Is CPD mandatory?
Short answer
CPD is mandatory in regulated professions — healthcare, law, accountancy, engineering, financial services, teaching and construction among them — where it is a condition of maintaining registration or a licence to practise. Outside regulation it is voluntary but widely expected by employers and membership bodies as evidence of current competence.
Where CPD is mandatory, the obligation sits with the individual, not the employer. Regulators audit a sample of registrants each year and ask for the record; failure to produce one can lead to conditions on registration or, in serious cases, removal from the register.
Where CPD is voluntary, it functions as market evidence. Membership bodies set expectations, tender processes ask for it, and employers increasingly treat a live CPD record as a proxy for professional seriousness. The absence of one is rarely fatal but is frequently noticed.
Because requirements are set by each individual body and change from time to time, always confirm your own annual obligation directly with your regulator rather than relying on a general figure.