CPD accredited

[Alexmorgan]

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to ask something. I’ve seen a lot of online courses that say they are CPD accredited, but it’s not always clear who actually approved them.


I work with MedicPro International Academy and I’m trying to learn how to tell which courses are really accredited and worth trusting.


If anyone has tips or things they look for when choosing CPD courses, I’d really appreciate it!

 

[Steph]

Hi Alex, that's an interesting one!
I think the answer will be more complicated though, because it will be largely dependent on location and the choice of accreditation provider. So, I'm pretty sure that you will need to contact the training provider directly and ask the about their own certification process, unless they state the source openly on their website or documents. I hope someone can tell me an easier way!
My yardstick is client feedback and reviews - and if you are happy with a provider, stick with them!

 

[Alexmorgan]

Thanks for the reply! You're right — I figured it might depend on the provider and region, which makes it trickier to compare.

I'm mainly looking into UK-based providers and trying to understand how legit their CPD certification is — some mention accreditation but don’t clarify the source.

I’ll definitely reach out to a few directly like you suggested. Appreciate the tip about client feedback too — I’ll start digging into reviews more seriously.

If I find a clearer process, I’ll share it here in case it helps others too!

 

[Steph]

Thanks for the reply! You're right — I figured it might depend on the provider and region, which makes it trickier to compare.

I'm mainly looking into UK-based providers and trying to understand how legit their CPD certification is — some mention accreditation but don’t clarify the source.

I’ll definitely reach out to a few directly like you suggested. Appreciate the tip about client feedback too — I’ll start digging into reviews more seriously.

If I find a clearer process, I’ll share it here in case it helps others too!

Alex, thank you! The more we share, the better it becomes!

 

[Alexmorgan]

Alex, thank you! The more we share, the better it becomes!

Thank you so much for sharing a process with me.

 

[Cathy Gladwin]

Hi @Alexmorgan and @Steph - sorry I'm late to the chat! Great to see these thoughts being shared.
I can share that I've worked with two CPD accreditation bodies, I won't name names, but one charged a fortune and despite taking very long to give a thumbs up to recognising x hours per course as CPD, there was no evidence they looked at the content - no questions asked etc. The other, was very cheap to use and issued their CPD approval instantly with definitely no review conducted. Since CPD is a very flexible concept, my experience and intuition leads me to belive that such recognition by an external party isn't particularly meaningful. Our team have their own CPD logs and can document any and all learning as contributing to their own professional development, even when it involves watching a youtube video. Now I say that even while having our STC courses CPD accredited nevertheless, I know that (as Steph stated), our course attendees keep coming back as they're getting excellent value from our training. If anyone has any further insight to defend independent CPD accreditation, please do feel free to comment of course!

Moving beyond CPD accreditation, the broader topic of accreditation is very interesting and we have a discussion on our FAQ page here.
I'm going to copy the content so it's not missed from this thread.

Are your courses accredited?
Great question!

Firstly we need to explore what accreditation means; “if something has accreditation, it is officially accepted as being of a particular standard”, (Definition of accreditation from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
Let’s look at the BRCGS, our STC and CIEH qualifications:

• BRCGS: No, however it is accepted that BRCGS courses are developed by industry experts and BRCGS are the owners of the various standards. In addition, only BRCGS Approved training partners (ATP’s) can deliver these courses; you can checkout our ATP profiles here.
• STC: Yes, the courses are CPD accredited. There are a variety of accrediting bodies and CPD accreditation is simply a recognition of continued professional development, particularly relevant to industry. STC qualifications are accepted by local authorities, certification bodies (to approve lead auditors for example), by BRCGS when approving applications for BRCGS professional recognition etc.
• STC is also an approved CIEH training centre. CIEH themselves abandoned Ofqual accreditation back in 2016 as the burden vs benefits were simply not evident.
• While Ofqual is well respected, it is the course specification (the agenda, the hours and objectives for example) which is assessed rather than the actual course content. STC develop our own qualifications using industry experts to create up to date and value adding content with sensible exams as the final assessment.
• It’s worth noting that most Ofqual exam based qualifications require intense invigilation processes, requiring scheduling and two cameras for closed book exams for example. In the practical world of today, where qualifications can be attained in an efficient way through remote attendance, such onerous requirements are excessively difficult to manage for both the trainers and the attendees. Our chosen qualifications (BRCGS, STC & CIEH) can be practically delivered, with exams assessed simply and with integrity, online and via Zoom.
• All the courses we deliver certainly meet the true definition of the word ACCREDITED and between BRCGS, STC and CIEH courses, we bring you a fantastic choice

 

[Alexmorgan]

Hi @Alexmorgan and @Steph - sorry I'm late to the chat! Great to see these thoughts being shared.
I can share that I've worked with two CPD accreditation bodies, I won't name names, but one charged a fortune and despite taking very long to give a thumbs up to recognising x hours per course as CPD, there was no evidence they looked at the content - no questions asked etc. The other, was very cheap to use and issued their CPD approval instantly with definitely no review conducted. Since CPD is a very flexible concept, my experience and intuition leads me to belive that such recognition by an external party isn't particularly meaningful. Our team have their own CPD logs and can document any and all learning as contributing to their own professional development, even when it involves watching a youtube video. Now I say that even while having our STC courses CPD accredited nevertheless, I know that (as Steph stated), our course attendees keep coming back as they're getting excellent value from our training. If anyone has any further insight to defend independent CPD accreditation, please do feel free to comment of course!

Moving beyond CPD accreditation, the broader topic of accreditation is very interesting and we have a discussion on our FAQ page here.
I'm going to copy the content so it's not missed from this thread.

Are your courses accredited?
Great question!

Firstly we need to explore what accreditation means; “if something has accreditation, it is officially accepted as being of a particular standard”, (Definition of accreditation from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
Let’s look at the BRCGS, our STC and CIEH qualifications:

• BRCGS: No, however it is accepted that BRCGS courses are developed by industry experts and BRCGS are the owners of the various standards. In addition, only BRCGS Approved training partners (ATP’s) can deliver these courses; you can checkout our ATP profiles here.
• STC: Yes, the courses are CPD accredited. There are a variety of accrediting bodies and CPD accreditation is simply a recognition of continued professional development, particularly relevant to industry. STC qualifications are accepted by local authorities, certification bodies (to approve lead auditors for example), by BRCGS when approving applications for BRCGS professional recognition etc.
• STC is also an approved CIEH training centre. CIEH themselves abandoned Ofqual accreditation back in 2016 as the burden vs benefits were simply not evident.
• While Ofqual is well respected, it is the course specification (the agenda, the hours and objectives for example) which is assessed rather than the actual course content. STC develop our own qualifications using industry experts to create up to date and value adding content with sensible exams as the final assessment.
• It’s worth noting that most Ofqual exam based qualifications require intense invigilation processes, requiring scheduling and two cameras for closed book exams for example. In the practical world of today, where qualifications can be attained in an efficient way through remote attendance, such onerous requirements are excessively difficult to manage for both the trainers and the attendees. Our chosen qualifications (BRCGS, STC & CIEH) can be practically delivered, with exams assessed simply and with integrity, online and via Zoom.
• All the courses we deliver certainly meet the true definition of the word ACCREDITED and between BRCGS, STC and CIEH courses, we bring you a fantastic choice

Thanks for sharing that, Cathy — really useful insight! I get what you mean about some CPD bodies just handing out approval without much review. Makes me wonder how much weight employers actually give to the “type” of accreditation, or if they mainly just care that you’re actively doing CPD and showing progress. What’s been your experience with that.

 

[Cathy Gladwin]

Thanks for sharing that, Cathy — really useful insight! I get what you mean about some CPD bodies just handing out approval without much review. Makes me wonder how much weight employers actually give to the “type” of accreditation, or if they mainly just care that you’re actively doing CPD and showing progress. What’s been your experience with that.

Hey @Alexmorgan, most companies I've worked for didn't keep or encourage staff to keep CPD logs but when I was auditing for certification bodies, one of them absolutely did require it. Even then, it was a very general log in terms of the detail kept. My lovely associate @Steph sends our staff regular reminders to update our logs and supports with a CPD template. The most painful thing ever is having to hand it over for whatever reason only to realise it's way out of date and long term memory is not my strong point
Back to actually answering your question though, yes I think that general showing of progress is what it's all about. I also think that when a company actively encourages their staff to learn and log their development, it goes a long way to demonstrating a good business culture.