Our mission: To promote transparency, professional standards and informed choice in the CPD Accreditation Sector.
An independent Certification Body for the UK CPD Accreditation sector
The CPD Register is an independent Certification Body operating under UK Intellectual Property Office Certification Mark status, granted in January 2025. We operate a voluntary certification scheme for CPD Accreditation Organisations, against published standards.
Certification with The CPD Register is a voluntary, third-party standard, comparable in structure to other voluntary certification schemes such as ISO certification or B Corp certification. It is not a statutory regulatory function, and no body in the UK currently holds statutory regulatory authority over CPD accreditation.
We do four things:
We set voluntary standards for CPD Accreditation Organisations. Our Criteria for Recognition and Conditions for Certification are published in full and set out what CPD Accreditation Organisations must demonstrate to be certified by The CPD Register.
We certify organisations that meet those standards. Organisations that apply for certification undergo an assessment process including documentary review, site visits, and evaluation against the published criteria. Certification is granted on the basis of independent assessment against the published framework and is subject to annual compliance monitoring.
We publish a public register of CPD Accreditation Organisations operating in the UK market. Our listings record verifiable factual observations about each organisation, sourced from Companies House, regulatory registers, and the organisations' own published material. The listings enable CPD Training Providers and consumers to access structured, sourced information about the sector as part of their own due diligence.
We investigate concerns raised by CPD consumers and training providers. Where individuals or organisations contact us with specific concerns about a CPD course, CPD accreditation, or CPD accreditation organisation, we carry out an independent investigation and provide a written report of our findings and recommendations. We are not a regulator and cannot take formal enforcement action, but our investigations have contributed to regulatory outcomes through referrals to bodies such as the Advertising Standards Authority, Trading Standards, Police, and Local Authorities. Full details, including the investigation process and timescales, are available on our Investigate page.
For clarity, and in line with the conventions of other certification bodies:
The CPD Register operates in research partnership with Middlesex University. Our Research and Development function includes doctoral research into CPD quality, standardisation, and consumer protection in the accreditation sector. Research findings inform the development of our published criteria.
Where we identify CPD Accreditation Organisations making claims that may not be substantiable under the UK Advertising Standards Authority's CAP Code, we raise those concerns through the established regulatory route — typically by submitting a complaint to the ASA. We do not claim to enforce standards beyond our own voluntary certification framework, but we engage actively with the regulatory bodies that do hold enforcement authority.
Our published listings record the fact of any upheld regulatory rulings against listed organisations, with a direct link to the regulator's own published record. We do not characterise, summarise, or interpret such rulings — the regulator's own published decision is the authoritative source.
Organisations can apply via our https://thecpdregister.com/cpd-accreditation-providers. Applications are assessed against our published Criteria for Recognition and Conditions for Certification.
Organisations that believe information on their listing is inaccurate or out of date can contact us at [email protected] with the specific correction requested and supporting evidence. We review and update listings within five working days of receiving evidenced corrections.
Complaints about practices at listed organisations should be directed to the relevant regulator — typically the Advertising Standards Authority for advertising matters, Trading Standards for consumer protection issues, or the Information Commissioner's Office for data protection concerns. Where regulatory rulings are subsequently published, we record them on the relevant listing.
For full detail of how we operate, the following documents are published in full on this site:
For all enquiries, please contact us at [email protected].
The CPD Register Ltd is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 13075495). Our registered office is International House, 6 South Molton Street, London.
