Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Access the
PMI's online CPD system here.
Staying
up-to-date: the new Continuing Professional Development scheme
In almost
every profession continuing professional development (CPD) has come to be a core
element of what it means to be professional and it is no more relevant than for
those working in pensions and retirement provision.
Recording
your CPD demonstrates you are working to ensure your knowledge and skills are
up-to-date. Standing still is just not an option in today’s world. By doing
CPD you act to mitigate risk and enhance your skills and competences, enabling
employers, stakeholders and clients to feel more confident in your abilities as
a professional.
CPD is a
key part of your membership with PMI, and in using the PMI scheme you will
contribute to the development of the profession as a whole.
The new
CPD scheme
The new
scheme is more relevant and responsive to individual learning needs and styles.
The scheme is based on a four stage learning cycle of:
- Audit:
the process of identifying your learning needs.
- Plan:
how to achieve the skills or knowledge identified.
-
Implementation: doing the learning (reading, research, mentoring, etc.)
-
Review: looking at how well you met your objectives and what other lessons
were learned?
Relevant
CPD
Where you
focus your energy for CPD will depend on your assessment of your
learning needs. Where are you weaknesses, what could you do better, what is new
to your role?
While some
CPD activity will relate to pensions and retirement provision, not all the CPD
you do has to directly relate to this; it might be that you need to improve your
project management or presentation skills or learn a new software package. What
is important is that your development is meaningful to you.
Credit
requirements
You need to
record CPD activity totalling at least 100 credits per calendar year to
meet PMI’s requirement.
Credits are
awarded according to the type of learning activity you undertake. Sitting and
passing an examination attracts 50 credits, for example, while a structured
discussion or using individual learning materials (watching PMI TV) ten
credits. The credits framework is show below. Most members will far exceed the
minimum CPD requirement.
|
Activity |
Definition |
Credits |
|
Conferences |
A
series of informative presentations by internal or external subject
experts |
25
per conference |
|
Seminars |
An
informative presentation on topics by internal or external subject
experts |
25
per seminar |
|
Training courses |
An
interactive, participative course provided by a third party (internal or
external) which sets clear objectives and learning outcomes |
25
per course |
|
On-the job training |
Interactive and participative discussion by an internal subject expert |
20
per subject |
|
Training for others |
Providing interactive and participative discussion, lectures, tutoring
and /or instruction for others which involves setting clear objectives
and learning outcomes. |
20
per subject |
|
Self-managed learning |
Personal learning on one subject which is formally assessed by a third
party eg distance learning |
20
per subject |
|
Structured discussions |
Discussions facilitated by a third party |
10
per discussion |
|
Computer based learning |
Online packages which set clear objectives and learning outcomes and
include assessment. |
20
per subject |
|
Attendance at College |
An
interactive, participative course provided by a third party (internal or
external) which sets clear objectives and learning outcomes |
25
per course or programme |
|
Sitting an examination |
Any
exam that is related to work based study, and offered by an examining
body |
50
per exam including related study |
|
Examination setting, marking, assessing or tutoring |
Setting, marking, assessing or tutoring any examination offered by an
examining body which is business related. |
25
per exam |
|
Technical authorship |
Writing articles, reports, books, instruction manuals etc which are
published for use by others. |
25
per item |
|
Reading |
Technical articles, bulletins, manuals, professional briefs and
journals, financial and trade press, and read for an annual period. |
15
for each set of publications |
|
Individual Informal study |
Use
of PMI TV, videos/DVDs audio tapes and other media |
10
per subject |
|
Mentoring |
Providing instruction, guidance and support to trainees or examination
students |
15
per subject |
|
Business development |
Developing new business products, systems or corporate strategy |
15
per product or system |
|
Professional Institute work |
Active participation in meetings, focus groups, research initiatives,
regional groups, committees or technical events. |
20
per year in total |
Excluded
activities:
Undertaking
CPD is not all about collecting points though: make your CPD relevant to you.
Recording your CPD
In order to
demonstrate you are undertaking relevant and sufficient CPD, you will be
required to keep a log of your CPD. You will be able to do this easily,
online. This will help you record CPD activity and reflect on your development,
which has been shown to be a major aid in assimilating knowledge, so is an
important part of the CPD process.
CPD
year
The CPD
year will continue to run from 1 January to 31 December each year.
Participation
Participation will be phased in as a requirement of membership over the next few
years, starting with Fellows.
Registering for the online CPD scheme
Members are
sent their logging in details routinely as they join the Institute.
If you do not have a username
and password, or have any questions about the CPD scheme, please contact the
membership department:
membership@pensions-pmi.org.uk
