What counts as CPD for the HCPC? The four types of activity that qualify

The HCPC does not count hours. It looks for a mixture.

A common worry among HCPC registrants is that CPD means a fixed tally of hours or a stack of course certificates. It does not. The HCPC sets no minimum number of hours. What it asks for is a continuous, up to date and accurate record of a mixture of activities that are relevant to your practice and that benefit the people you serve. That is broader and more forgiving than many people assume, and it means a great deal of what you already do can count.

If you also hold NMC registration, it is worth keeping the two systems separate in your mind. The NMC requires 35 hours of CPD over a three year cycle, of which at least 20 must be participatory. The HCPC has no such figure. It renews every two years and judges the range and relevance of your activities rather than the time on the clock.

The four types of CPD activity

The HCPC groups CPD activities into four broad types. You do not need to do all four, but your record should show a mixture, which in practice means at least two different types. Here is what each one covers.

Work-based learning

This is learning that happens through the job itself. The HCPC's examples include reflecting on your experiences at work, case discussion, clinical audit, peer review, in-service training, a journal club, supervising a student or a colleague, work shadowing, a secondment or job rotation, and analysing a significant event. If you have ever changed how you do something after a case that made you stop and think, that is work-based learning.

Professional activity

This covers what you do as a member of your profession, beyond the direct delivery of care. Examples include teaching or lecturing, mentoring a colleague, acting as a tutor or an examiner, and being involved in a professional body or a specialist interest group. Many registrants do these things without ever labelling them as CPD, then forget to record them.

Formal and educational activity

This is the type most people picture first: formal courses, further study, attending a conference, and carrying out or writing up research. It usually comes with a certificate, which makes it easy to evidence, but it is only one of the four routes, not the whole requirement.

Self-directed learning

This is the learning you drive yourself, in your own time. Reading a journal article or a new clinical guideline, reviewing a piece of evidence, or working through an online resource all count. It is quick to log, and it works best when you pair it with a few sentences that record what you took from it.

You need a mixture, not a marathon

The rule that trips people up is the mixture requirement. Because the HCPC asks for at least two different types of activity, a record made up entirely of course certificates, or entirely of reading, does not sit comfortably with the standards even if there is plenty of it. A realistic two year record might combine a study day (formal), a run of journal reading (self-directed), a piece of mentoring (professional activity), and two or three written reflections on cases (work-based). That spread counts for more than one large course on its own.

Where reflection fits

This is the part that is easy to miss. Reflection is not a fifth category sitting apart from the rest. It appears inside work-based learning in its own right, because reflecting on your experiences at work is one of the activities the HCPC lists. But it also does something the other types cannot. It turns any activity into evidence of what you actually learned.

A certificate proves you attended. It does not show what changed in your practice as a result. A short reflective account does. It records what you did, what you took from it, and what you will do differently, which is exactly what an assessor looks for when they read a CPD profile. Reflection is therefore both an activity in its own right and the connective tissue that gives the rest of your record its meaning.

A paramedic attends a half day update on sepsis recognition and logs it as a formal activity. On its own, the entry reads: attended sepsis study day, three hours. A week later they add four sentences of reflection. On the next suitable patient they used the screening tool earlier in the assessment, noticed they had previously been anchoring on a single observation, and have started sense checking their first impression out loud with a crew mate. The certificate proves attendance. The reflection proves learning. The second entry is the one that carries weight at audit.

What the standards actually ask for

Behind all of this sit the five HCPC standards of continuing professional development. In plain terms, they ask you to keep a continuous and accurate record, to undertake a mixture of activities relevant to your current or future practice, to make sure your CPD has contributed to the quality of your work and service delivery, to make sure it benefits service users, and, on request, to present a written profile that is your own work and supported by evidence.

At each two yearly renewal the HCPC randomly selects 2.5 per cent of each profession and asks those registrants for that profile. You will not know in advance whether you have been chosen, which is the practical reason to keep your record current as you go rather than rebuilding two years of activity under pressure. You can read the HCPC's own list at what activities count as CPD and the full standards of continuing professional development.

A simple way to stay on top of it

The registrants who find audit least stressful are rarely the ones who did the most CPD. They are the ones who recorded a little, often, across more than one type of activity, and who wrote a few honest sentences of reflection at the time rather than months afterwards. Aim for that rhythm and the profile largely writes itself.

If the reflection is the part you find hardest, Reflectory can help. It interviews you about a real piece of practice and produces a structured reflective account in your own words, with identifiable details screened out and an AI-assistance note included, so you have a clear record of what you learned ready to drop into your HCPC profile.