The first CPD audit for social care workers, from 1 December 2026

What the audit page says

CORU's CPD Audit page, read on 28 September 2026, lists social care workers with an audit period of 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026 and an audit date of 1 December 2026. It says this first audit is based on a 12-month audit period and that only activities undertaken in those dates can be submitted if selected. Most other professions on the page have 24-month periods, so this first one is shorter.

Selection is random, from those who were on the register for the whole audit period. The audit FAQ says a percentage of the eligible register is called, that selection can also be targeted, and that anyone called has 30 days to submit their record through the registrant portal.

Who is in scope

• Registered for the whole of 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026: eligible for the routine audit.
• Joined the register part way through the period: not eligible for this routine audit, but the guidelines say to start CPD without delay, because the next period will count.
• On maternity or adoptive leave, statutory leave, a career break or long-term illness: still covered by the same 30 credits, but you can ask for a deferral if you are called (see the guide on leave).

Using the weeks that are left

If you are short, the most useful thing is to log what you have already done. Many social care workers attend training, supervision and team learning that never made it into a record. Go back through the year: training records, emails, rosters and your own notes will jog your memory. Each activity needs its date, its credits and the reflective fields.

• Supervision and reflective practice sessions where you learned something new count as work-based learning.
• Reading guidance or research that changed how you work counts as self-directed learning.
• Mandatory training counts for the part that was new or enhanced learning for you.
• Then plan what is still needed, spread over the remaining months rather than in the last week.

Remember the other two parts too. Before 30 November 2026, write a short review of your learning needs for the next 12 months and a plan of the activities that would meet them. They take an hour, and a record without them is incomplete.

Worked example

On 28 September 2026 a social care worker has 18 credits logged in the audit period. The counter shows 2 months and 3 days left until 30 November 2026, so 12 more credits are needed, about 4 a month.

If a notice arrives on 1 December 2026, 30 days later is 31 December 2026. Writing reflections for a whole year inside those 30 days is the hard part, which is why the log asks for them as you go.

Common mistakes

• Counting learning from before 1 December 2025. The audit page says only activities in the period can be submitted.
• Waiting for a notice before writing anything up. You get 30 days, not the year.
• Leaving out the review of learning needs and the plan for the next 12 months. They are two of the four parts.
• Naming residents, young people, families or colleagues in a reflection.
• Assuming a certificate is the record. Supporting documents are kept, not submitted.

Keep your own CPD log

Reflectora logs each activity with its credits and the four reflective fields, counts your credits in every 12-month period, shows the date you would fall under 30 if you logged nothing new, and prints an audit pack in your own layout. Everything stays in this browser.

Sources

Last reviewed 28 September 2026 against:

• CPD Audit, CORU, page undated; audit schedule table as shown on the read date, read 28 September 2026. Used for: the minimum of 30 credits in every 12-month period, the four parts of a record, random selection through the registrant portal, and the audit period and audit date for each profession
• CPD Audit and Audit Deferral FAQs, CORU, page undated, read 28 September 2026. Used for: selection of a percentage of the eligible register, 30 days to submit, deferral grounds and timing, and the eligibility of people who joined mid-period
• Continuing Professional Development Audit: Guidelines for Registrants, CORU, document undated, read 28 September 2026. Used for: audit periods of 12 or 24 months, 30 credits in every 12-month period linked to the registration renewal date, what a submitted record contains, no service user or colleague identifiers, supporting documents kept but not submitted, and the two outcomes

This guide is our own summary of the published documents, not legal advice and not a finding about your application; the regulator's assessors decide. If it disagrees with the current documents, the documents win. Reflectora is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to CORU, the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, any registration board or any professional body.