CPD requirements by profession

BACP CPD requirements for counsellors and psychotherapists

Last reviewed 30 October 2026

BACP, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, sits in an interesting middle ground on CPD. It does give registered members a number to aim at, unlike bodies that have moved entirely to standards-based judgement. But it is unusually direct about that number being a norm rather than a target to hit mechanically, and its guidance keeps returning to one point: what the CPD changed in your practice matters more than how many hours it took.

What BACP actually asks for

That combination — a stated number, but an explicit instruction not to treat it as the point — is unusual among UK bodies. Most either fix an hours target and leave it at that, or drop hours altogether in favour of standards. BACP does both at once: it gives members a planning benchmark, then asks them to evidence something richer than the number itself.

The reflective cycle

BACP frames CPD as a continuous cycle with four stages, and expects your record to show each one:

1. Reflect — identify your learning needs, often drawing on supervision and appraisal conversations.
2. Plan and prioritise — decide what to do and in what order.
3. Act — carry out the learning activity.
4. Evaluate — show how you reflected on, planned, acted on and evaluated the need, and what effect it had on your practice.

A record that lists activities and hours but skips this cycle misses what BACP is actually checking for. The evaluation step — what changed in your practice — is the part most often left out, and the part most likely to matter at audit.

Supervision is not CPD

This is the single most specific rule in BACP's guidance, and worth stating plainly: clinical supervision is a separate membership requirement, and BACP's guide says it should not be submitted as CPD. Keep the two records apart. A development need that comes up in supervision can absolutely lead to a CPD activity, but the supervision session itself is not the CPD.

Random audit at renewal

BACP runs a random monthly audit of members as they renew their membership. If you are selected, you are asked to provide your Registered Member Record of CPD, your supervision arrangements and your indemnity insurance. The record can be submitted from the CPD Hub or the paper record form, and questions about the process go to BACP's audit team. Because the audit is random and tied to the renewal cycle rather than to a fixed CPD year, there is no single date to work back from — the safer approach is to keep the record current throughout the year rather than reconstruct it when selected.

One point on privacy: BACP's guidance says not to include personal, confidential or identifiable client information in your record unless the audit specifically requests it. A good CPD entry describes the learning and its effect on your practice without needing case detail.

What counts as CPD

BACP's guide lists a broad range of eligible activity, including conferences, e-learning, courses and workshops, alongside reading and other development relevant to your practice. There is no narrower technical definition published alongside it, which puts BACP closer to the bodies that trust members to judge relevance than to those with a fixed list of approved formats. The reflective record is what turns an activity into CPD; attendance alone is not.

Where CPD accreditation fits — and where it doesn’t

BACP's own CPD guide describes what members must do; it does not describe a scheme for accrediting providers or courses, and nothing in it suggests BACP endorses third-party accreditation. An AssuredCPD-accredited course is not approved or endorsed by BACP, and we have no affiliation with it.

What independent accreditation gives a BACP member is something to build the reflective record around. An AssuredCPD-accredited course has written, measurable learning outcomes assessed under our Standards Framework, a credible check of learning, and an hours figure that is justified rather than self-declared. Those map directly onto what BACP's audit looks for: a stated learning need, a defensible duration, and evidence of what the activity actually covered. A verifiable certificate reference also gives you something concrete to attach to the record if you are audited.

If you deliver CPD to counsellors or psychotherapists, design to this cycle: state what a participant will be able to do differently afterwards, not just what the course covers, and make sure your assessment checks that change rather than attendance. Our guide to writing learning outcomes that pass and how to design a CPD assessment cover both.

How the UK bodies compare

CPD requirements are set independently by each body, and they differ far more than most people expect. Across the eighteen below, several set no hours target at all; several count records, pieces or outcomes rather than time; several fix a share of the total as structured, verifiable or participatory; and two tie around half or more of the requirement to named subject areas. BACP is one of only a few that states an hours figure and then explicitly tells members not to treat it as the target.

Three practical points fall out of that table. First, a figure from one body tells you nothing about another — BACP's informal 30-hour norm and the CII's strict 35-hour rule look similar on paper but work very differently in practice. Second, bodies that de-emphasise hours, such as BACP and HCPC, replace the number with a heavier reflective or audit burden, not a lighter one. Third, if you are a member of more than one body, plan to whichever model asks for more evidence, not whichever asks for more hours.

Five mistakes that cost counsellors their CPD record

1. Submitting supervision as CPD. BACP treats them as separate. Keep distinct records.
2. Logging hours with no evaluation. A list of courses attended, with no note on what changed in practice, misses the part BACP's audit actually checks.
3. Treating 30 hours as a hard minimum. It is a norm. Chasing the number while skipping reflection gets the priority backwards.
4. Including client detail in the record. BACP's guidance says to leave out personal or identifiable information unless the audit specifically asks for it.
5. Waiting for the audit to write up the year. The audit is random and tied to renewal, not a fixed date, so a record reconstructed from memory is a much weaker one than one kept as you go.

Common questions

How many CPD hours does BACP require?

BACP's guide says it would normally expect registered members to undertake at least 30 hours of CPD a year. It is described as a norm rather than a strict rule, and the guidance is explicit that the focus should be on outcomes, not on counting hours.

Is clinical supervision the same as CPD?

No. BACP treats supervision as a separate membership requirement, and its guidance says supervision should not be submitted as CPD. Keep the two records apart.

Does BACP check members' CPD?

Yes, through a random monthly audit run when members renew their membership. If you are selected, you provide your Registered Member Record of CPD, supervision and indemnity insurance, submitted from the CPD Hub or the record form.

What does a BACP CPD record need to show?

A range of CPD activities relevant to your practice, ideally a mix of types, together with how you reflected on, planned, acted on and evaluated your development needs and how this affects your practice. Don't include personal, confidential or identifiable client information unless the audit specifically asks for it.

What counts as CPD for BACP members?

BACP's guide lists activity types including conferences, e-learning, courses and workshops, alongside reading, reflection and other development relevant to practice. The emphasis throughout is on the reflective cycle rather than any single accepted format.

What is BACP's CPD cycle?

Reflect and identify your learning needs; plan and prioritise; act on the plan; then evaluate what changed in your practice. Supervision and appraisal are suggested places to discuss what those needs are.

Does BACP accredit CPD training courses?

BACP's own CPD guide does not describe an accreditation process for providers or courses; it describes what members themselves must do. Independent accreditation of a course is a separate, additional signal of quality that a provider can offer alongside BACP's own membership requirements.

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AssuredCPD is an independent CPD accreditation body. We are not a government or regulatory body and do not award regulated qualifications. AssuredCPD accreditation is not endorsement, approval or recognition by any professional body named on this page, and we have no affiliation with them. Requirements are summarised from each body’s own published guidance and were checked on 30 October 2026; those bodies change their rules from time to time, so always confirm against the official source linked above before relying on it.