Help with CPD

  

CPD completion

2. When will I get confirmation that I have completed my CPD?

Your total CPD points generally update instantly. In your CPD Summary your CPD status will show as 'Complete' as soon as you have completed the cycle. Don't forget that custom submissions will need to be approved – this is usually done within a maximum of 48 hours but often much faster.  Confirmation emails are sent at 6.30am the day after you complete!

3. When will I get confirmation that I am now an Accredited PR Practitioner?

If you’ve just completed your second consecutive cycle of CPD, we’ll send you a separate email 24 hours after your CPD Cycle Completion confirmation email to confirm that your new Accredited PR Practitioner certificate is available for download from MyCIPR.

 

Logging CPD – 12 Tips 

 

1. Logging CPD for the first time this year?

Take a look at our handy five-minute walkthrough video about how to use the CIPR CPD Platform (login to view). The new MyCPD platform is now part of your member account, so everything can be accessed with one log-in. When you log into the CIPR website, simply click on your name at the top right of the page to land on your member profile. You will see the following tabs – select the ‘My CPD’ tab to access your CPD record, the CPD database search facility and the Custom Submission form.  
If you’ve previously used the old ‘Ladder’ system, this was decommissioned on 1 March 2020 and the old web link ladder.cipr.co.uk will no longer work. But don’t worry we have transferred your CPD cycle completion history across to www.cipr.co.uk/MyCPD so that you can pick up where you left off. 

 

2. Finding activities via the CPD database search facility

Take a look at our newly added resources and list of top 5 most popular activities - this is updated continuously. A general tip for using the database search facility is that as it only returns exact matches, so we would generally advise you to try one (non-abbreviated) key word in the ‘title’ field when searching (for example communications rather than comms) to bring up the wide choice of activities connected to your search criteria. You can then filter by Activity Type, for example, CIPR Webinar, CIPR Podcast etc . If you can’t find an event it may because it was a networking event – these are no longer pre-loaded to CPD and must be added as a ‘Custom activity’. 

 

3. Logging the CIPR Annual Conference?  

All attendees should be able to see the conference in your CPD ‘In Progress’ tab. You just need to fill in the evaluation questions and ‘submit’. The event shows 5 points, however when we receive your submission, we will update the point total to reflect the number of sessions you attended.  

 

4. Not on the database or your ‘In Progress’ tab? 

If the activity is not already in your 'In Progress' tab and you can’t find it on the CPD database, please do log it as a Custom Submission. 

 

5. Custom Submissions

We’re usually quick to moderate your submissions but as each one must be considered individually, there may be a slight delay whilst we deal with the large volumes being submitted as we approach the CPD deadline. A couple of helpful tips:  

• You will be required to attach evidence of your attendance - when attaching a file there are two steps - ‘choose file’ to upload and then ‘attach’ (it’s common to miss the ‘attach’ button!) 
• Please be sure to enter a start and end date within the current cycle, as points will not be counted if for instance, you add an end date that falls after 31 March 2025.
• As long as you submit your custom entry before the CPD deadline (11.59pm on 31 March 2025) it will count, even if approved by us after the deadline.

 

6. Points not added to your total? 

The most common reason that we see for points not being added to your total CPD count is that the dates entered are outside of the current CPD Cycle. For points to be counted the activity undertaken dates must be between 6 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 for the current cycle. 

 

7. Mandatory Ethics Points

In order for the CPD cycle to be ‘complete’ you need to have logged 5 mandatory ethics points. You can use the CPD database search facility to find an activity with a CIPR Ethics component, or check our New CIPR Ethics activities, this displays the newest CIPR Ethics activity.

 

8. Second consecutive cycle?

If you have logged your 60 points complete with Ethics and any Streams requirements met (see next section) you will see your CPD Status in your CPD Summary update to 'Complete' and will then receive a cycle completion notification email within 24 hours. If you are completing your second consecutive cycle of CPD you will also receive a confirmation that you are now a CIPR Accredited Practitioner (Congratulations!).

 

9. Something else not quite right?

If you’re expecting points that haven’t been counted, it’s worth checking that you’ve submitted enough points in Stream 1 and 2. There are quotas for each, and you can check these in our CPD handbook  here. If you cannot see what’s wrong, you can email us on [email protected]. We can usually reply to you within 1 business day, but in the busy period in the run up to CPD deadline this may take us up to 3 working days.

We expect to be extremely busy helping members and moderating custom submissions in the run up to the CPD deadline, especially so during March. If you have a query or a concern, we want you to be able to get through to us, so we'd encourage you to get in touch as early as possible. To make sure that you can get through to us on the phone, we ask that if your call isn't urgent, you consider using our website and digital channels. That way, the phone lines will be available for those who might need us urgently, or who need to do things that aren't available online. If urgent you can call us on 0207 631 6900 Option 1.

Points re-set to zero at the beginning of each new cycle - this will be on the 1 April in 2025. Points can't be rolled over from one cycle to the next unfortunately - but extra learning above and beyond the mandatory 60 points (including at least 5 ethics points) helps keep skills and knowledge up to date at all times.

 

11. Technical problem?

If you're experiencing technical problems with our website (slow loading, being logged out) this could be down to the volume of traffic on our site. We're sorry about this, it may be worth trying later if possible but it the problem persists and prevents you from hitting the CPD deadline you can email us to ask for an extension. As long as we receive your extension request before the CPD deadline (11.59pm on 31/03/2025) then we will act on it.

12. Concerned about your CPD?

We appreciate that this year has been very different and that lots of people have been under more pressure. PR professionals will continue to be called on in new and challenging ways and that’s why we are encouraging all members, where possible to complete their CPD, so that they are strongly placed to adapt to those challenges.

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have added many more new digital learning resources, and removed the restriction that previously applied to the ‘Reading Short Publications’ category. You can now claim an unlimited number of points under this category – making it easy for members to complete their CPD through online learning only this year. If you’re worried you might not be able to complete your CPD – we're keen to help you. Do get in touch if you are worried – we can help you find ways to complete the cycle. We would encourage you to take advantage of the additional learning materials we have added recently.