Continuing Professional Development guidance for members
Progress indicator
Continuing professional development (CPD) is the term used to describe a person’s commitment to lifelong learning and is an essential part of any quality or audit professional’s career.
CPD is defined as any activity that helps you develop your expertise, achieve your career goals and engage with your colleagues in new and effective ways. CPD is also recognised by employers as evidence of a proactive approach to professional development.
Should I be recording my CPD?
The CQI/IRCA encourages all its members to undertake CPD activity to support their development needs. Members at the following grades are required to undertake and record CPD and may be requested to submit their CPD log for review at any time.
Should you fail to submit CPD on request this may result in you being downgraded or withdrawal of your membership.
| Brands | Grades |
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CQI |
CQP MCQI CQP FCQI |
| IRCA | All grades |
How much time should I spend on my CPD?
The CQI/IRCA does not have a points or hours based CPD system. Our approach is output-based, focusing on the impact of the CPD, rather than measuring how long was spent on the activity.
However, for guidance purposes, we recommend that you complete 3-4 development objectives every 12 months comprising 25-35 hours of activities.
How do I record my CPD?
You can record and manage your CPD in the Members' Area of Quality.org under the ‘My Records’ section. In order to make the most out of the CPD process, we suggest that you follow a plan, do, check, act (PDCA) approach.*
*We can accept CPD records submitted on forms from other bodies, provided that you can demonstrate you are identifying your own development needs and completing appropriate development activities. Please contact us to check that your method of recording CPD is appropriate.
Step 1 – Plan
Planning your learning objectives is a really important stage of CPD because it helps you use your time effectively and tailor activities to suit your needs. It’s vital you consider both your short-term and long-term career aspirations, and assess your current knowledge and skills, in order to identify what you want to learn over the next 12 months.
| What you need to do? | Things to consider | How the CQI can help? |
| When considering what objectives to set yourself, you may wish to consider:
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Step 2 – Do
You can record any professional activity that helps you achieve your objectives but it should be proportionate and relevant to your role. The amount of CPD that you record can be proportionate to your role and circumstances – i.e. if you work part-time, on a voluntary basis, or are retired. Also, the CQI/IRCA does not require CPD to be undertaken in a set amount of time.
| What you need to do? | What counts as a valid CPD activity? | How the CQI can help? |
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This list isn’t exhaustive. If you have done something that has helped you to develop your competence and achieve your objectives, go ahead and record it. |
Make sure we have your correct email address so you can receive our monthly Knowledge email, packed full of information for your CPD. |
Step 3 – Check
The essence of CPD is planning and reflection. People who reflect are able to retain more information and are more efficient at applying it to improve their performance. However, if an activity doesn’t go as expected you still need to reflect on what happened, taking note of what you need to do differently in order to achieve that learning objective.
| What you need to do? | Things to consider | How the CQI can help? |
| Thinking about the following questions could help you:
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Step 4 – Act
If the objective has been met, write it here. Then create a new objective. Consider if you need to revise or extend the scope of the objective.
| What you need to do | |
If your objective has been fully met, record it as such and create a new objective to replace it.
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