How to Verify a CPD Training Provider — What to Check and Why It Matters

Not all CPD certificates are equally verifiable — and not all accreditation logos mean what they appear to mean. If you are an employer checking a candidate’s credentials, a professional body reviewing a member’s CPD record, or a learner who wants to know whether your training will carry weight, here is what to look for and what to ask.

What a genuinely verifiable certificate contains

A verifiable CPD certificate is not just a professionally designed PDF. Verification means that an independent party — an employer, a professional body, a client — can check that the certificate is genuine without contacting the issuing provider. That requires something on the certificate itself that enables the check.

On an Open CPD certificate, that is a unique secure verification link. Click it and you see:

• The provider’s name and OCPD Provider ID
• The learner’s name
• The course completed
• The Aims, Skills, and Outcomes of the training
• The CPD hours awarded
• The date of issue

No login required. No contacting the provider. The information is there, instantly, for anyone with the link. If a certificate does not have a verification link — or the link does not lead to a page that shows this information — the certificate is not verifiable in any meaningful sense.

The OCPD Provider ID

Every Open CPD member is issued an OCPD Provider ID when they sign the Open CPD Declaration. This ID is publicly checkable at open-cpd.com/verification.

Entering the Provider ID shows you:

• The provider’s registered name
• Their date of membership
• Whether their membership is currently active or lapsed

Active membership means the provider currently has live credits in the system and is actively issuing credentials. A lapsed status means their credits have expired and their Certificate of CPD Membership is no longer active — a prompt that membership requires ongoing commitment, not a one-time payment.

If a provider claims Open CPD membership, the OCPD Provider ID check will confirm or contradict that claim in seconds.

What accreditation logos do and do not tell you

Many CPD certificates carry logos from private accreditation bodies — CPDUK, the CPD Standards Office, the CPD Certification Service, and others. It is worth understanding what these logos represent and what they do not.

These organisations are private companies with no statutory or regulatory basis. They are not designated by the government, not recognised by Ofqual, and have no enforcement powers over training standards. They offer a mark — a logo — in exchange for an annual fee. The mark signals that the provider has paid to display it. It does not independently verify any specific certificate.

A logo on a certificate does not mean the certificate is genuine. Anyone could put a logo on a PDF. The logo is not a link, it does not carry metadata, and it does not connect back to any specific training event. Verification requires more than a mark.

Questions worth asking any training provider

Before accepting a certificate as evidence of learning, these questions help:

Can you verify this certificate? Is there a link on the certificate that confirms it is genuine? Can you check it right now without contacting anyone?

What framework did you use? A structured approach — Aims, Skills, and Outcomes — tells you the provider has thought about what the training delivers, not just that someone attended.

Who is the issuing provider? Is there a public profile you can look at? Are they identifiable and accountable?

What does the accreditation mark mean? If the certificate carries a logo from an accreditation body, find out whether that body has any regulatory basis — or whether it is a private company that charges for its mark.

For Open CPD certificates specifically

Every certificate issued through Open CPD carries a secure verification link, the provider’s OCPD Provider ID, the full Aims Skills and Outcomes of the training, and the number of CPD hours. The Certificate of CPD Membership held by every active Open CPD provider is a live document — it reflects their current standing, not a historical payment.

The framework is self-accreditation, not external accreditation. That means the provider takes responsibility for the quality of their training and signs a public Declaration committing to specific standards. The difference from a private accreditation mark is that the commitment is specific and the credential is independently verifiable — rather than a logo that cannot be checked against any particular certificate.

FAQ

Is Open CPD accreditation recognised by professional bodies?

Open CPD provides credential infrastructure — verifiable certificates with Aims, Skills, and Outcomes — that satisfies the evidence requirements of most professional body CPD frameworks. Bodies like the SRA, GDC, NMC, and many others require structured evidence of learning outcomes, not a specific accreditation mark. An Open CPD certificate provides exactly that. Whether a specific professional body formally endorses Open CPD varies — but the certificate’s structure satisfies what most frameworks require.

Can a certificate be faked?

A PDF can be edited. That is the problem with certificates that have no verification layer — they are only as trustworthy as the person presenting them. Open CPD certificates carry a secure verification link that returns information held independently on the platform — not something that can be altered in the PDF without the link failing to match. If the verification page shows different information from the certificate, the certificate has been altered.

What if the OCPD Provider ID check shows lapsed status?

A lapsed status means the provider’s credits have expired and their active membership is not current. Certificates issued while the membership was active are not retroactively invalidated — the credential was genuine when issued. Lapsed status means the provider is not currently issuing new credentials, not that past credentials are invalid.