No, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses in the UK are not typically “accredited” in the same formal sense as university degrees. Instead, CPD is often “certified” or “approved” by independent, specialist bodies or professional membership organisations. This signifies the training meets a quality standard for educational structure and content relevance to a specific industry, ensuring it provides genuine professional value.
Understanding the UK CPD Landscape #
In the United Kingdom, the system for Continuing Professional Development is deliberately decentralised, reflecting the vast range of professional sectors it covers, from construction and law to finance and healthcare. Consequently, the term “accreditation” can be highly misleading when applied to CPD. It is crucial to understand the distinction between formal, regulatory accreditation and the quality assurance processes applied to professional learning.
The Role of Regulatory and Professional Bodies #
Unlike universities, which are institutionally accredited by bodies like the Office for Students (OfS), CPD provision operates differently. Instead of a single, monolithic UK CPD accreditation body, various sector-specific organisations maintain quality control.
- Regulated Professions: For fields like engineering, medicine, and architecture, CPD requirements are often mandated and overseen by professional licensing bodies. For instance, the General Medical Council (GMC) for doctors or the Architects Registration Board (ARB) set clear standards and frequently require members to log their activities. In these cases, the professional body essentially “accredits” the requirement rather than the specific provider, though they may approve certain types of activities.
- Voluntary CPD Certification: The broader CPD market relies on third-party certification bodies, such as The CPD Certification Service, The CPD Standards Office, or various industry-specific institutes. These organisations review training materials to ensure they are educationally sound, up-to-date, and align with their established criteria. This “certification” or “approval” confirms the learning activity meets a benchmark quality, making the course valuable for professionals but does not constitute a formal, national qualification accreditation.
| Term | Scope of Oversight | Focus of Quality Assurance | Formal Status |
| Accreditation | University Degrees, Institutions, or Regulated Qualifications (e.g., Ofqual, OfS) | Institutional integrity, formal qualifications, degree-level standards. | Formal/Regulatory |
| Certification/Approval | Individual CPD Courses, Training Providers, and Events | Educational content, structure, relevance to professional practice, learning objectives. | Quality Mark/Industry Standard |
Facts and Data on CPD Engagement #
The sheer scale of CPD in the UK is significant, underpinning the professional health of the nation’s economy.
- Mandatory Requirements: The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), for example, registers over 350,000 professionals across 15 different professions, all of whom must meet regular CPD standards. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) requires its chartered members to complete 35 hours of CPD annually, 10 of which must address ‘Key Curriculum Topics’. This mandatory nature drives the market for quality-assured courses.
- Market Growth: Academic sources, such as market research reports on professional training, indicate that the UK CPD market continues to demonstrate robust growth, estimated to be worth billions of pounds. This growth is directly fuelled by the increasing complexity of regulatory environments and the demand for upskilling in technology and digital competence. Data suggests that training expenditure per employee has increased year-on-year in many high-skilled sectors as companies invest in maintaining regulatory compliance and competitive edge.
- The Certification Landscape: The CPD Certification Service, one of the UK’s leading independent bodies, has certified thousands of providers and hundreds of thousands of individual training courses across diverse sectors. This illustrates the fragmented, but quality-controlled, nature of the sector. The certification process typically includes checks on:
- Learning objectives and outcomes.
- The expertise of the course author/trainer.
- Structured assessment and feedback mechanisms.
Why Accreditation Misrepresents CPD #
The core difference lies in the outcome. Formal accreditation leads to a recognised qualification, like a degree or BTEC, which is transferable and universally understood. CPD, by contrast, focuses on maintaining or enhancing existing competence, not acquiring a new foundational qualification.
Therefore, a CPD course is evaluated for its practical utility and its contribution to an individual’s professional portfolio, not for its academic equivalency.
- Focus on Competence: CPD training must be able to demonstrate that it has led to measurable learning. In construction, for instance, a course on a new fire-stopping system must demonstrate how a specifier or installer is now competent to use that product in line with the latest Building Regulations (specifically Approved Document B).
- Provider Integrity: Manufacturers seeking to provide CPD often partner with organisations like FRAKT to ensure their content is not only technically correct but also structurally sound and free from excessive commercial bias, adhering to the high-integrity standards expected by specifiers. This third-party rigour effectively substitutes for formal accreditation by guaranteeing trustworthiness and relevance.
- The CPD Provider Standard: An organisation that successfully passes certification is recognised as a quality CPD provider. For example, a manufacturer’s technical seminar on a ventilation system might be certified to ensure that the content is accurate, non-promotional, and meets the structural criteria for a professional learning unit.
Our Perspective (FRAKT) #
We view CPD certification as a critical signalling mechanism in the professional ecosystem. It communicates intellectual rigour and commitment to non-biased education. For manufacturers, merely claiming a course is “accredited” is insufficient; they must actively demonstrate quality. We help manufacturers transform complex technical content into educationally compliant CPD. This is about establishing Integrity of Thought—ensuring that every technical explanation is evidence-driven and structured for maximum professional utility.
For a course to be truly effective in the UK built environment sector, it must align with the Future Alignment principle, anticipating shifts in standards, like the new building safety regime. A certified CPD course signals to an architect or specifier that the information is trustworthy, current, and directly applicable to their statutory duties. It’s an assurance of quality, not a certificate of academic achievement.
Structuring Effective CPD for Specifiers #
Architects and engineers engage with CPD content that is specifically designed to reduce cognitive load and provide immediate, actionable knowledge. The structure and quality certification are therefore paramount.
The RIBA CPD Core Curriculum #
The Royal Institute of British Architects provides a core curriculum outlining 10 mandatory topics that members must address. A certified CPD course often maps directly to one or more of these areas, enhancing its perceived value.
- Compliance: Regulatory issues, health and safety, building codes.
- Design, Construction, and Technology: Innovation and technical advancements.
- Context: Planning, conservation, and sustainability.
- Climate: Sustainable design, energy, and resource management.
- Access: Inclusive design and accessibility.
Providers must ensure their content is meticulously structured to address these areas credibly, which is where external certification provides a valuable stamp of quality.
Key Differences: Accreditation vs. Professional Certification #
| Feature | Formal Accreditation (e.g., University) | Professional Certification (e.g., CPD Service) |
| Governing Body | Government-recognised agencies (OfS, Ofqual) | Independent commercial or professional bodies |
| Legal Standing | Leads to legally recognised academic qualifications | Recognises adherence to a quality-assured standard |
| Duration/Format | Long-term, structured academic programmes (years) | Short-term, focused learning modules, seminars, e-learning |
| Primary Goal | Attaining a new knowledge foundation and qualification | Maintaining/enhancing existing professional competency and skills |
In summary, when discussing CPD courses in the UK, professionals should seek certification or approval from a relevant body, which acts as the benchmark for quality and relevance within the industry.
To ensure your professional development is recognised and valuable, always verify that your CPD provider has secured certification or approval from a reputable, industry-aligned body.
