Simple guide to CPD for Students

This article aims to provide a simple introduction to CPD for students. Whether you are an individual deciding upon what industry to enter or are already studying for a specific profession, there are a wide range of learning opportunities available to help you develop your skills. In this article, we have provided an overview of CPD for students and have highlighted some of the different avenues you can potentially go down when looking at CPD courses to take.

An Overview of CPD for Students

Continuing Professional Development (or CPD) allows an individual to maintain and improve their professional and workplace capabilities. CPD is an ongoing requirement in many industries, and completing CPD training courses and events that are relevant to your chosen career shows that you can meet the professional requirements of your role and improve your abilities within your industry. Even if you have not decided on the exact career path you would like to follow, completing CPD training can often create transferable skills that can be implemented within most professions.

Although as a student you are not required to log and complete regular CPD training, it is still worth considering as part of developing your skillsets ready for your future career. Keeping a log of the learning that you have participated in can help to strengthen your CV and could help to give you an edge over other candidates that have not done the same.

Some industry bodies do encourage students to take part in CPD training prior to entering the field. For example, the HCPC encourage students looking to enter the healthcare industry to start participating in CPD courses while you are studying. They explain that it will help you to become well versed in some of the skills and knowledge needed when entering the profession.

What does Continuing Professional Development (CPD) involve?

CPD can be described as ‘the range of learning activities through which a professional can grow and develop throughout their careers’. For CPD to be effective, it must develop and maintain personal and professional capabilities, skills, knowledge, best practice and procedures. You should think about any gaps in your knowledge or skills that will help in your career development. This is to ensure that you are building upon the foundation of your existing abilities for the organisation and industry you intend to work within.

Examples of different types of CPD includes attending short courses, workshops and seminars, conferences, events, as well as completing online and eLearning courses.

How to record your Continuing Professional Development

Most CPD learning is kept and managed on a simple individual record or log. Keeping a record of the training you undertake is important in providing evidence of your ongoing learning and also for your own reflection. An individuals CPD record will often contain the dates of when the CPD was undertaken, how long the activity took, a short reflection on what was learnt and how it can be put into practice, as well as a copy of any certificates you have received for attending or completing the training activity.

The process of recording and reflecting is important to manage your ongoing CPD effectively. The myCPD Portal is a free CPD record tool that can help professionals to log Continuing Professional Development training in one simple place, set annual CPD targets, store CPD certificates of attendance, and track learning progress throughout the year.

What are CPD points, units and credits?

CPD is managed typically by using hours or points. It is considered that CPD points and hours relate to the same thing, which is the actual time spent for a delegate to be learning something relevant for their Continuing Professional Development objectives. A great example of this would be 1-day CPD accredited training course. If the training starts at 9 am and ends at 5 pm, with a 1-hour break for lunch, the CPD Hours would be 7 CPD Hours. If CPD points are used instead of hours, there is typically a 1:1 ratio. By this, it is meant that typically 1 CPD point equals 1 CPD Hour.

How to find CPD courses

We hope this brief overview article was helpful. If you are looking to find relevant CPD to support your professional development, you can find a full range of CPD accredited training courses, workshops, conferences, webinars and educational events in the CPD Courses Catalogue. Alternatively if you are looking for more articles to read on different subjects please go to the CPD articles and news section of the website.