Types of CPD

Select this category if you will be reflecting on any activity from your day-to-day role. This could include:

• work shadowing,
• interventions,
• models of practice,
• team meetings, or
• anything you feel has had impact on your practice.

Select this category if you will be reflecting on your experiences and learning from working with someone you support. This could include:

• reflecting on a home visit,
• an interaction with someone, or
• how you dealt with a case.

You could reflect on a positive case, considering what skills you used and why it went well. Alternatively, you could reflect on a challenging case, thinking about:

• what went wrong,
• what you learned, and
• how you could improve in future.

You could also reflect on learning from cases that you haven’t been directly involved in, for example:

• discussing a colleague’s case, or
• a serious case review.

Select this category if you have done independent learning, such as:

• listening to a podcast,
• watching a Ted Talk,
• watching a documentary, or
• reading a book or journal article.

You might choose to learn from content specifically about social work, for example:

• the Social Work England podcast,
• journal articles about social work theory, or
• recorded social work lectures.

Alternatively, you could learn from any content you think might impact your work or educate you about lived experience.

For example, you might watch a documentary about living with a disability, and reflect on how disability could impact people you work with.

Select this category if you are reflecting on feedback you have received about your work.

Feedback could:

• be a formal or informal discussion with colleagues and/or people you support.
• be a letter, a review, a meeting with your supervisor, or any other way someone can express their experiences of your practice.
• also include negative feedback or complaints about your work.

Read more about feedback.

Select this category if you will be uploading CPD done as part of a formal qualification or certification. For example, portfolio work from your:

ASYE programme,

Approved mental health professional (AMHP) course,

Best interests assessor (BIA) training, or

National assessment and accreditation system (NAAS).

Make sure you reflect on the CPD and how it meets our CPD standard.

Select this category if you will be reflecting on supervision or a discussion. This could be with a:

• supervisor,
• manager,
• mentor,
• practice assessor or educator,
• peer.

You might reflect on the following activities:

• discussing ongoing cases and issues arising from them
• supporting and maintaining wellbeing
• reviewing practice and decision making, ensuring they are in line with legal and statutory guidance.

Select this category if you have attended a relevant training session and will be reflecting on your learning.

Select this category if you have attended a relevant conference, seminar or event and will be reflecting on your learning.

Select this category if you have:

• provided relevant lecturing or teaching in social work,
• contributed to academic research, or
• are in a learning and development role.

For example, if you are a social work academic and have written an article for a journal, or if you have delivered training or education for social workers or social work students.

Select this category if your CPD will be about your leadership, management or mentoring. For example, if you will be reflecting on what you have learned from:

• supervising social work staff, or
• mentoring another social worker.

Select this category if you will be reflecting on your own experiences and how they might impact your work, for example:

• how COVID-19 has impacted you and your practice,
• if a family member is receiving support from social work services, or
• if there are challenges in your own life that you want to reflect on.

You might consider how you can relate to people you work with depending on whether they have had similar, or different, experiences to you. You could consider standard 4.8 (reflecting on my values) and how your experiences have shaped your opinions.

You can select this category on the CPD form if your CPD does not fit into any of the categories above. You will then be able to provide a short description in the ‘specify the type of CPD’ box.