What is CPD?

CPD is a range of activities through which professional therapists maintain and develop their skills to ensure that they retain their capacity to practise safely, effectively and legally, within their scope of practice.

CPD points can be gained from a wide variety of methods, as detailed in the CPD information guide which you can download below.

FHT members must complete a minimum of 10 CPD points per membership year, through developing in all areas of therapies practised. Please note FHT Associates, Affiliates and Student Members are not required to complete CPD.

FHT places the responsibility on each member to decide what their professional development needs are. Members are encouraged to focus on the quality and outcome of CPD activities, as opposed to the time spent on these.

*FHT Students, Affiliates and Associates are not required to complete CPD.

What do you need to do?

We have formulated a step-by-step guide to help you keep on top of your annual CPD.

Step one: When you join the FHT and at each renewal, please familiarise yourself with the CPD information guide and download the CPD log to keep track of your activities. 

Step two: Keep a portfolio or folder at home for you to file all of your CPD evidence e.g. training certificates, reflective practice, etc, along with your CPD log.

Tip: Look out for opportunities to gain CPD through; FHT hosted courses, our annual training congress, activity templates below, activities in International Therapist magazine, and lots more.

Step three: As you complete CPD activities, ensure that you file the appropriate evidence into your portfolio or folder for safekeeping and make sure to note the activity on your log.

Step four: Before the end of each membership year you should have completed a minimum of 10 CPD points through developing in all areas of therapies you practise. There is no need to send us your CPD portfolio or folder unless you are selected at random for a CPD audit.

CPD Audit

FHT regularly selects members at random to audit their CPD evidence. If you are randomly selected for a CPD audit, you will be notified by letter and you will be required to send in your evidence.

CPD Point Allocation

The table below gives examples of different ways that CPD points can be achieved and the number of CPD points you can gain by completing each activity. Download our CPD information guide for full information and to have to hand.

CPD activityEvidence to fileCPD points
Further training
(seminar/workshop/lecture/in-service training)
Certificate of attendance1 per hour*
New therapy qualification
(under 50 hours study/teaching)
Qualification certificate or other evidence of study15 per annum
New therapy qualification
(over 50 hours study/teaching)
Qualification certificate or other evidence of study30 per annum
Case studiesWritten evidence5
Reflective practice
Reflecting on a treatment/visit/event/article
Written evidence (min 500 words)5
Research (writing an article/blog/study)Written evidence3
International Therapist CPD questionWritten evidence (min 300 words)3
Creating a business planThe plan2
Developing a marketing plan
(designed by you)
The plan and new brochure, adverts, leaflets 2 for plan
1 for collateral
International therapist spiral quizCopy of completed quiz (maximum 4 per annum)1
Preparing and delivering a lectureCopy of lecture notes etc3
Preparing and delivering a full-day seminarWritten evidence5
Attending a Local Support Group meeting
(must be relevant to your therapies)
Certificate of attendance2
Attending a committee meeting on behalf of the FHT or another professional groupWritten evidence3
Supervising or mentoring (other therapists or being mentored)Written evidence (5 per annum)1 per person
* Maximum of 15 points per further training course

CPD downloads, templates, and links

  • CPD log
    • Keep on top of your CPD by downloading and completing our CPD log each membership year: download here!
  • Case studies
    •  Download the case study template to help with your structure and layout when writing a case study. A full case study gains you 5 CPD points: download here!
  • Reflective practice
    • Download the reflective practice templates to allow you to reflect upon any treatment, events, experiences or training. A full reflective practice gains you 5 CPD points.
  • Mentoring and supervising
    • Record a mentoring or supervision session using this helpful template. A mentoring session gains you 1 point per hour of training. You can also ask your mentor, or the person you are mentoring, to confirm this in writing within an email: download here!
  • Webinars
    • We have collaborated with various organisers to produce free webinars for our members to use. To gain the CPD points from the webinars, you must view the webinar and complete the supporting reflective practice document. Please see these below:
    • Past webinars:
  • Free online learning
    • If you are based in England, you can also earn free CPD points from vision2learn, and across the UK from HMRC. vision2learn offers FREE online courses in association with further education colleges. These include level 2 certificates in Nutrition and Health, Working in the Health Sector, Diabetes Care, End of Life Care, in addition to essential business skills such as Customer Service – all of which will award ten CPD points – your total for the year!
    • HMRC offers FREE e-learning for self-employed members on tax, National Insurance, business records and expenses, worth 2 CPD points. 
    • Develop your knowledge of equality and diversity by reading the Accessible to All article and completing the reflective practice document to gain 5 CPD points. Work through this reflective practice document when reading through the Accessible to All article to gain 5 CPD points! 

Specific and generic CPD

FHT categorises CPD activities into either specific CPD or generic CPD, depending on whether education provided develops you in a particular therapy only, or will apply to all therapies. Below we have listed some examples of generic CPD:

  • First aid training
  • Health and safety training
  • Anatomy and physiology training
  • Attending a business or marketing course
  • Writing a business plan
  • and many more

Any other queries

Information and guidance on completing CPD during lockdown

There are lots of fantastic ways for members to complete CPD whilst at home.

Please take a look at our FHT Stay at Home CPD video series where you can find lots of free CPD videos resources to aid your development. You can also information on further ways to gain CPD from home here!

In the wider online community, there are lots of fantastic ways for therapists to gain CPD via webinars, zoom meetings and videos via social media. If you attend or watch e-learning like this, you will need to show evidence that you attended to gain the CPD points. Please complete a reflective practice using the followin form to gain 5 CPD points from your learning: reflective_practice_template_education_and_learning.doc

If the training is for a more intimimate group and the organiser can confirm your attendance of involvement for the whole session, then you can ask the tutor to supply you with an email confirmin your attendance of you can award yourself 1 CPD point for each full hour spent training.

If you have any further queries regarding your CPD, please visit our FAQs page. If your query has not been answered feel free to email education@fht.org.uk and we will be able to assist you.