What belongs in a CPD log?
Use one entry per meaningful activity or learning episode. Record its purpose, date, format, time where required, key learning, planned application and evidence location. Include a follow-up date so that you can return to what happened after learning.
This worksheet helps reflection and organisation. It does not determine eligibility, certify compliance or replace a regulator’s required form. If a body requires particular categories, evidence or reporting periods, adapt your record to those rules.
What counts as CPD and how is it different from training?
Training is one way to learn. Professional development can also involve mentoring, reading, peer discussion or reflecting on a project when it develops your practice. Whether a particular activity counts towards a professional requirement depends on the relevant body.
Do not assume every hour at work is CPD or that all professional bodies use the same hours threshold. Record what you learned and why it mattered, and check the rules that apply to you.
A completed CPD entry and reflection
Fictional example: learning need: give clearer feedback during team handovers. Activity: a one-hour workshop on feedback, followed by practice in two handovers. Key learning: describe an observed action and its effect before asking for the other person’s view.
Reflection: “I often used broad labels such as unclear. I will describe the missing information instead and ask what would help.” Application: try the approach in the next two handovers. Later review: “Both conversations ended with an agreed change, but I need feedback on whether the tone was helpful.” The workshop hour is recorded separately from practice time; acceptance of either depends on the relevant requirements.
How to show the impact of learning
Choose an observable change before applying the learning: a clearer document, a task completed with less help, feedback from a colleague or a process you can explain more accurately. Record the baseline and what you later observed.
Avoid treating a single positive comment as proof of a lasting improvement. Describe the limits of the evidence. If the activity did not help, record that too and choose a different next action.
Organise your record for a review
Keep a consistent naming system for entries and supporting evidence. Before sharing, remove client details, colleague information and confidential employer material. If evidence cannot be copied, record its approved location and what access can be arranged.
Review entries together to identify repeated needs and learning you have not yet applied. Our earlier guide, Make your CPD record useful, explains the reflection cycle; this companion provides a worksheet and worked entry. Both are free to read without an OTO account.