Background to ‘CPD’
There is now an increasing expectation for the UK workforce to
undertake Continuing Personal or Professional Development. (CPD)
regardless of an individual’s role or responsibility.
The ‘professionalisation’ of many jobs in response to changes in
employment law, legislation and socio-economic trends over the past two
decades has resulted in a growth of professional bodies and institutes
who represent various roles and industries. There are approximately 470
institutes across the UK currently, and this number is forecasted to
increase over the forthcoming decade.
Accompanied by such growth, there has been an acceptance that
national academic qualifications must offer vocational and skills-based
or ‘practical’ options. As a result, the National Qualifications
Framework has burgeoned and a wider variety of qualifications are now
available to the workforce than compared to a decade ago. The
undertaking of CPD activities therefore ensures that both academic and
practical qualifications do not become out dated or obsolete.
In the past decade, the Leitch report (2006) and McCleod report
(2009) have fuelled the requirements for people to undertake CPD. Both
of these identified huge skills gaps and shortages across the entire
current UK workforce and highlighted the urgent need for individuals to
continually ‘up skill’ or ‘re-skill’, regardless of occupation, age or
educational level.
The reports also underlined that the enhancement of skills and
knowledge through continuous personal and professional development is
critically important in retaining a competitive edge when operating in
global markets.
Members of professional institutions are expected to undertake CPD
as a duty of membership. The exact amount of CPD required for particular
occupations is provisionally directed by the individual’s particular
professional bodies.
In addition, the public and business sectors are increasingly
requiring all employees to undertake a continuing personal; development
programme (often as part of a Professional Development Plan or PDP). For
example, all areas of the public sector are now required to complete a
level of CPD per annum, regardless of the individual’s role or
responsibility.
The CPD Certification Service is the independent body operating across
all market sectors and in support of all professional institutions,
bodies and societies.
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