CPD: Frequently Asked Questions

Members' and employers' most frequently asked questions on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are collected below.

You can also find STEP's full CPD Policy, guidelines, explanatory video and other resources here

Do I need to do CPD?

All members are required to carry out CPD as a condition of their STEP membership, proving that they are maintaining their competence to practice.

You may be more familiar with other terms for updating a professional's knowledge and skills, such as Continuing Professional Education (CPE), Continued Legal Education (CLE), Continuous Education (CE) etc.

You can tailor your CPD requirement to your current circumstances. For example, a member that is fully-retired and not in receipt of payment for advice does not need to carry out any CPD. A member on long-term leave should consider how to maintain their knowledge, so they are ready to return to work. Someone on maternity leave does not need to be undertaking CPD while on leave but does need to ensure they are competent to practice on return to work and to meet client expectations.

What is the CPD requirement? How many hours of CPD do I need to do?

STEP's CPD Policy is designed so that members can tailor their CPD to meet their and their employer’s professional needs.

There is therefore no ‘hours’ or ‘points’ requirement but members are required to ensure that their CPD meets the needs as identified against the responsibilities of their professional role and to meet the reasonable expectations of their stakeholders.

One requirement that all members need to comply with is to complete one CPD activity that relates to ethics per year. 

You can see more on how to plan CPD on the CPD Policy webpage.

Do I need to submit my CPD record to STEP every year?

STEP conducts an annual review of members' CPD records, selected at random. STEP's Code of Professional Conduct only specifies that members must be prepared to submit a record on request (see sections 13.1 and 14) and at any time of the year.

What counts as CPD? Does it have to be accredited by STEP?

Any activity that enhances your skills and knowledge counts as CPD and there is no need for STEP accreditation. You can also count any CPD that you do for a regulator or another professional body towards your STEP CPD.

Members often carry out CPD activities without realising that they count as CPD. The following list gives a broad overview of the kinds of activities that count as CPD:

• Formal qualifications
• Conferences, seminars, branch meetings from any provider of technical information
• Training colleagues on technical issues
• Mentoring
• Work shadowing
• Preparing technical presentations, either for in-house briefings or an external event
• Independent research into a new technical issue
• Reading trade publications, websites, blogs written by leaders in the field and following thought leaders on social media

Do I need to keep my STEP CPD record in a specific format?

STEP members often report to multiple organisations and in recognition of that, STEP accepts CPD records in any format that members need to keep them. If you are selected for CPD review, you would be asked to submit your record and a STEP CPD Cover sheet, which collects brief details to help STEP's CPD reviewers to assess records.

Does STEP offer online CPD recording tools or forms?

Yes: please see the CPD Resources Centre for a CPD Recording tool (CiCPD). Using STEP's recording tool is not compulsory, but members and employers have reported that it is useful for annual performance reviews and CPD planning.

STEP also has an interactive CPD Record form

Does STEP offer any online CPD resources?

STEP offers the following via this website, free to members. Please note that your access depends on your membership type:

• STEP Journal Archive
• Trust Quarterly Review Archive
• STEP Discussion Forums
• Webinar Archive
• Special Interest Groups
• CPD Planning Tool
• CPD Recording Tool

What happens during the annual CPD review?

When carrying out a CPD review, STEP selects members at random and requests their records, providing details of how to send them. Reviewers then look for a CPD plan, a record of CPD activities undertaken and the member's comments on which CPD activities were the most effective for their own situation. STEP requires a CPD Record Cover Sheet to be included with the record which provides space to add that information in brief. STEP recognises that different organisations may use different record formats, or keep records that cover different time periods. If STEP requests your CPD records it should be the most recent within reason and covering a 12 month period.

If you have been contacted regarding the CPD review and can't submit a record for any reason, please contact cpd@step.org as early as possible to discuss the situation.

Has this event/activity been accredited by a regulator or another professional body?

Event organisers sometimes apply for accreditation by local regulators and professional bodies. Where accreditation has been confirmed, details can be found on the STEP calendar, or on any event information that the organisers have circulated. If you feel there is demand for a specific accreditation, please contact the organisers, or if you aren't sure of who arranged an event, contact cpd@step.org

Can STEP issue a certificate of attendance for an event?

If you need a certificate, please check the events calendar to see whether the event was organised by a STEP branch, or by STEP Worldwide and then contact the following:

• For national and international conferences run by STEP Worldwide, please contact conferences@step.org
• For local branch and chapter events, please contact the relevant branch.

If there are no contact details on the event listing, you can find a list of branches here.

If you can't find the event or organisers, please contact cpd@step.org with as many details as you can remember.

Can STEP issue a CPD certificate for a qualification that I have completed?

You should automatically receive a certificate on successful completion of a STEP course, from any of STEP's worldwide training partners. If you have lost your copy, please contact pd@step.org with your course details for assistance.

If you need more detail than appears on your certificate, for example for a regulator or university accreditation, please contact pd@step.org.