CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development. In plain terms, it is the learning you keep doing after you qualify so your skills do not go stale. Most professional bodies ask for a set amount each year, usually counted in hours (where they use points, one point tends to mean one hour). A day's course counts. So does a webinar, a conference session, a few evenings with a new standard, or a short written note on what you would do differently at work.
Why CPD exists
A qualification tells people what you knew on the day you sat the exam. Rules change after that, tools change, and clients start to expect things nobody taught you. CPD is how you keep up on purpose instead of by luck, and in a lot of professions it is not optional.
It also means something different depending on who is asking. You get a record that shows you are current. Your employer gets a way to close skill gaps, and something to show a regulator or a client when they ask how staff stay competent. The professional body gets a reason to believe that a membership granted fifteen years ago still means something today.
The three types of CPD
Structured or active learning
You take part, and there is a plan behind it: a course, a workshop, a live webinar, a conference, eLearning with real activities in it. Most bodies give this kind the most weight, and it is what CPD accreditation is designed for.
Reflective or passive learning
You watch or listen without much back and forth, say a recorded lecture, a podcast or a case study. It still counts. Most bodies just want a line from you on what you took from it.
Self-directed or informal learning
Reading the journal, keeping an eye on regulator updates, digging into a problem with a colleague. Useful, and often expected, but on its own it rarely fills a year's requirement.
The CPD Certification Service suggests that at least half of a professional's CPD should be structured. Your own body may set a different split, so check its rules.
How CPD hours and points work
Most bodies set a yearly target in hours. A few use points or credits, and in nearly every case that is one to one, so a course worth 6 points is about six hours of learning.
The catch is that hours should mean learning time, not time in the building. Take a course that runs nine to five with an hour for lunch and two coffee breaks: that is nearer six hours of CPD than eight. eLearning is the same. The honest number is how long a normal learner needs to work through it properly, activities included, not the total running time of the videos. When we prepare a course for CPD certification, the hours are one of the first things we check, because a CPD body will check them too.
The CPD cycle
Identify
Spot the gap. It might come from your appraisal, a new role or a rule that has changed.
Plan
Pick the learning that closes it and set yourself a target for the year.
Act
Go and do it: a course, an event, some reading, some practice.
Reflect
Jot down what you learned and what you will change because of it.
Apply
Use it at work. Then go round again.
Many professional bodies use some version of this five-stage cycle to help members plan their CPD.
Who sets CPD requirements
There is no single rule. Each profession writes its own, and they vary a lot: some count hours, others just expect you to stay competent and show how. Four examples:
| Body | What it asks of members |
|---|---|
| RICS (surveyors) | At least 20 hours of CPD each calendar year, with at least 10 of them structured learning (2025 requirements). |
| NMC (nurses and midwives, UK) | 35 hours of CPD over the three-year revalidation period, at least 20 of them participatory learning with other professionals. |
| SRA (solicitors, England and Wales) | No minimum hours. Solicitors must keep their competence up to date, reflect on their practice, and plan and record their learning. |
| MFSA (insurance distribution, Malta) | Sets its own continuous professional development rules for people carrying out insurance distribution. |
We checked these against each body's own guidance in October 2026 (links in the sources below). They do change, so confirm with your body before you rely on them.
Where accredited CPD fits
You can count plenty of learning nobody has ever accredited. Accreditation earns its keep when someone, usually the learner or the employer paying the invoice, wants an outside check that the course is decent and the hours on the certificate are real. A CPD certification body does that check. We get courses ready for it and handle the application through our CPD Certification service.
What it will not do is turn a course into a qualification. If a learner needs a formal level, that is a different route altogether, and our guide to what accreditation is walks through it.
What counts as CPD
Far more than most people think. As a rough guide, if it was planned, it was relevant to your work, and you can show you did it, it probably counts. Some examples:
- A training course, workshop or seminar, in person or online.
- A conference session, a webinar or a professional body event.
- An eLearning module with activities or a knowledge check.
- Mentoring or coaching, given or received.
- Reading a new standard, a guidance note or a journal article, with a note on what you took from it.
- Writing a briefing, giving a talk, or teaching others in your field.
- Shadowing a colleague or working on a project outside your usual role.
What usually does not count: sales presentations, routine work you would do anyway, and anything you cannot show evidence for afterwards.
How to keep a CPD record
Most bodies do not mind which format you use, as long as the record is honest and you can produce it if they ask. A simple log with these columns does the job:
| Column | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Date | When you did the learning |
| Activity | The course, event or reading, and who ran it |
| Type | Structured, reflective or self-directed |
| Hours | Actual learning time, not time away from the desk |
| What I learned | Two or three lines in your own words |
| How I will use it | One practical change at work |
| Evidence | Certificate, notes or a link to the material |
Keep the certificates in one folder. If your body ever audits your record, that folder and the log are usually all you need.
CPD for employers
Employers often treat CPD as the employee's business. It is worth looking at it the other way round. If a regulator, a client or a tender asks how you keep your people competent, a clear training plan with logged CPD hours is one of the easiest answers you can give.
A few habits help. Build CPD into appraisals so the gaps get spotted. Prefer accredited courses for the topics where you will need evidence later, such as compliance and health and safety. And if you run your own internal programmes, think about having them certified, so staff get hours they can take with them and you get an outside check on what you built.
Common questions
What does CPD stand for?
Continuing Professional Development. It is the learning you do across your career to keep your knowledge and skills current.
How many CPD hours do I need?
That depends on your profession. RICS wants at least 20 hours a year from surveyors, the NMC wants 35 hours over three years from nurses and midwives, and the SRA does not set any minimum for solicitors. Your own body's rules are the ones that count.
Is a CPD point the same as a CPD hour?
Nearly always. Where a body uses points or credits, one point is normally one hour of learning.
Does all CPD have to be accredited?
No. Plenty of bodies accept any relevant learning you can show evidence for. Accreditation helps when you, or whoever is paying, want someone independent to have checked the course and the hours.
Is CPD the same as a qualification?
No. CPD keeps the skills you already have up to date, and you usually log it in hours. A qualification is a formal award at a set level on a national framework. A course can be CPD accredited and still not be a qualification.
What should a CPD record include?
The date, what you did and who ran it, the type of learning, the actual hours, a few lines on what you learned and how you will use it, and the evidence, such as a certificate or notes.
Explore CPD Certification
CPD Certification
What we do, who it suits, and where the decision sits.
Read more
Benefits
What certification does for providers, learners and buyers, and where it stops helping.
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Industries
Eighteen sectors, and why each profession's own rules come first.
Read more
How it works
From the first call to the certificate, including the quality checks either side.
Read more
Quality assurance
The check before submission and the yearly upkeep that keeps a certification current.
Read more
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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.