There are six steps. We start with a scoping call, then review the course against the CPD body's criteria and fix what falls short. Next we send the application, and the body makes its decision. After that, maintenance quality assurance runs every year. The slow part is nearly always the evidence, so a course with clear outcomes, finished materials and honest hours gets through fastest.
Six steps from first call to certified course
Scoping call
Thirty minutes on the course, whether CPD is the right route, and which bodies might suit it. The fee and timeline follow in writing.
Initial quality assurance
We go through the course against the criteria of the body you pick and send you a written gap report.
Fixes
We rewrite outcomes, redo the hours and update content where it has dated. Nothing changes without your sign-off.
Application
We put the submission together, send it to the body and answer its questions as they come in.
The body decides
The CPD body makes the decision. If it approves, it issues the reference, the certificate wording and any mark, under its own rules.
Maintenance quality assurance
Every year before renewal, and whenever the law shifts, we review the course and prepare the renewal.
What we check in the initial review
CPD bodies word their criteria differently, but most ask about the same eight things. Our review covers each one before the body sees the course.
Clear outcomes
Learning outcomes a professional would recognise, written so you can tell whether a learner met them.
Current, accurate content
Content checked against current law, standards and practice, with sources for anything factual.
Competent trainers and authors
People who know the subject and can teach it, shown through their qualifications and experience.
Design that fits the outcomes
Structure, activities and pace that can actually get a learner to the stated outcomes.
Honest CPD hours
Hours worked out from real learning time. For eLearning, the time a typical learner needs to complete it properly.
A check on learning
Some form of knowledge check, practical task or reflective activity, matched to the course.
A proper certificate
Learner name, course title, date, CPD hours, provider and certification reference on every certificate.
Feedback and review
A way to collect learner feedback, and a record of what you did about it.
What can be certified
- Classroom courses and workshops, from a half day upwards.
- Live online courses and webinar series.
- On-demand eLearning and blended programmes.
- Conferences and events, where the sessions are planned learning rather than sales pitches.
- In-house programmes that an employer runs for its own staff.
We do not take on sales presentations, product demonstrations or content whose main purpose is to promote a product. CPD bodies turn them down too.
What we need from you
- The course outline and timetable, or the module map for eLearning.
- The learning outcomes, and how each one is covered.
- The materials learners see: slides, workbook, videos or a login to the platform.
- Trainer or author CVs, or a short summary of their background.
- Your current CPD hours figure, if you have one.
- A sample certificate and the feedback form you use.
Missing pieces are fine at this stage. The gap report tells you what is still needed, and we can draft most of it with you.
Using the CPD body's mark
The mark belongs to the CPD body, and each body writes its own rules for it. Most say much the same thing. The mark goes on the certified course only, next to the course title, the CPD hours and the reference, and never on a home page in a way that suggests everything you sell is certified.
Before you launch, we check the sales page, the course materials and the certificate against the body's rules. We look again at every maintenance review, because marketing pages have a habit of drifting.
Renewal and changes
Most CPD bodies certify a course for twelve months at a time. Our maintenance review runs on the same cycle. We look at what has changed in the course and in the law, read the learner feedback and confirm the trainers, then prepare the renewal. A new example or a refreshed case study rarely needs a fresh submission. A change to the outcomes, the hours or the format usually does, and we tell the body before you sell the changed course as certified.
Working out the hours: two examples
Hours are easy to get wrong, so here is how we do the sums.
| Live one-day course | Time |
|---|---|
| Day runs 09:00 to 17:00 | 8 hours |
| Less registration and welcome | minus 0.5 hours |
| Less lunch | minus 1 hour |
| Less two coffee breaks | minus 0.5 hours |
| CPD hours on the certificate | 6 hours |
| eLearning module | Time |
|---|---|
| Video and reading | 50 minutes |
| Activities and case studies | 25 minutes |
| Final knowledge check | 15 minutes |
| CPD hours on the certificate | 1.5 hours |
For eLearning we time it ourselves, working through the module the way a learner would. If our figure and yours are far apart, we look at completion data from your platform before anything goes to the body.
What a certificate should show
Sample certificate wording
[Learner name] completed [Course title], delivered by [Provider name], on [date].
CPD hours: [6]. Certified by [CPD body], reference [reference].
The body's mark sits next to that wording if its rules allow it. If you issue certificates from a learning platform, we check the template before you go live.
Before you call: a quick self-check
- Can every learning outcome be checked? Could you tell whether a learner had met it?
- Are the hours worked out from learning time, without breaks?
- Is every law, standard and figure in the course the current one for the country you sell in?
- Can you show who wrote and who delivers the course, and why they are qualified to?
- Is there some check on learning, even a short quiz or a reflective task?
- Does your certificate show the learner, course, date, hours and provider?
- Do you collect learner feedback, and have you acted on any of it?
Seven yeses and the initial review will be short. Fewer is normal, and it is what the review and the fixes stage are there for. If the course needs more than fixing, our course development for CPD Certification team rebuilds it.
What affects the fee
There are two bills. The CPD body charges its own fee and you pay that to them directly. We quote ours in writing after the scoping call. Length and format drive most of it. A live day with a clear timetable is quick for us to check; an eLearning course takes longer because we sit through it and time it. Extra versions, a long fix list or a subject expert push it up. Year one of maintenance quality assurance is in the quote, so you'll know the cost of year two before you commit.
Common questions
How long does CPD certification take?
We give you a timeline in writing after the scoping call. Our part depends mostly on how ready the course is. The body's part depends on its own turnaround, which we find out and tell you before you choose.
What happens if the CPD body asks for changes?
We handle it. We agree the changes with you, make them and send the course back to the body with a note of what changed.
How do you work out CPD hours?
From actual learning time. For a live course that means the taught time, without breaks or registration. For eLearning it means the time a typical learner needs to complete it properly, including activities, which we test.
What if the body turns the course down?
After a proper initial review it is rare, but it does happen. We go through the body's reasons with you, fix what can be fixed and resubmit, or tell you straight if another route makes more sense. Appeals go to the CPD body under its own procedure, and we help you prepare one.
How long does certification last?
The body sets that, and twelve months is common. Our maintenance quality assurance runs on the same cycle, so the renewal is ready in time.
Can you check our certificate template?
Yes. If you issue certificates from a learning platform, send us the template and we will check it shows everything the body asks for before you go live.
Explore CPD Certification
CPD Certification
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What is CPD?
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Industries
Eighteen sectors, and why each profession's own rules come first.
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Quality assurance
The check before submission and the yearly upkeep that keeps a certification current.
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Read the articleFreeCourse diagnostic
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Sources
Last reviewed 14 October 2026. Apollo Accreditation is a consultancy. It is not a regulator, an awarding organisation or a CPD certification body, and CPD certification is not a regulated qualification.