CPD Points, Hours and Credits: What to Put on Your Certificates

CPD points, hours and credits: the short answer

CPD points, CPD hours and CPD credits all measure learning time, and in most frameworks one hour equals one point or one credit. For a training provider, the useful question is which figure to put on a certificate and how to show it can be trusted.

The provider sets the figure, because no central body assigns it. The strongest certificate states the hours, says what the learner worked towards, and can be checked online by an employer or professional body.

To work out the figure for a course, see what CPD hours are and how providers calculate them. This post covers the terminology, which professional bodies use which unit, and what to put on a certificate.

CPD Points and CPD Hours: What Is the Difference?

CPD points and CPD hours are different measurement systems for the same thing — learning time and effort. One system counts duration in hours; the other converts that duration into a numerical point value. In practice, 1 CPD hour typically equals 1 CPD point in most frameworks, which means the distinction is largely cosmetic.

Some professional bodies use CPD credits instead, adding a third label to an already fragmented landscape. Whether a body calls it a point, an hour, or a credit, the underlying intention is the same: to give professionals and their employers a rough quantitative record of learning activity over a given period.

The important word there is “rough”. These figures capture duration, not depth. A three-hour course that changes how someone practises their profession and a three-hour course that does not are recorded identically if you measure only time.

Which Professional Bodies Use Which System?

There is no universal standard governing how CPD is measured or recorded. Different regulatory and professional bodies have made their own choices, and those choices have not been harmonised.

CIPD uses hours as its unit of measurement for HR and learning professionals. The RCN uses hours for nursing CPD requirements. The FCA uses hours when setting continuing professional development expectations for financial services professionals. These are three entirely separate sectors, each arriving independently at the same unit — which tells you something about how organic and uncoordinated the development of CPD measurement has been.

Some bodies in legal, engineering, and healthcare sectors have adopted points or credits, sometimes with different conversion rates or with distinctions between structured and unstructured learning. If you are delivering CPD to professionals across more than one sector, you need to check what each relevant body actually requires rather than assuming the labels are interchangeable.

Where Did CPD Points Come From?

The origins of CPD as a formal requirement are reasonably well documented — the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is often cited as one of the earliest UK bodies to formalise it in the 1960s and 70s. But the specific invention of CPD points as a quantification mechanism is less clear. The origins are contested, with different professional bodies and academic institutions claiming early adoption at roughly the same period through the 1980s and 1990s.

At Open CPD, questions about who invented CPD points come up when providers are trying to understand whether there is a single authoritative standard they should be aligning with. The honest answer is that there is not. CPD points were invented by professional bodies to quantify learning, and because each body developed its own approach independently, what you are left with is a patchwork of conventions rather than a coherent system.

That is not necessarily a problem, provided everyone involved understands what the numbers do and do not represent.

What Actually Matters: Structured Learning Outcomes

The number of points or hours attached to a course is a proxy measure. What matters is not the points but the structured learning outcomes — specifically, what a course sets out to achieve in terms of Aims, Skills, and Outcomes.

Aims describe the purpose of the learning. Skills identify what the learner will be able to do as a result. Outcomes define what demonstrable change in knowledge, competence, or behaviour should follow. A course built around those three elements has a defensible educational rationale. A course described only by its duration does not.

This is where a certificate can do more. When a provider states the hours and also records the aims, skills and outcomes, the certificate shows what was learned as well as who attended. Professional bodies increasingly recognise this, which is why many have shifted from requiring a set number of hours to requiring reflective records that demonstrate how learning was applied.

How Open CPD Handles Hours and Certificates

The Open CPD platform allows providers to set CPD hours per course when they are building and self-accrediting their content. That figure is set by the provider based on the actual contact and study time involved — it is not assigned arbitrarily or inflated to appear more substantial.

When a learner completes a course, the verifiable certificates include CPD hours earned alongside the course title, the provider’s details, and a unique verification reference. The certificate can be checked by an employer, a professional body, or a regulator without needing to contact the provider directly.

The hours figure on the certificate is one data point. The more meaningful information is what the course covered, what it was designed to achieve, and whether the provider has articulated that clearly through defined Aims, Skills, and Outcomes. Those elements are part of what Open CPD asks providers to complete when they set up a course — not because it is a bureaucratic requirement, but because it is what makes the certificate worth holding.

CPD points and hours are useful shorthand. They give professionals a way to track and report their learning activity, and they give employers and regulators a minimum benchmark to work with. But they are only meaningful when the learning behind them has been properly designed. The number is the last thing to worry about; the structure of the learning is the first.

Quick answers

Is one CPD point the same as one CPD hour?

In most frameworks, yes: one hour of active learning is recorded as one point or one credit. Some professional bodies apply their own conversion, so check the rules for your learners' profession.

Which should I put on a certificate, points or hours?

Use the unit the learner's professional body uses. If several bodies apply, show the hours, which every body can read, and add the points or credits equivalent where one is required.

What should a CPD certificate show?

The learner's name, the course title, the hours awarded, the date, the provider's details and a way to check it is genuine. A certificate issued through Open CPD carries a unique verification reference that anyone can check online.

Does a provider need approval to award CPD points?

In the UK and most countries, no central regulator approves CPD points or hours, so a provider can document and award them through self-accreditation. Some professions have their own rules, so check the requirements for your learners.