Our scheme is designed to put CPD in your hands. You use your professional judgement to assess what activities you should be doing to meet your personal development goals. To minimise repetition, we will accept your CPD records for other professional bodies where relevant to your CPD needs. The ACT’s CPD scheme follows a three-stage cycle:
Think about any skills you might be missing – both technically and personally. Then plan how to fill in the gaps, with a CPD activity programme. If you’re unsure which CPD activity you need, make a note of your current role and aims and ask yourself the following questions:
There are a number of activities that count towards your CPD and help fill in your skills gaps, including:
Think about how much your activities have helped you progress towards your goals. Have you achieved everything you set out to? Remember to update your CPD record with everything you’ve learnt and experienced. Make sure you record anything new, including anything you’ve learnt on an informal basis, or any key outcomes.
You need to be logged into your membership online account to access your log.
You can submit your CPD record in your own format, if you wish.
If you are employed by an ACT Accredited Employer, your CPD requirements will be met through your organisation’s own development programme.
We accept CPD records from other professional bodies, where relevant to your role.
With our CPD scheme, there is no set amount of hours or points to complete. We don’t look at the number of courses you’ve attended. Instead, you judge for yourself how much time should be dedicated to your CPD activities.
Keep a diary note of what you have done and then record your objectives and activities on a regular basis. This will enable you to capture what you have done in an easy and timely format. Some members spent a short amount of time every month – either on their way to or from work – looking at and recording CPD and this helped to ensure there was no end of year panic when they were asked to submit their record.
People learn in different ways and the ACT’s CPD scheme is designed to be as flexible as possible. We do not have a structured or unstructured CPD – members may stay up to date with developments by:
Use as many different resources as possible
We recommend you include a wide range of development resources in your CPD record to demonstrate a rounded approach to your personal development. You can complete your CPD in a variety of ways – including:
This may mean stepping out of your comfort zone but different approaches can be very useful. Don’t forget about spontaneous learning – record any conversations, spontaneous or ad-hoc learning and how they are relevant to your objectives. Recognising spontaneous learning will help decrease the feeling of ‘extra work’ when it comes to CPD.
The CPD year runs from 1 May to 30 April. Each year, along with your membership renewal, you will be asked to complete a declaration. The declaration is simply confirmation that you have considered your development needs, undertaken appropriate activity and assessed the extent to which your CPD objectives have been met.
Active FCT and AMCT members should complete CPD. Career break/unemployed/maternity leave and retired members undertaking professional roles (such as trustees or directors) should still complete a CPD declaration. The amount of CPD will depend on your circumstances and your CPD needs may simply involve keeping in touch and maintaining knowledge. Other members, eg corporate representatives or student members, do not need to complete CPD.
Each year, we will ask a random sample of members to provide evidence to support their CPD activity for the year. If you’re selected, you will need to show how you have worked through the CPD three-stage cycle. How you record your activity is up to you. Whatever method you choose, it’s good to keep your records for a minimum of three years – along with any supporting evidence.
Ensure your CPD reflects your role or future aspirations.
Plan where you want to go and how to get there so that your development aligns with your aspirations. Setting objectives that are SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely can help give you direction and focus.
Document how you have achieved your goals and ensure you reflect on how you have learnt and whether there are different mechanisms that would work for you. By making the development need specific you will be able to focus on the things that matter to you. Try not to choose too many objectives – we would recommend between 5-8 objectives - but to be focussed on the ones you want to achieve.
Ensure you are clear about what you want to achieve so that you can record and analyse what you have done easily. Specific and measurable objectives are easier to understand and therefore will help you to reach your goal.