I work for a solicitors and I put together seminars and events and we attract delegates from a cross section of disciplines (e.g HR people, Surveyors, Health service workers, bankers etc). I would like to offer CPD points for some of these events but as our events are not accredited I don't think I can do this. Reading the requirements of our own Solicitors Regulation Authority it seems we can apply to run accredited events for other solicitors but what about the delegates from other backgrounds? Googling CPD throws up a loads of irrelevant information relating to different occupations and different professional bodies. So does anyone know of a place where I can get some simple, sound advice on CPD, preferably not from a company who wants to charge me a fortune for accrediting my events?
3 Responses
CPD
Toby
Each professional body works a little differently. Whilst the broad principle of CPD is fairly universal, what counts as accredited CPD does vary. In short, you might be best sticking with the Law Society and lettting those from other professions worry about whether the events count as CPD for them.
If you offer a lot of CPD, it might be worth a conversation with the CPD Institute – http://www.cpdinstitute.org – they won’t charge you for basic advice, and you may find it worthwhile joining.
Hope that helps
Graham
CPD Accreditation
Yes, you’re correct, as a law firm – as my firm is – you can be accredited to offer courses to other law firms, which will be eiligible for CPD points under the SRA scheme.
And unfortunately, you’re also correct – having undertaken similar reseach in the past myself – that most of the other “accrediting bodies” are looking to charge you for their activity.
I would have thought that given you are a law firm and that providing the training you were offering others was in related topics, then it would be worth finding out if the CPD bodies for your client organisations would actually accept SRA CPD accreditation as a proxy for their own.
Then you would only have to work with the SRA the once to get your own training function accredited.
Tim
CPD systems
Hi
By way of a different model, some institutes, eg ICAEW, require their members to assess the development gained from sessions they’ve attended, provided by practically anyone. They do this based on what they need to develop for their role, and how the development activity (course, elearning, reading) has contributed to this, irrespective of the time spent – there are only target hours for very specific specialist roles. Some professional bodies require a certificate as proof of attendance – not something I’ve often done, but useful to have a template ready to go for those who want it. Of course, bodily attendance doesn’t guarantee learning, but that’s another discussion!
Sue