How to write a CPD reflection that stands up at audit
For each activity, say what new or enhanced learning you gained, how you brought it into your practice, what difference it made, and what you think about it now. An audit checks that these are present for every activity and that the depth matches the credits claimed; it is not a marking of the quality of your learning. Never name a service user or a colleague.
Write the reflective fields for one activity
Do this within a week of the activity, while you still remember what was new. Each step fills one field in your CPD log.
- Name the learning need. Write one or two sentences on the gap or goal in your practice that led you to the activity.
- Say what you learned. Describe the new or enhanced knowledge or skill in your own words, not the course outline.
- Say how you used it. Write what you did differently at work because of it, with a date or a setting, and no names.
- Evaluate the effect. Say what difference it made to your work or to the people you serve, or what you are still watching for.
- Reflect. Write what you think now: what worked, what did not, and what you will learn next.
- Match depth to credits. Read it back against the credits you claimed and add detail where a large claim has a thin account.
What the audit actually reads
The audit guidelines list what a submitted record must contain: the learning activities that make up at least 30 credits in every 12-month period; your evaluation and reflection of the new or enhanced learning and its impact on your practice, for each activity; your review of learning needs for the next 12 months; and your planned activities for the next 12 months. A record missing any of these is sent back once for the missing parts.
The review is of your record, not of you. The guidelines say it checks that you have a system and a process to keep your skills and knowledge up to date, and that it is not a qualitative assessment of the activities you chose. The FAQ adds that reflective practice does not always have to be positive: a course that turned out to be less useful than hoped is still a valid reflection if you say what you took from it.
Keeping people out of it
The guidelines are firm that nothing in a record should identify a service user, a colleague or any other person. Write "a young person in residential care" rather than a name or initials, and "a colleague on the team" rather than a job title that points to one person. Our log reminds you of this beside every form.
Plagiarism and false declaration are treated as possible professional misconduct. Write your reflections yourself, in your own words. Reflectora never writes, suggests or completes reflection text.
Worked example
A speech and language therapist has 4 activities in the period, from 1 to 6 credits. Before printing, the audit pack page counts the empty fields: evaluation is empty on 2 activities and reflection on 1. Those are the gaps an audit would send back.
The 6-credit dysphagia update deserves the fullest account: a six-hour claim with two lines of reflection is the mismatch the guidelines warn about. The one-credit case discussion can be brief, as long as it still names what was new and how it was used.
Common mistakes
- Copying the course description into "what you learned". Write what was new to you.
- Leaving the evaluation empty because the effect is not known yet. Say what you are watching for.
- Naming a service user, a family or a colleague, even by initials.
- Writing only positive reflections. Saying what did not help is valid and often more useful.
- Writing every reflection the night before a deadline, when the detail has gone.
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.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a CPD reflection be?
There is no word count. The audit guidelines say the more credits you assign to an activity, the greater the reflection should be, so a large claim needs a fuller account than a short one.
Will the audit judge whether my learning was good enough?
No. The guidelines say the review checks that you have a system and process for CPD and is not a qualitative assessment of the activities you chose. The outcome is compliant or non-compliant.
Can a reflection be negative?
Yes. The FAQ says reflective practice does not always have to be positive. Say what you learned, including what did not work for you and why.
Sources
Last reviewed 28 September 2026 against:
- 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
- CPD General Questions (FAQ), CORU, page undated, read 28 September 2026. Used for: one hour of new or enhanced learning equals one credit, any fraction of an hour may be attributed, the registrant decides the credits, no carry forward, the same requirement on leave, part-time or a career break, and keeping records while on the register
- Guidance on Continuing Professional Development, Social Workers, CORU, approved July 2019, read 28 September 2026. Used for: the review, plan, implement, evaluate and reflect cycle of CPD
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.