What Is CPD Evidence and Why Is It Important?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is about maintaining, improving and developing the knowledge and skills that people need throughout their working lives. However, undertaking professional development is only part of the process. In many situations, it is also useful to be able to demonstrate what learning has taken place.

This is where CPD evidence becomes important.

CPD evidence can provide a record of the learning or development activity an individual has completed. For training providers, good evidence and record keeping can also help demonstrate that a course has a clear purpose, defined learning outcomes and an appropriate method of confirming participation or achievement.

Evidence does not have to mean excessive paperwork. What is appropriate will depend on the type of CPD activity, how it is delivered and what the learner is expected to achieve.

For organisations providing training, understanding CPD evidence can help them develop courses that are easier to manage, review and demonstrate to learners, employers and other interested parties.

What does CPD evidence mean?

CPD evidence is information or documentation that helps demonstrate that a professional learning or development activity has taken place.

The evidence available will vary considerably depending on the activity.

For a classroom course, for example, evidence might include an attendance record, course materials and a certificate. An online course might generate electronic completion records and assessment results. Other types of professional development could involve reflective records, practical activities, workplace observations or evidence of completed work.

For a training provider, evidence can also relate to the structure and quality of the course itself. This could include learning objectives, lesson or course materials, assessment methods and information explaining how learners successfully complete the activity.

The important principle is that the evidence should relate meaningfully to the learning that has taken place.

Why is evidence of CPD useful?

People undertake CPD for many different reasons.

Some people use CPD to maintain their professional knowledge. Others may need to develop new skills as their job changes, undertake training requested by an employer or maintain records for a professional organisation.

Being able to provide evidence creates a useful record of that development.

For the learner, it can provide a history of the courses and activities they have completed. For an employer, appropriate records can help demonstrate the training provided to staff. For the training provider, records can help show who completed a course, when it was completed and, where applicable, whether an assessment was successfully passed.

Evidence can therefore benefit everyone involved in the learning process.

It also helps distinguish genuine professional development from simply claiming that learning has taken place.

What can be used as CPD evidence?

There is no single form of evidence that will be appropriate for every CPD activity.

Depending on the type of training, useful evidence might include:

• certificates of attendance or completion
• course attendance records
• assessment or quiz results
• records from an online learning system
• completed assignments or practical activities
• reflective learning records
• workplace observations
• course learning outcomes
• training materials and presentations
• learner feedback
• records of course completion

The evidence used should make sense for the particular learning activity.

For example, a short informational seminar may not require the same level of assessment evidence as a structured course designed to develop a particular skill or area of professional competence.

Training providers should therefore think about evidence in relation to what their course is actually intended to achieve rather than simply collecting documentation for its own sake.

Is a CPD certificate enough?

A certificate can be an important piece of CPD evidence, but the certificate itself should not be confused with the learning activity behind it.

A professionally presented certificate can record that somebody attended or completed a particular course. It might include information such as the learner’s name, course title, completion date and the organisation providing the training.

However, the value of the certificate ultimately depends upon the learning activity it represents.

Training providers should therefore consider what sits behind the certificate.

Does the course have clearly defined learning objectives? Is the content appropriate for those objectives? Is there a clear method of establishing that the learner completed the course? If an assessment is necessary, is that assessment appropriate to the learning being delivered?

These questions are more important than the appearance of the certificate alone.

A certificate should be the record of a learning activity, rather than the learning activity existing simply to produce a certificate.

Why are learning outcomes important?

Clear learning outcomes help explain what a learner should know, understand or be able to do as a result of completing a course.

They also provide a useful foundation for deciding what evidence may be appropriate.

If a course is intended primarily to improve knowledge, for example, a suitable knowledge assessment might help demonstrate that the learner has understood the material.

If the learning involves practical skills, other forms of evidence may be more appropriate.

Learning outcomes can also make a course clearer for learners. They provide an indication of what the training is intended to achieve and help training providers keep course content focused on its intended purpose.

For organisations considering external recognition of their training, clearly defined learning outcomes are also an important part of presenting a structured course for review.

Our guide to what makes a course CPD compliant explains some of the wider considerations involved in developing CPD activities.

Why does CPD evidence matter to training providers?

Training providers have an interest in demonstrating that their courses represent meaningful professional development.

This becomes particularly relevant when an organisation wants its training independently reviewed or accredited rather than relying solely upon its own description of the course.

A provider should be able to explain what the course is intended to achieve, how it is delivered and how completion or learning is evidenced where appropriate.

Good course documentation also makes future management easier.

If a course is updated, there is a clear starting point from which changes can be recorded. If learning outcomes change, course materials and assessment methods can be reviewed to make sure they remain appropriate.

This creates a more systematic approach to developing and maintaining professional training.

You can read more about the independent review process on our How CPD Accreditation Works page.

What records should training providers keep?

There is no single record-keeping system suitable for every training provider.

A small provider delivering occasional classroom training may need a very different system from an organisation delivering hundreds of online courses.

However, providers may find it useful to maintain appropriate records relating to:

• the current version of course materials
• learning objectives and outcomes
• assessment materials where applicable
• attendance or completion information
• certificates issued
• course updates and revisions
• relevant learner feedback

The important point is that records should be proportionate and useful.

Keeping obsolete versions of documents mixed with current materials, for example, can create unnecessary confusion. A simple version-control system can help identify which course materials are currently being delivered.

Providers should also consider their responsibilities when retaining personal information about learners and ensure that records are managed appropriately.

Does all CPD need an assessment?

Not necessarily.

CPD can take many forms, and an assessment will not automatically be appropriate for every activity.

A seminar, conference, workshop, structured course and practical learning activity may all have different objectives and different ways of demonstrating participation or learning.

Where assessment is used, it should have a genuine purpose.

For example, if a course claims that learners will acquire particular knowledge, an appropriate assessment may provide useful evidence that the learning has been understood.

The important consideration is whether the method used is suitable for the learning activity rather than adding an assessment simply so that one exists.

How does CPD accreditation relate to evidence?

CPD accreditation provides training providers with an opportunity to have a learning activity independently reviewed against defined requirements.

The accreditation process does not replace the provider’s responsibility for developing and delivering suitable training. Nor does accreditation mean that every CPD activity must be designed in exactly the same way.

Instead, an independent review can consider the structure and purpose of the learning activity and the supporting information provided by the training organisation.

This is one reason good documentation is useful. A provider seeking accreditation needs to be able to present sufficient information for the course to be properly reviewed.

Training organisations considering accreditation can read our step-by-step guide explaining how to get CPD accreditation.

Providers considering the financial side can also see our current CPD accreditation cost information before deciding whether to apply.

Can CPD evidence be kept digitally?

Yes. Many training organisations now maintain some or all of their course and learner records electronically.

Online learning platforms may automatically record information such as enrolment, course progress, completion dates and assessment results.

Other providers may use their own electronic systems to maintain attendance records, certificates and course documentation.

The important consideration is not whether the evidence is stored on paper or electronically, but whether it provides an appropriate and reliable record.

Training providers should also consider how records are protected, retained and accessed, particularly where they contain personal information about learners.

Evidence should be proportionate to the learning

It is possible to make CPD administration unnecessarily complicated.

A short learning activity does not necessarily need a large collection of forms and records simply to demonstrate that it took place.

Equally, a substantial structured course may reasonably require considerably more evidence than a brief seminar or presentation.

A proportionate approach considers the nature of the activity, its learning outcomes and what the provider claims successful completion represents.

This keeps the focus on meaningful professional development rather than creating paperwork purely for administrative purposes.

Building credible CPD

Good CPD should ultimately be about learning and professional development.

Certificates, attendance records, assessments and other forms of evidence help document that process, but they are most useful when they support a properly structured learning activity with a clear purpose.

For training providers, considering evidence while developing a course can make the training easier to manage and review. Clear learning outcomes can establish what the course is intended to achieve, while appropriate records can demonstrate participation, completion or achievement.

Where a provider wants its training independently recognised, CPD accreditation can form part of that wider approach to demonstrating the structure and purpose of its professional development activities.