply to professions voluntarily regulated by professional bodies without underpinning legislation. This includes professions regulated through voluntary membership of a professional body, including many chartered professional bodies, which often require compliance with certain requirements and qualification standards but do not restrict access to the profession generally.

17. Part 3 of the act also does not apply to jobs, occupations or trades that are not concerned with the ‘practice of a profession’.

18. Section 29(8) of the act provides a broad definition of ‘profession’. However, the meaning of ‘ability to practise a profession’ within section 29(1) is key to understanding the scope of part 3, as this is the term is referenced in section 24(1) concerning automatic recognition.

19. Section 29(1) describes the ‘ability to practice a profession’ as including being able to:

• undertake the activities that make up a profession;
• use a professional title; or
• be registered where registration is required

20. Section 29(2) further clarifies that section 24(1) restricts automatic recognition to cases where the limitation on the ability to practice a profession affects activities that are, in a significant number of cases, essential to the practice of the profession in question.

21. Whether an activity is essential to a particular profession, or whether it could be undertaken by a range of individuals in different job roles (for example), is therefore a key consideration when determining the applicability of automatic recognition under part 3 of the act.

22. Automatic recognition means that a ‘qualified’ UK resident in another part of the UK is treated as if they had the qualifications or experience required to practise the profession in the relevant part (section 24(2)).

23. The UK government’s firm policy position is that the act is not designed to allow an individual in a part of the UK where there is no regulation in law of a particular profession to claim that, because there is a lack of regulation in that part of the UK, they can rely on that to be “qualified” to practise in the regulated part.

24. Similarly, it is not designed to allow an individual living in a part of the UK where a profession is regulated in law to rely on the absence of regulation in another part of the UK to claim they are ‘qualified’ to practise in the regulated part.

What matters is the qualifications or experience obtained in one part of the UK and how these are recognised for corresponding activities in another part of the UK.

25. This is because automatic recognition in section 24(2) is triggered only for a ‘qualified UK resident’. Section 25(1) defines a qualified UK resident in relation to a profession as someone who is ‘qualified’, in accordance with subsections 25(3) to (5), in any part of the UK other than the relevant part, to undertake the full range of activities that make up the profession for which recognition is sought.

Therefore, it would in part be a question of fact whether an individual is qualified to undertake the full range of activities, according to the standards of the profession in question, and is qualified in another part of the UK to undertake the relevant professional activity.

26. Section 25(5) also captures individuals qualified in the practice of a profession where there may be no, or only partial, specific qualification or experience requirements to access the practice of a profession or undertake corresponding activity.

Therefore, not all occupations or trades (defined as a ‘profession’) concerning the ‘practice of a profession’ require a specific formal qualification for an individual to be considered ‘qualified’.

However, a ‘qualified’ UK resident must possess specialist knowledge, skills or training (as they are qualified in relation to a profession) to undertake the full range of corresponding activities.

In addition, some documented recognition is also required. For example, a record issued by a body whose ordinary activities include issuing such records, confirming that an individual has attained a particular standard following a course of study or training (section 29(8)).

27. Section 25(5) therefore does not create a ‘free for all’ to practise unqualified in another part of the UK.

28. The UK government recognises that these provisions have not been tested in court. Our policy position is that, for automatic recognition to apply:

• the activity must meet the definition of the ‘practice of a profession’; and
• the UK resident benefiting from automatic recognition must be ‘qualified’ as defined in section 25 of the act

29. If a government within the UK considers it necessary to disapply the principle of automatic recognition that would otherwise apply under section 24(2), it could consider introducing a section 26 individual assessment process.

3. Disapplication of Automatic Recognition under Section 26 of the act

30. Section 26 of the act describes a process by which a government can disapply automatic recognition of professional qualifications through an alternative recognition process for applicants seeking recognition in that part of the UK.

31. The process must have legislative backing and each government must consider how to establish the section 26 process in line with the principles and requirements set out in section 26 of the act.

32. The process must also be administered by the relevant authority or professional regulator, or if there is not one, by whichever of the UK government or devolved governments is responsible for the profession^{[footnote 8]}.

33. The alternative process must comply with certain principles. For the purposes of accessing a profession:

• qualifications or experience obtained in another part of the UK must be taken into account; and
• they must be treated the same as ‘like’ qualifications or experience obtained in the relevant part

If the qualifications or experience do not meet the required standard, an assessment should be offered so the professional can demonstrate the required knowledge and skills.

34. If the required knowledge and skills are demonstrated through qualifications, experience or the assessment, the individual must be recognised and permitted to practise that profession in the relevant part of the UK.

4. Grandfathering and automatic recognition under the act

35. There are other exceptions to automatic recognition, including the grandfathering provision in section 27(1). This applies to professions where provision already existed when the act was enacted.

36. However, automatic recognition would apply if a new provision were introduced relating to qualifications or experience that changes access to the profession.

In this case, a section 26 alternative recognition process could still be introduced to disapply automatic recognition, as set out in section 26.

1. UK Government response to the Review of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 and Public Consultation ↩

2. Plan for Change - GOV.UK ↩

3. ‘Profession’ (s.29(8)) is defined as including: ‘(a) an occupation or trade, and (b) any subdivision of, or distinct specialism within, a profession’ ↩

4. Explanatory Notes - United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 ↩

5. Recognising professional qualifications or experience: guidance for regulatory bodies on complying with the UK Internal Market Act 2020 - GOV.UK. See also Complying with the UK Internal Market Act 2020 - GOV.UK ↩

6. ‘Qualification’ (s.29(8)) is defined as ‘any record, issued by a body whose ordinary activities include the issuing of such records, of having attained a particular standard following a course of study or training. Experience is noted as required to practise the profession (s.24(2)) and must be obtained in the UK (s.25(7)(b))’ ↩

7. Professionals also benefit from provisions ensuring equal treatment in respect of the ongoing practice of a profession. Professionals qualified in another part of the UK cannot be treated less favourably in respect of ongoing practice requirements than those qualified in the relevant part, based on where in the UK their qualifications or experience were obtained, unless justified ↩

8. Recognising professional qualifications or experience: guidance for regulatory bodies on complying with the UK Internal Market Act 2020 - GOV.UK, ↩