Continuing professional development
Continuing professional development (CPD)
What is CPD?
Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to the undertaking of learning and developmental activities that contributes to your ongoing professional competency. This could mean maintaining, developing or learning skills that can help you to retain your expertise, enhance your credibility, prepare you for a promotion, or to embrace new challenges.
What learning activities count?
The IOP encourages members to undertake a broad range of CPD activities to enhance their learning. This can include reading journals and articles; learning from colleagues by sharing information and exchanging ideas; coaching and mentoring; volunteering and engaging in professional activities; attending conferences and undertaking online learning.
What are the learning categories?
The IOP is not prescriptive as to what your CPD activities are and the categories they fall under, but we do encourage you to undertake CPD in multiple categories, where possible. The learning categories, as described by the IOP, are professional, self-directed, formal/educational, work-based and informal learning.
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Which professional registration is right for you?Undertaking and recording your CPD
How do I plan, carry out and evaluate my CPD?
There are a number of ways in which you can approach planning, undertaking and evaluating your CPD, but we would like to share with you a four-step plan that makes this process simple – Plan, Act, Record, Reflect (PARR):
- Plan – consider your professional role and set your benchmark
- Act – address your learning and development needs
- Record – document your CPD activity
- Reflect – evaluate what you have learned
Please read our CPD guide for members (PDF, 1.9MB), which also includes the requirements for maintaining your CPD record for Chartered Physicist and the Engineering Council registrations. To maintain your CPD record for your Science Council registration, you can find more information from the Science Council.
How do I keep my CPD record?
A CPD record should cover the activity undertaken, its purpose, what was gained, your reflection on its benefits and next steps. If you have multiple roles, specialisations or areas of interest, this should be reflected in your records and the examples provided.
How do I maintain my CPD record?
IOP members can use the My CPD Record in IOPConnect to log their CPD activities. For step-by-step guidance on how to use My CPD Record to record your learning activities. please view our guidance on using My CPD Record
What CPD guidance is available for retired members?
All members, including those who are retired, are expected to undertake continuing professional development to uphold the standards of professionalism and integrity as set out in the IOP’s Code of Conduct Section 4 – Professional Development.
These activities can take a variety of forms and are part of maintaining your knowledge and skills as a practising professional or volunteer. Examples of CPD activities include reading Physics World, journals and articles, listening to podcasts, attending webinars, volunteering, mentoring, tutoring, research, etc.
If you hold a registration please read our CPD guide for retired members who hold a professional registration.(PDF, 266KB).
For guidance on maintaining your CPD record for your Science Council registration, you can find more information on the Science Council website.
What format should I use for my CPD record?
We encourage you to use the IOP's My CPD Record. If you are not already logged in to IOPConnect, you will be prompted to. Once logged in, please select 'MY CPD Record' from the top menu. You can also use any format to record your CPD. A simple spreadsheet with activities presented in a chronological order would suffice. If you already record your CPD on another platform or template, you may continue to do so – we do not expect you to duplicate your work.
Regardless of the format, the following must be included for each activity:
- What CPD activity have you undertaken?
- Which learning category does your activity fall under?:
- Professional activity
- Self-directed learning
- Work-based learning
- Formal/educational
- Informal learning
- Activity start date
- Activity completion date, where applicable
- Activity status: ongoing, repeated or completed
- Reflective questions - professional registration holders are required to answer all four questions below
- Why did you choose this activity?
- What did you learn as a result of this activity?
- How did you and others benefit from you completing this activity?
- As a result of this activity, what are your next developmental steps?
If you have any questions or would like a copy of the Excel template, please contact [email protected].
What is reflective practice?
Reflective practice is an active method of considering your thoughts and actions. It is particularly useful for capturing learning from informal activities. It is a way of thinking meaningfully about activities and identifying progress, and turns your learning into CPD.
What are our reflective practice questions?
Reflective questions - professional registration holders are required to answer all four questions below
- Why did you choose this activity?
- What did you learn as a result of this activity?
- How did you and others benefit from you completing this activity?
- As a result of this activity, what are your next developmental steps?