Requirements · HCPC
HCPC CPD requirements and the audit, explained
The HCPC doesn't set CPD hours or points. It sets five standards: keep a continuous, up-to-date record of your CPD, do a mix of learning activities, and make sure your CPD improves your practice and benefits the people who use your services. If you're chosen for audit, you send a written CPD profile. The HCPC chooses 2.5% of each profession at random every time that profession renews, and the profile must be your own work.
2.5%
of each profession audited at renewal
5
CPD standards; no hours or points
2 yrs
between renewals
~3 months
to send your profile if chosen
The standards
The five HCPC standards for CPD
1
Keep a record
A continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of your CPD activities.
2
Do a mix
A mix of learning activities relevant to your current or future practice.
3
Improve your practice
Aim for your CPD to improve the quality of your practice and the service you deliver.
4
Benefit service users
Aim for your CPD to benefit the people who use your services.
5
Send a profile if asked
If you're chosen, a written CPD profile in your own words, backed by evidence.
The audit
How the HCPC CPD audit works
Sources: HCPC CPD audits · Being selected for audit · Our CPD requirements
Who's chosen
2.5% of each profession, at random, at the start of that profession's renewal window. Only people registered for two years or more.
How you find out
By email, and in your HCPC online account.
How long you have
About three months to send your profile.
What you send
A summary of your practice (up to 500 words); a dated list of your CPD since you last renewed, explaining any gap of three months or more; a personal statement (up to 1,500 words), usually built around 4–6 activities; and supporting evidence.
What happens next
Trained assessors review it, at least one from your profession. Expect 8–12 weeks. If they ask for more information, you have 21 days. You stay registered while it's assessed.
If it doesn't meet the standards
You can respond, or ask for a reassessment. Removal from the Register is possible, with a right of appeal. Not sending a profile at all can also lead to removal.
Renewals
When each profession renews
Each window runs for three months before the deadline, and the audit sample is chosen at the start of the window.
| Profession | Renewal deadline |
|---|---|
| Operating department practitioners | 30 Nov 2026 |
| Practitioner psychologists | 31 May 2027 |
| Orthoptists; paramedics | 31 Aug 2027 |
| Clinical scientists; prosthetists/orthotists; speech and language therapists | 30 Sep 2027 |
| Occupational therapists | 31 Oct 2027 |
| Biomedical scientists | 30 Nov 2027 |
| Radiographers | 29 Feb 2028 |
| Physiotherapists | 30 Apr 2028 |
| Arts therapists | 31 May 2028 |
| Dietitians | 30 Jun 2028 |
| Chiropodists/podiatrists; hearing aid dispensers | 31 Jul 2028 |
Source: HCPC, when to renew
How many people pass? Most do. Of 832 occupational therapists audited in 2021–23, 74.5% had their profiles accepted first time and 18.5% deferred. A small number didn't renew or came off the register (HCPC audit statistics).Own work
Your profile must be your own work
The HCPC says a profile written by someone else, or containing text from other people's profiles, doesn't meet the standard, and suspected plagiarism is investigated as a fitness-to-practise matter. Templates are fine; borrowed text isn't. That applies to AI-written text too.
RiverCPD for HCPC professions
In build. Join the list and you'll be first in.
The HCPC doesn't endorse any CPD tool, and no tool guarantees success at audit. RiverCPD is built around the HCPC standards: your record kept continuously, the mix of your activities visible, and a coach that asks the questions the audit asks. You write every word.