HCPC CPD: what to record and how to reflect
The five standards, what happens if you are picked for audit, and how to record as you go.
What the HCPC asks for
The HCPC sets five standards for continuing professional development. In short, you must:
- Keep a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of your CPD.
- Show that your CPD is a mixture of learning activities relevant to your current or future practice.
- Seek to ensure your CPD has contributed to the quality of your practice and service delivery.
- Seek to ensure your CPD benefits the service user.
- If asked, present a written profile, which must be your own work and supported by evidence, explaining how you have met the standards.
If you are picked for audit
When each profession renews, the HCPC selects a random sample of registrants and asks them for a CPD profile covering the previous two years. Most people are never picked, but you will not know in advance, so it pays to keep your record up to date.
The profile must be your own work. A record of what you did is not enough on its own: the standards ask what your CPD changed for your practice and for the people who use your service.
What to write for each activity
- What the activity was, and when.
- What you learned from it.
- How it has improved the quality of your practice.
- How it benefits your service users.
A short worked example
What I did: I shadowed a colleague running a falls clinic and read the current guidance on falls assessment.
What I learned: I had been assessing strength and balance but not routinely asking about fear of falling, which affects whether people keep up their exercises.
How my practice changed: I now ask about confidence at the first appointment and adjust the programme to match.
How service users benefit: fewer people drop out of their programme, and the people I see tell me they feel listened to.
Keep it anonymous
Do not include anything that could identify a service user, a family or a colleague. Remove names, places and identifying detail.
Record your CPD by speaking
ReflectReady has an HCPC template. You say what you did and what it changed, in your own words, and it sorts them under the headings ready to read, edit and keep. The AI only sorts your words, it never writes them, so the record stays your own work. Free to try.
Sources: HCPC: standards of continuing professional development, HCPC: CPD audits.
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