What is CPD?
Rapidly changing legal, social and economic developments directly affect our working environment while technological advances radically change the way we carry out everyday tasks.
CPD (Continuing Professional Development) is an ongoing commitment to understand more about the environment in which you work, the job you do and how you can do it better.
CPD can be part of your own strategy to be a better practitioner or to simply feel more confident about your work and make it more personally fulfilling. It can be a step on the ladder to higher qualifications or enhanced career prospects. It can be part of meeting targets set by workforce performance management schemes or an opportunity for you to change and advance your career path.
Why is CPD important?
It is important for members to undertake CPD for a number of reasons:
- To improve your professional competence for your own benefit and that of your clients, employers and others.
- To enable you to demonstrate how you have sought to maintain your competence in the event of a claim or allegation.
You are most likely to be able to demonstrate that you have complied with the Society’s CPD Regulation if you plan, carry out and record an annual programme of learning activities designed to maintain competence and improve professional knowledge. It may be more difficult for you to demonstrate compliance if you choose another method.