Your requirements for Continuing Professional Development in the UK and how to meet them

All social workers are aware they need to continue to develop their skills throughout their career to keep up to date with the latest policy and practice, ensuring they can work safely, legally, and effectively. It is every social worker’s personal and professional responsibility to pursue learning activities to ensure that they have the relevant skills, knowledge, and understanding to do their job effectively. They should be supported by their employer to ensure they have protected time for supervision and learning.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a registration requirement for every social worker to make sure they continue to be aware of changes in practice and research and actively incorporate this new knowledge into daily work.

New Changes
The new profession-specific regulator for England, Social Work England, has introduced changes to the CPD evidencing procedures.

What if I’m audited?
Social Work England will continue to conduct audits for randomly selected registrants to ensure that the CPD they have completed meets the new standards. Throughout the year, social workers are expected to maintain an online account, in which they will be asked to record evidence of their learning. An audit on a social worker’s CPD account will assess the level of evidence recorded, and could ask for further information if it is considered to be below expected standards. The new online accounts will guide social workers through the new system for logging their professional development.

Requirements in Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) ensures that all social workers meet minimum training and learning standards. They require all registrants to complete 90 hours of Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) during each registration period.

Requirements in Scotland
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is responsible for registering the social work and social care workforce. Social workers are required to have undertaken 15 days (90 hours) of PRTL within the registration period, while Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) are required to undertake 24 days (144 hours).

Requirements in Wales
Training and learning is a requirement for all registered practitioners. Registrants have to complete 15 days (90 hours) of training and learning during each three-year period of registration, which must be recorded in your Social Care Wales online account.