Recording your CPD

Why record CPD?

Your CPD records are an excellent way to demonstrate that your knowledge and skills are up-to-date. It doesn’t have to be too onerous to keep records – if you regularly record your CPD activities as you do them, it’s a straightforward process.

Recording CPD is important and beneficial in a number of ways:

• To aid reviewing and reflection; 
• To remind yourself what you have learnt;
• To provide information for potential employers, e.g. to help build an extended CV;
• For appraisals and promotion boards;
• For regulatory requirements; 
• To provide evidence when proving competence, such as when applying for professional registration. 

Record and reflect on your CPD activities

Keep a record of your CPD activities and after each activity, reflect on what you have gained – the knowledge you have absorbed, the skills you have developed and how it has influenced your attitude and approach. Talking to your manager or mentor can help with this as the questions they as will prompt you to see your learning objectively.

The importance of reflection

People who reflect on their learning retain more information and are more efficient at applying it to improve their performance. Reflection is especially important if you want to get the best results from planned development activities.

Some questions to consider:

• What were the key points that you remember and were relevant to you?
• Did the activity go as planned - and if not, why not?
• How could you have done it differently or better? 
• How will you change what you do or how you behave as a result of this activity?
• Did it meet your needs?
• How did the activity fit with your learning style - was it right for you or should you try something different next time?
• Do you feel you have learned enough, or is there more you want to find out?
• What follow-up actions do you need to take?

Sharing reflection with others who have experienced the same or a similar activity can also provide valuable insights into how different perspectives affect our learning.

Recording CPD when using competences

• Map competence to CPD activities

Decide which competence each CPD activity is linked to. As your CPD leads to increased and improved performance (competence) you can record your new level and chart your progress.

• Collect evidence of competence 

Make sure evidence is cross-referenced and indexed so you can easily find each piece should you need it. Keep a portfolio of evidence and update it with new evidence as you develop your competence and you will always have an excellent record of your abilities.

For more information, see our guidance for using competence frameworks for CPD.

Attributing hours to CPD activities

The CPD hours you record against each activity should reflect the amount of learning that directly contributes to CPD that is relevant to you.

Verification of CPD activities and CPD hours

If you have previously undertaken Initial Professional Development (IPD) when working towards professional registration (CEng, IEng, EngTech or ICTTech) you will have likely collected evidence of competence and regularly had this verified.

Verification means that evidence of your professional development has been checked and signed off by someone else – usually a line manager or mentor who is familiar with your work and holds an appropriate level of responsibility within your organisation. This is important when undertaking IPD for professional registration as it not only helps to keep you on track but it can also help you to identify a supporter when you are ready to apply. When undertaking CPD, you may choose to continue the practice of evidence collection and verification for your own records but it is not required by the IET.

For CPD, the IET considers evidence of a CPD record, including the setting of development objectives, a log of activities undertaken and a reflective statement for each activity detailing the impact upon your development, sufficient to demonstrate your commitment to CPD.

The IET does not require additional evidence such as course attendance certificates (although you should keep these for your own records) and it is not necessary for someone to verify the CPD hours recorded against your CPD activities.

How can the IET help me record my CPD?

Career Manager online professional development recording tool

Update your planned objectives and actions and record your CPD activities online. You can also extract a report of your CPD activities to share with your manager or mentor (coming soon!).