CPD requirements by profession

GDC Enhanced CPD requirements for dental professionals

Last reviewed 16 October 2026

The GDC's Enhanced CPD scheme is stricter than most professional bodies' in one specific way: every hour you submit has to be verifiable. That single word does more work than the hour totals, and it is the reason a certificate that says only “attended” can leave you with hours you cannot count.

The hours, by role

Your cycle length is always five years, but when it starts depends on the date you first registered with the GDC — not on a common national date. If you are planning around a colleague's deadline, you are probably planning around the wrong one.

The 10-hour rule that catches people out

Alongside the cycle total, there is a requirement to complete a minimum of 10 hours of CPD in every two consecutive CPD years. You cannot bank nothing for three years and then do 100 hours in year four.

Two consequences worth planning for. First, a year with no CPD at all is only survivable if the year either side carries at least 10 hours between them. Second, the rule is rolling across consecutive pairs, so a single empty year affects two windows, not one.

“Verifiable” is the requirement that actually bites

Under Enhanced CPD, all hours submitted to the GDC must be verifiable. In practice that means you need documentary evidence from the provider — not a note in your own diary.

Evidence is expected to show the activity, who provided it, the date, the hours, and the learning outcomes it addressed. A certificate that states those things is verifiable on its face. One that says “Thank you for attending” with a date is not, however good the course was.

This is the single most practical reason to check what a course issues before you book it rather than after. An hour you cannot evidence is an hour you cannot submit, and the five-year cycle gives you no mechanism to retrospectively make it verifiable.

Keep the records after the cycle ends

Dental professionals are expected to keep records of CPD activity for five years after the completion of the cycle — so a given certificate may need to survive for the better part of a decade. Digital copies with a verifiable reference age considerably better than a paper certificate in a drawer.

Where CPD accreditation fits — and where it doesn't

The GDC does not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers. Neither we nor any other CPD accreditation body can make a course “GDC-approved”, and a provider claiming otherwise is overstating what they hold. The GDC sets what the evidence must show; it does not pre-vet who produces it.

What independent accreditation does is more useful here than in most professions, because the GDC's verifiability requirement is essentially a documentation requirement. An AssuredCPD-accredited course carries stated learning outcomes, an hour figure assessed as proportionate rather than self-declared, and a verification code a third party can check — which is the shape of evidence the scheme asks for.

That is a claim about the paperwork, not about GDC recognition, and we are explicit with our own providers about the difference — see what you can and can't claim once a course is CPD accredited.

What to look for in a course

Whatever body you report to, the same four questions separate learning that will stand up from learning that won't:

• Are the learning outcomes written down? You cannot reflect on what a course changed if it never said what it intended to teach.
• Is the hour claim justified, or just asserted? An inflated figure is the single most common reason a course fails our assessment, and it is the figure you will be putting your name to.
• Was anything actually assessed? A completion certificate for watching a video is not evidence of learning.
• Can the certificate be checked by someone else? A PDF proves nothing on its own. A reference a third party can verify does.

For GDC registrants, the fourth of those is not a nice-to-have. It is close to the definition of verifiable.

How the UK bodies compare

CPD requirements are set independently by each body, and they differ more than most people expect. Three of the eight below set no hours target at all. Knowing which model you are under matters more than knowing any single number — it changes whether you should be counting time or evidencing impact.

Two practical points fall out of that table. First, an hours figure from one body tells you nothing about another — a nurse counting 35 hours over three years and a Chartered IOSH member counting 30 a year are doing very different things. Second, if you hold dual registration, you are under both regimes at once, and the stricter one governs your planning.

Five mistakes that cost people their CPD year

These come up across every regime, and all five are avoidable at no cost.

1. Planning against the wrong year. Some bodies run January to December, some from your own renewal or registration date. Diarise your date, not a colleague's.
2. Leaving the interactive part until last. Participatory hours, peer discussions and facilitated sessions all need another person's time. They are the components most likely to slip, and the least possible to do in a hurry.
3. Collecting certificates that prove attendance but not learning. If the certificate does not state learning outcomes and hours, you are reconstructing the detail from memory months later — and under a verifiable-CPD regime you may not be able to count it at all.
4. Recording activity but not impact. Every records-based and standards-based regime asks what changed in your practice. A list of course titles answers a different question.
5. Believing a provider's claim of regulator approval. None of the bodies above approve or endorse external CPD providers. A course advertised as “approved” by your regulator is misdescribed, and repeating that claim in your own record is your exposure, not the provider's.

Common questions

How many CPD hours does the GDC require?

It depends on your role, over a five-year cycle: 100 hours for dentists; 75 hours for dental therapists, dental hygienists, orthodontic therapists and clinical dental technicians; and 50 hours for dental nurses and dental technicians.

What does verifiable CPD mean for the GDC?

Under the Enhanced CPD scheme all hours submitted to the GDC must be verifiable, meaning you hold documentary evidence from the provider showing the activity, provider, date, hours and the learning outcomes addressed. A certificate that only confirms attendance is not sufficient.

Is there a minimum amount of CPD per year for the GDC?

Yes. As well as the cycle total, you must complete a minimum of 10 hours of CPD in every two consecutive CPD years, so you cannot leave the whole requirement to the end of the cycle.

When does my GDC CPD cycle start?

Your cycle is always five years long, but the start date depends on when you first registered with the GDC rather than a common national date.

Does the GDC approve CPD courses or providers?

No. The GDC does not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers or courses. It sets what your evidence must show; responsibility for choosing relevant, verifiable activity sits with the registrant.

How long do I need to keep my GDC CPD records?

Dental professionals are expected to keep records of CPD activity for five years after the completion of their CPD cycle.

Do CPD hours from one professional body count for another?

Usually yes, if the learning is relevant to your practice under both, but the arithmetic does not transfer. Each body sets its own requirement, period and recording rules, so the same activity may need to be logged twice in different formats. If you hold dual registration, plan against the stricter regime.

Can any training provider be approved by my regulator?

Generally no. The UK professional bodies covered here do not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers or courses. A provider advertising itself as regulator-approved is misdescribing what it holds, and repeating that claim in your own CPD record is your exposure.

What should a good CPD certificate show?

The provider, the date, the hours claimed, the learning outcomes covered, and a reference someone else can check independently. A certificate stating only that you attended is the most common reason people struggle to evidence an activity later.

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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 16 October 2026; those bodies change their rules from time to time, so always confirm against the official source linked above before relying on it.