CPD Accreditation for Events and Conferences
Give your event independent, third-party recognition so delegates can count the time towards their CPD. Book a free consultation, submit your event portfolio, and receive a CPD assessment within 30 days.
Attract more delegates to your events and conferences
If you host regular events and conferences, gaining independent CPD accreditation offers you a great opportunity to attract more delegates.
Millions of professionals in the UK are required to achieve a certain number of hours for their formal continuing professional development (CPD) requirements each year.
By letting your prospects know they can add the time spent attending your event towards their CPD hours, you can significantly increase the number of delegates.
Your accreditation will include a full assessment of your event portfolio, and once accredited, you can demonstrate to your customers that you are adopting new technologies with our (optional) digital certificate service.
To get your event or conference CPD accredited, book a free consultation call with a CPD adviser, submit your event portfolio and supporting materials to the Assessments Team, and your event is then assessed within 30 days. Once it meets the criteria, you receive CPD-approved status and a trustmark, and your delegates can count their attendance towards their CPD hours. Events are assessed differently from training courses, so the assessment is built around how your event is structured and delivered.
Step 1 - Book a free consultation call
Start by booking a free consultation call with a CPD adviser. On the call your adviser talks through the assessment criteria and how the process works, along with the accreditation options for events and conferences, so you can see how an independent assessment would apply to what you host. Together you decide which option best suits your organisation and the events you run.
Step 3 - Your event is assessed within 30 days
A CPDSO assessor carries out a full assessment of your event portfolio, evaluating its educational value against the criteria and standards set, and working with you collaboratively throughout. The assessment takes up to 30 days from the date your completed submission is received. A 14-day Fast Track assessment is available for an additional fee if you need accreditation sooner.
Step 2 - Submit your event portfolio and materials
Submit your event details and supporting materials directly to the Assessments Team, whether that is a conference, seminar, lecture, forum, roadshow or networking event. Provide the programme, learning content and any materials that support it. The assessment begins once your completed submission is received, and the assessment team is on hand to help at any point.
Step 4 - Receive your CPD-approved status and trustmark
Once your event meets the criteria, you receive CPD-approved status, a certificate of achievement and an authenticating trustmark unique to your organisation. Display the trustmark on your event marketing, website and social media, and offer delegates an optional digital certificate for their CPD records. Your organisation and accredited events are also listed in the CPD Directory on the CPDSO website.
How to get your event or conference CPD accredited
The accreditation of events is focused on large or small groups of individuals, learning from and with one another on a face-to-face basis.
The CPD Standards Office assesses ‘events’ differently from ‘training courses’ and has two different accreditation categories for each. Training courses are typically F2F groups delivered in a classroom format with a teacher-student methodology.
Events are similar in that they are F2F gatherings; however, this category accredits a wide range of events in different formats that are not in a classroom environment. These include:
Conferences
are F2F events that run across a day, or more, and invite a large number of delegates. A conference could have 50 or 5,000 people in attendance and is often structured with keynote speeches, seminars and presentation sessions. Many conferences have several ‘tracks’ where delegates have a range of sessions to choose from throughout the day.
Lectures
presentations on a subject by an academic expert/established speaker, typically hosted at universities or educational establishments, whereby participants have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. Lectures often cover theoretical material, scientific data and findings from academic research studies.
Seminars
are a group of individuals that come together to learn from one or more speakers. These sessions tend to be more practical and skill-based topics, where the learning objectives are clear from the outset, and questions are encouraged during or at the end of each presentation.
Forums
large discussion groups, often with presentations from several speakers, focused on exploring a particular topic or theme.
Other events that could gain accreditation include:
- Roadshows
- Discussion groups
- Networking events
- Thought leadership events
Please note - we don’t consider this to be an exhaustive events list and would love to hear what other events you might be organising and looking to get CPD accredited.
Benefits of CPD Standards Event Accreditation
Having accredited a wide range of conferences and events over the past decade, we have seen a range of benefits for CPD-accredited events including:
To discover how we can help you, call: 0203 745 6463
CPDSO Member Testimonials
"Having our courses independently evaluated and quality assured, has given our clients that extra confidence in knowing that what they are paying for is a quality service."
Anita Devi
Team ADL
"I was looking for a professional organisation to support my coaching offerings. There’s a lot to choose from in a crowded market, but I ended up selecting the CPDSO because they really care about their customers, their products and their services."
Simon Rickman
Development Coach
"CPD has not only enhanced my presence and reputation as a speaker, but it's also developed new opportunities that enable me to engage with audiences at a broader range of events."
Dale Howarth
Accredited CPD Speaker
Online Testimonials
Frequently asked questions
You book a free consultation call with a CPD adviser, submit your event portfolio and supporting materials to the Assessments Team, and a CPDSO assessor assesses your event within 30 days. Once it meets the criteria, you receive CPD-approved status, a certificate and a trustmark, and your event is listed in the CPD Directory.
Event accreditation takes up to 30 days from the date the Assessments Team receives your completed submission and materials. If you need it sooner, a 14-day Fast Track assessment is available for an additional fee.
You submit your event programme, learning content and the materials that support it, for example a conference, seminar, lecture or forum, directly to the Assessments Team. A CPDSO assessor carries out a full assessment of your event portfolio and evaluates its educational value against the criteria and standards set.
Prices depend on the type of accreditation and the number of events or activities you want accredited, so the free consultation call is used to give you a tailored quote. Your CPD adviser will talk through the options and what each one includes before you decide.
Events and training courses are assessed under two different categories. Training courses are usually classroom-style sessions delivered with a teacher-to-student structure, while events are face-to-face gatherings in a wide range of formats, such as conferences, seminars and forums, that are not delivered in a classroom environment. The event assessment is built around how your event is structured and delivered.