What is CPD?
CPD (Continual Professional Development) is an award of points that proves the certificate holder has taken steps to continue their education by enrolling in certain courses or attending exhibitions/lectures that offer CPD points.
Is CPD an accreditation?
No it is not. Unfortunately there has been a lot of misinformation regarding CPD and accreditation. Many aesthetic practitioners have been led to believe that if they take a certain course it is accredited. CPD is not an accreditation it is simply an award of points.
Do I need to take a course because it has CPD points?
No is the simple answer, unless you are regulated by a governing body, such as a nurse or doctor, teacher, assessor, IQA, you do not need to take a course because it has CPD points. CPD is not an accreditation. It is an award of points, please keep this in mind when you are looking into training, many unscrupulous training companies and CPD awarding companies will tell you that it is an accreditation, or you will see courses advertised as accredited because it has CPD points, it is not.
What is the difference between Regulated and Accredited courses?
A training company that offers CPD points that are recognised as being of importance will most likely offer regulated courses that are published on OFQUAL. Accredited courses are not offered on OFQUAL but still may show CPD points but they will be endorsed by highly recognised companies within the industry, such as BABTAC and these accredited courses are still useful for trainers, assessors, IQAs, EQAs to take. We hope that clarifies the difference between Regulated and Accredited and where CPD can be useful or useless to Aesthetic Practitioners.