Video: How to prepare for an audit of your social work CPD profile

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) defines continuing professional development (CPD) as the way professionals continue to learn and develop throughout their careers so they keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date and are able to work safely, legally and effectively.

The HCPC’s CPD standards say registrants must:

1. maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities;
2. demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice;
3. seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery;
4. seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user; and
5. upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how they have met the standards for CPD.

The HCPC will randomly audit the CPD of 2.5% of all social workers in England when the registration renewal process starts in September. Those registrants who are chosen for audit will have time to prepare and submit a CPD profile and show how it meets the standards. Here is a video guide to the audit process:

You can request a hard copy of the standards for CPD from the HCPC by calling 0845 300 6184 or emailing publications@hcpc-uk.org