Continuing Professional Development – Guidance

Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for maintaining and enhancing your Professional competence and commitment, as well as for developing new skills. This obligation underpins the value of the professional titles of EngTech, IEng and CEng, and enables society to have confidence in the engineering profession.
CPD has several purposes:
• To assure continuing competence in a current job
• To prepare for a different role
• To follow a longer-term career development plan
• To enhance professionalism in a wider context than a specific job role.

To maintain a professional registration, all registrants must, when asked, demonstrate how they meet their CPD obligations and show that they understand that this requires an ongoing commitment.

Brig Richard Brown – ‘Recent reports such as Haddon-Cave (Nimrod crash) and the Hackitt Review (Grenfell Towers) have highlighted failings in professional competence. One way we stay competent and can prove our competence is by planning and recording our Continuing Professional Development (CPD). This is not difficult nor time consuming, especially for those still serving, who conduct far more training than most civilians. The InstRE website has an excellent guide and worked example here.

Each year we review a random selection of EngTech, IEng and CEng CPD records and provide individual feedback. If you are selected, please engage fully as we are mandated to de-register persistent offenders from their EngTech/IEng/CEng registration.

There are prizes for the best EngTech CPD submissions. This year the top three EngTech submissions, who each won £300 just in time for Christmas, where:

• WO2 Jason Brookes
• WO2 Steve Pritchard
• WO2 Greg Sillence

In addition, Maj Barry Edwards and SSgt Darren Blank must be commended. Their CPD reports were so good that if they had been EngTechs rather than IEng they would have each won the £300 prize.

As a professional body and considering the depth of opportunity for development, CPD is an important and integral matter with regards to Engineering Technician, Chartered Engineer and Incorporated Engineer registration applications.

You are expected to define, maintain and reflect on the CPD plans and opportunities that you are afforded within your role.

Access the Institution’s CPD policy for a comprehensive guide to our Continuing Professional Development expectations.

Access our exemplar CPD planning.