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Published 13 Jun 2024

CPD Certifications Explained

by Joshua Stoneham

Browse CPD Courses!

Eager to learn more about CPD courses and what makes them stand out against the rest? 

Learn more about CPD-certified courses, why they’re worth choosing, and the kinds of career opportunities you can find after completing them.


What are CPD certifications?

What does CPD stand for, and what is a CPD certification? The meaning of CPD is “Continuing Professional Development” and is the name of a certification service that examines and puts its seal of approval on a wide range of courses. 

CPD aims to work with education providers by looking at their courses and ensuring that the quality of those courses meets its strict requirements. To look out for students, CPD aims to be a hallmark of courses that can allow learners to develop their professional skills throughout their careers. 

When looking at online courses from a variety of providers, choosing courses that have a CPD accreditation ensures that you can trust the high quality of the course, and know that it can form an important part of your development journey.


Who are CPD certified courses for?

CPD certified courses are for learners who are keen to drive their professional development throughout the entirety of their career. 

Learners can access courses from a wide range of subjects, meaning that anyone who is keen to develop valuable new skills can benefit from exploring and enrolling in CPD courses. 

If you have already completed traditional higher educational qualifications, such as a degree, CPD certified courses are ideal options for furthering your professional development, without having to take time away from your career to dedicate to learning. 

CPD aims to find and present courses to learners that encourage continuous learning and help learners take steps towards achieving a specific career goal or aspiration. 

The certification body has a goal of providing learners with courses they can access at any stage of their career and apply in ways that can directly lead to promotions and new career opportunities or be a foundation for further development. 


Different types of CPD learning explained

CPD promotes different styles of learning that reflect the needs of learners who are seeking to make education a continuing part of their professional development. 

During a person’s career, training can be a once-in-a-blue-moon event and feel like an arduous task. CPD’s approach is completely different from this, with the certification service helping students connect with learning throughout their careers. 

In order to keep training and learning an exciting experience every time, CPD split learning into three different and distinct styles, with each style being appealing to different learners, depending on their situation and approach to development. 

Understanding these different approaches to learning can allow learners to create the best development path and choose the right learning activities for their career goals.

Structured CPD/Active Learning

This CPD learning style focuses on collaborative and interactive learning, which could be in the form of webinars, online learning, and dedicated training and examinations.

Reflective CPD/Passive Learning

This style of CPD learning is a one-directional experience, with users watching videos and learning through online lectures. It may also encourage learners to blend their learning with podcasts, reading, and industry updates. 

Informal CPD/Self-Directed Learning

This style of CPD learning is about the learner utilising training courses and education as they see fit, working it into their schedule in a way that suits them. 


Areas Covered by CPD Courses

If you’re wondering where to start when it comes to exploring CPD-certified courses, here are some example development areas covered by CPD.

  • Management – For those looking to advance their career in management and leadership, CPD has partnered with providers that specialise in providing learners with the latest knowledge and skill sets in the field of management
  • Compliance and Standards – Aspiring financial managers can look towards CPD courses as a source of education in the topics of compliance, standards and governance
  • Healthcare – CPD-certified healthcare courses, focusing on healthcare consultancy and public health

How to get a CPD certified qualification

So, what is a CPD certified course, what does it look like and how can learners access one? Accessing CPD courses online is a simple and straightforward process, with learners being able to enquire and enrol onto a course quickly. 

By exploring online CPD courses, learners can choose a course and style of delivery that works for them and add a CPD certified course to their CV in the space of a few months or even weeks. 

Online CPD courses can be a great option for learners who want to develop themselves from the comfort of their own homes. Courses can even be studied on the go, meaning that you can learn on your own schedule in a way that works for you. 


Is a CPD certified qualification worth it?

Completing a CPD certified course is a great option for learners who want to develop their career, and add a respected certificate to their CV that’s recognised in over 50 countries. 

Not only will a CPD-certified course look great to employers, but learners can also be sure of the high standard of education they will receive, as CPD rigorously vets training providers to ensure that they are offering learners the very best learning experience possible. 

Recruiters and employers will see the value of your completion of accredited CPD training and be more confident in your competencies and abilities, with high employability being one of the core benchmarks and benefits of a CPD course.

CPD-certified courses are designed to help learners gain promotions in almost every career field and job role. As a certification body that wishes to encourage learners to include education as a core part of their personal development strategy, learners from a huge range of backgrounds and career levels can benefit from CPD-certified courses.


Interested in learning more about CPD-certified courses? Keen to enrol today and start a path of lifelong learning? Explore CPD courses online and take the first step towards your new educational journey.


Browse CPD Courses!

Enjoy this article?

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Joshua Stoneham

Starting out his career in journalism as a reporter, Joshua later moved into marketing and content production. Joshua is a keen follower of trends across a broad range of industries and can offer deep insight into a wide variety of topics.

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