CPD review
CPD and registration requirements for 2026 to 2027
CPD and registration requirements for 2026 to 2027
Continuing professional development (CPD) is an essential reflection and learning activity central to a social worker’s practice. By completing CPD, social workers demonstrate they are fit to practise and have up to date skills and knowledge that they need, to provide the best possible support for the people they work with.
When social workers renew their registration each year, they are confirming that they meet the professional standards. Professional standard 4 is dedicated to CPD, demonstrating its importance to social workers’ practice.
It's a legal requirement for all social workers who want to practise in England to renew their registration annually and CPD is an essential part of that.
To do this, social workers must
submit their registration renewal application form
pay their registration fee
record a minimum of 2 different pieces of continuing professional development (CPD) on their Social Work England online account. Social workers must include a peer reflection with at least one of these pieces of CPD
All of the above must be completed by 11:59pm (UK time) on 30 November 2026.
Reviewing CPD records
Recording CPD is a regulatory requirement that helps social workers demonstrate that they remain fit to practise. These requirements also provide assurance to the public that registered social workers are maintaining up-to-date skills and knowledge and continue to meet the professional standards. For this reason, we encourage social workers to record CPD and reflect on their learning regularly throughout the year.
Following the close of the renewal period on 30 November 2026, we will review a sample of up to 3% of social workers' CPD records submitted during this registration year (1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026) to check compliance with our CPD requirements.
Where records do not meet our requirements, we may make further enquiries and take action where appropriate. In cases where there is a clear breach of our requirements, this may include removal from the register.
We will also continue to carry out routine internal system checks to support compliance with our CPD requirements. CPD is invaluable in social work practice, and we understand how much work social workers do to maintain and improve their practise each year.
We are continuing to advance a more substantive review of our CPD approach for future registration years and will share more information, including a formal consultation, with the sector as this work develops.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, it is a requirement of being a registered social worker with Social Work England.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is an essential reflection and learning activity central to a social worker’s practice. You are encouraged to regularly record CPD throughout the year. By learning and reflecting on your work, you maintain and improve your practice throughout your career. Evidencing that you have completed CPD is also an essential part of demonstrating your ongoing fitness to practise.
Providing CPD is a requirement for all social workers who wish to renew their registration. We’ll continue with routine internal system checks to ensure compliance with our CPD requirements. For example, by confirming that the CPD records you provide are unique.
We are committed to reflecting on the learning from our review of our current model of CPD. We aim to develop a more comprehensive and valued approach to our CPD requirements. This will be implemented in stages.
We want CPD to:
- be a year-round activity that supports and improves practice
- reflect and recognise the breadth and depth of CPD that social workers do
- be a way for us to learn about and support the profession. (For example, by highlighting the breadth and depth of CPD that social workers complete)
We’ve completed our evidence-gathering phase. You can read our Reimagining renewals and CPD update in our board papers. We’re now considering a range of options for how we might achieve these objectives, and we anticipate consulting with the sector later this year. We want to ensure we keep our requirements relevant, achievable and in line with our overarching objective to protect the public.
Since pausing our review of CPD records we have received feedback from social workers, as well as other stakeholders that we should be undertaking some form of review. We have listened to this feedback and as part of developing our approach to CPD we have also taken the decision to reintroduce a review of CPD records, which we will start to undertake from December 2026. This review will provide us (and the public) with the assurance that registered social workers are maintaining up to date skills and knowledge and they are continuing to meet the professional standards.
We’re not in a position yet to say what options we’re considering. Our evidence-gathering phase told us about how our current model is meeting our objectives for CPD. We’ve taken this learning and we are now beginning to shape our options.
We’ll be engaging with social workers and employers to better understand some of the findings from the first phase.
However, one element we’re considering is how we might use technology to support social workers to record their CPD. We’re also exploring the use of technology to learn more about the CPD social workers are recording. We want to make it easier to record CPD and we’re looking at ways to encourage making it a regular part of your routine throughout the year.
We’ll share our ideas and proposals with social workers, employers, people with lived and learned experience and other stakeholders once we are in a position to do so.
We’ll be engaging with social workers, people with lived experience, and other stakeholders to learn more about your views on, and experiences of, our approach to CPD so far.
We’ll keep you updated on what we are learning throughout the year as we have more to say. For example, we’ll be exploring what social workers think about, and want, from CPD at our autumn roadshows.
To meet the CPD requirements, social workers must still record a minimum of 2 different pieces of CPD on their online account. You must include a peer reflection with at least one of these pieces of CPD. Social workers must do this by midnight on 30 November each year.
We’ll continue to develop our approach to CPD over the current registration year. When ready, we’ll share our proposals with the sector for your consideration and feedback.
Any changes will be communicated before a new registration year starts, with new advice and guidance available to support social workers to meet the registration renewal requirements.