When submitting your CPD Activities for accreditation, you need to be mindful of our A.C.C.R.E.D.I.T.E.D Framework. This is the benchmark we use to accredit every activity you submit, which allows us to assess your activity from every angle!
Follow the ten tips below to ensure that you’re hitting all the criteria and be sure to visit our Activities page to make sure your activity is the best it can be!
1) Ensure your course is accessible
Learning should be available to everyone, so you need to demonstrate that you can accommodate for people who may have special learning requirements. Below are a few examples of how you can make your learning more accessible:
- If you deliver in-person courses, your training centre should be wheelchair accessible
- If you deliver video courses, these should include captions for those who are hard of hearing.
- Include alt text on images for those who have visual impairments
2) Ensure all information is accurate and up to date
It’s important that your learners are being taught information that is factually correct and current. The purpose of CPD is to ensure that your learner’s professional knowledge is constantly evolving, which can’t happen if your content doesn’t take account of advances in your industry. We'll make sure that all the content you've included in your activity is correct and is fully up to date to ensure the most valuable learning experience for your students.
3) Be creative in your delivery
Maintaining your students' interest requires being creative in your delivery. Nobody wants to read through pages upon pages of text or sit through a PowerPoint presentation for hours on end. Be sure to include creativity in your learning materials to keep students interested and motivated. In order to do this, you might include short video clips in your PowerPoint presentation and diagrams in your training manuals. People learn in different ways, so it's key to get creative and include something for every learning style!
4) Ensure all information is relevant
It’s key that the information in your training resources is applicable to the topic of your course. It's crucial that your information is up to date and flows naturally; this will guarantee that your students are receiving exactly what they paid for when they enrol in your course. We’ll be assessing your activity to see if the information in your activity corresponds to what is being promoted online and whether this advertising is deceptive in any way.
5) Be clear if people are expected to have any prerequisites in place
Transparency and managing people’s expectations is extremely important when promoting your CPD Activities. It not only helps attract the right type of students, but also ensures that they are investing their money on something that is suitable for them. If your students are required to have any prerequisites in place before they enrol, make this as clear as possible in the advertising of the activity. It might be that a full UK Driving Licence is required, or a certain level of education. Be clear and concise about what the prerequisites are so that potential customers know if your particular CPD Activity is for them or not
6) Use exemplary spelling and grammar
It’s important to set a good example to your students by using exemplary spelling and grammar throughout your training materials. Additionally, using the wrong punctuation can completely change the intended meaning of a sentence. Take a look at the examples below from a fictional customer service training manual:
“It's more professional to calmly listen to your customer’s complaint then try to create an excuse.”
“It’s more professional to calmly listen to your customer’s complaint than try to create an excuse.”
The only difference between these two sentences is a single word that completely affects the meaning. The first sentence implies that is better to start by listening to a customer complaint and then respond by creating an excuse. The second example explains that instead of trying to come up with an excuse, it is more professional to simply listen to your customer's issue. The second would be the correct way to deal with the situation, but by misusing one word, you could be teaching your students something that is incorrect!
In order to avoid mistakes such as this, be sure to proofread your learning materials thoroughly before submitting.
7) Make sure you own or have permission to use the content in your activity
It is crucial that you own or have permission to use the materials you are presenting to your learners. We’ll be assessing your materials for clear signs of content that has been plagiarised while verifying that the information has been generated honestly and legally. If you have included other people’s work, it’s crucial that you follow professional writing guidelines by citing sources. We will request to see proof of any permissions you have received to use someone else's intellectual property. Under "Resources" in your CPD account, we offer some useful information to help you understand the laws governing intellectual property.
8) Include a form of assessment
There should be some type of evaluation included in your course in order to strengthen your learner's knowledge and guarantee that your learner has a strong grasp of the information in your CPD Activity. This could be a written test, a multiple-choice quiz, an interview, or a practical evaluation. You may decide whether to add exams at the end of the entire course or after each module – or both!
9) Is the activity author qualified in their subject?
A great activity will benefit from having a creator who is an expert in their field. The Accreditation and Compliance Team will verify that the author of the Activity has the necessary skills and expertise to apply to the creation of the activity. You wouldn't want to learn how to drive from someone who has never driven – so why would you want to take a course that has been created by someone with no experience in the industry?
10) What is the duration of the Activity?
When your customers are looking for A CPD Activity, they will also be looking to earn CPD credits or points to add to their professional portfolio. CPD Credits are calculated as 1 hour of study = 1 CPD Credit, therefore determining the overall number of hours students spend to complete the activity is important to allocate the right amount of CPD Credits to each particular activity.
These tips should help you to create an Activity that delivers excellent CPD learning and raises CPD standards!