Is Open CPD recognised, and what can I say about it?
The short answer
You can say your training is accredited through Open CPD, or powered by Open CPD. CPD has no official regulator, so every accreditor sets its own standards. With Open CPD you set yours and publish them, and every certificate can be checked online. Your own brand and reputation give the certificate its weight; Open CPD gives it a recognised, checkable home.
What an Open CPD certificate is
Evidence that learning took place, issued by you, in your name, with your standards behind it. Every certificate has a permanent record and a link that anyone can use to check it, with no login and no personal details shown.
How self-accreditation works
CPD is not regulated anywhere, and there is no official accrediting body. The organisations that describe themselves as accreditors have appointed themselves, each with its own standards.
Open CPD takes a different route. You publish your own aims, skills and outcomes for every course, so a reader can see exactly what you stand behind, and you sign the Open CPD Charter, whose eight principles set out what responsible recognition looks like.
Open CPD does not check your training, because you publish it. The certificate is the evidence that the learning took place, and your own brand, evidence and reputation are what give it credibility.
What you can say, and how to say it
| You can say | Please do not say |
|---|---|
| Accredited through Open CPD | Accredited by Open CPD |
| Powered by Open CPD | Approved, validated or endorsed by Open CPD |
| Every certificate can be verified online | That a named insurer, employer or professional body accepts the certificates, unless you hold that agreement yourself |
The line sits there because Open CPD provides the system and you provide the standards. Wording that suggests Open CPD vouches for your training would describe something Open CPD does not do.
Using the Open CPD logo
The “Powered by Open CPD” badge and the other logos are free to use on your website, social media, marketing and printed material. They go on certificates only when those certificates are issued through the Open CPD platform, because that is the only place verification can work. Please use the logos as supplied, without altering them. Logo rules and downloads.
Recognition in other countries and professions
CPD is recognised by the people who rely on it: employers, professional bodies and clients. Whether a particular one accepts a certificate is its own decision, in any country, so Open CPD does not promise acceptance.
What a learner can show is a certificate that is named, dated, written in outcomes and checkable in seconds, which is what most reviewers look for first. If you know the body or employer your learners need to satisfy, ask what it requires and compare that with what the certificate carries.
Check one yourself
Do not take our word for it. This is a real certificate issued by a demonstration provider, Riverbank Training Ltd, and the verification page checks any certificate ID.
This is what your profile could look like
Every Open CPD provider gets a public profile page. It is part of your marketing: you can share it, anyone can check it, and every certificate you issue links back to it. The one below belongs to Riverbank Training Ltd, our demo company.
Next, see what buying actually looks like
A two-minute film, a real certificate and a walk through what you see after you buy.