CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development, which is the process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge, and experience that professionals gain both formally and informally throughout their careers. CPD is a commitment to ongoing lifelong learning and encourages professionals to identify opportunities to learn something new, refresh existing knowledge, improve skills, or simply keep up-to-date with the latest developments within a particular profession or industry.

CPD points are a way of measuring the time and quality of learning and development (L&D) activities. Most professional bodies use CPD hours as their measure, and where CPD points or credits are used, these are typically a 1:1 ratio with CPD hours. CPD points are a measure of the educational value of an activity and can be used to maintain professional registration and as evidence of a commitment to continued professional development.

During a three-year certification period, professionals can earn CPD points for working in the field, training, and other activities. When applying for recertification, professionals must report the total number of points they anticipate earning by their expiration date, and they need at least 90 points for each certification they wish to continue.

CPD points, units, and credits are different terms used by various professional bodies to describe the same thing, which is CPD hours. The number of points earned for each activity varies and is set by the relevant professional body. For example, attending a one-day training course that has been assigned a CPD credit value of 10 points would earn 10 CPD points.

In summary, CPD points are a measure of the educational value of learning and development activities, and they are used by professional bodies to assess a professionals commitment to continued professional development.