Submitting your CPD
To help you log your Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to show in your appraisal, we provide a service called CPD Submissions.
What is CPD Submissions?
CPD Submissions lets you log your CPD activity and peer group membership and generate an RCPsych CPD certificate of good standing.
If you’re working in a non-training grade and have a GMC licence to practise, you’ll need to evidence your CPD.
CPD Submissions makes the process easy.
Can I use CPD Submissions?
You can use it if:
- you’re a current member, fellow, affiliate or specialist associate
- you’re an active member of a peer group
- you have or plan to do at least 50 hours of CPD activity within a 12-month period, with at least 30 of those hours on activities defined by us as being within the clinical domain.
How do I apply for CPD Submissions?
You will need to log into the members area, select CPD Submissions and select a start date.
What are the requirements of the CPD Submissions programme?
You can find detailed guidance in OP98: Continuing Professional Development guidance for psychiatrists, and you can contact us directly at cpdqueries@rcpsych.ac.uk.
Further information about submitting your CPD
CPD Submissions is one way to demonstrate that you are keeping your knowledge and skills up-to-date.
There’s no requirement to take part in the College’s scheme in order to be revalidated by the GMC; further information is available in the GMC’s guidance on supporting information for appraisal and revalidation (pdf).
However, using the College CPD Submissions programme and involving your psychiatry peers in the development of your CPD may provide the best possible evidence for appraisers and responsible officers.
You must be an active member of a peer group which helps you to plan, develop and approve your CPD activities before you make your submission.
Peer group members need to be psychiatrists of any grade with or without membership of the college. If your peer group members are members of the college, then you can enter their details in the portal with the membership number. If they are not members of the college, then please enter their GMC number on the portal to add them to your peer group list.
We’ll automatically issue a certificate when you submit your activity if the minimum requirements have been met.
You must:
- Be an active member of a peer group that meets at least four times a year.
- Undertake at least 50 hours of CPD activity annually, including at least 30 hours in the clinical domain, authorised and approved by your peer group.
You must provide us with evidence of at least 20 hours of your CPD activities.
We will also contact members of your peer group to confirm your membership of the group and to confirm that approval was given for your submission.
Once we’ve received your evidence and a satisfactory response from one of your peer group members we will release your certificate.
You will select your date when you first log onto CPD Submissions in the members area.
You will be responsible for selecting an appropriate date and you may want to take into consideration the date of your appraisal and the CPD cycles of your peer group members.
Once you have selected a start date, to maintain continuous CPD with the College we would advise that your cycle dates remain the same.
We do not accredit educational events. CPD activities are approved by peer group members.
The CPD Submission requirements are the same whether you are working full time or part time.
If you’re registered with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists then you’re eligible for a certificate under our reciprocal scheme.
Please send a copy of your certificate to cpdqueries@rcpsych.ac.uk and if your membership status is current, we can issue an RCPsych certificate.
To help us solve your issues with using CPD Submissions, please send us a screenshot of any error messages you may be seeing to cpdqueries@rcpsych.ac.uk to help us to diagnose the problem.