CPD Verification Service - The CPD Register Review

Commercial Identification and Contactability

CPD Verification Service publishes a physical address of 66 Garstons Way, Holybourne, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 4BQ across all pages of its website. The postcode GU34 4BQ is a residential address. Two telephone numbers are disclosed appearing in the site-wide footer, and on the Contact page. An email address is provided on all pages.

The website does not disclose the legal identity of the person operating under the trading name. No individual's name, legal form, or indication that the business is operated as a sole trader appears anywhere on the website or in its footer.

The ICO register confirms that the data controller registered at this address, trading as CPD Verification Service, is Mr Neal Anthony Dix (ICO registration reference ZB623063). This identity is not disclosed on the website.

The operator's name not being published on the website is a material transparency gap. The Companies Act 2006 (sections 1200–1206) requires any business using a trading name to disclose the legal name of the person or entity behind that name on its website, in commercial correspondence, and at its place of business. This requirement applies to sole traders as well as limited companies. A prospective customer cannot currently identify the individual with whom they would be contracting from the website alone.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/contact.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: ICO register, registration reference ZB623063 — accessed 11 May 2026

Transparency of Assessment Framework

The website describes the organisation as reviewing and benchmarking learning services "against our rigorous assessment process, with a clear focus on learning outcomes and core learning objectives." The Our Services page states that the expert panel ensures materials meet "a professional standard" and that verification is "benchmarked across organisations to our standards."

No published assessment framework, standards document, or criteria specification is accessible anywhere on the website. There is no dedicated standards or criteria page, no downloadable document, and no description of the specific requirements against which a course or learning intervention is evaluated. The site does not describe what applicants must submit, what the assessment process involves, or how outcomes are determined.

Without a published framework, training providers cannot establish in advance what their materials will be assessed against, and consumers cannot evaluate what CPD Verification Service accreditation represents in terms of content or learning outcomes. This falls below the good practice standard in The CPD Register's methodology, which requires assessment criteria to be publicly accessible without login or payment.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-costs--process.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Pricing Transparency

Pricing is disclosed publicly on the Our Costs & Process page and is consistent with the information on the Our Services page. The following fees are stated without requiring login or prior contact:

Annual membership fee: £200
Per-activity verification fee: £100 (described as a one-off fee per development activity)
Participant certificates: £10 per certificate
E-certificate licence: £250 per year

The website notes that for larger volumes of activities, the organisation will work with clients to keep costs down, indicating that bespoke pricing may be available in some circumstances. This is a standard commercial caveat and does not constitute a transparency concern.

All three service tiers — membership, verification, and certification — are described in terms of both scope and cost without requiring prior registration or a sales conversation. This represents satisfactory pricing transparency for this criterion.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-costs--process.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Terms and Conditions

The website does not publish terms and conditions for its accreditation services. The only legal document accessible is a Privacy Policy, linked from the footer of every page. This document addresses data handling only and does not constitute service terms.

No terms of engagement, accreditation agreement, cancellation or refund policy, intellectual property provisions, conditions for withdrawal of accreditation, or dispute resolution procedure are published anywhere on the website.

The absence of published service terms means that prospective customers cannot review the contractual basis of engagement before applying. This falls below the standard set out in The CPD Register's methodology for this criterion and is relevant to consumer information requirements under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026 (footer navigation reviewed — no terms and conditions link present)
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/policy — accessed 11 May 2026

Individual Course Assessment

The website states that each learning intervention is assessed individually. The Our Costs & Process page states that each development activity is applied for individually, with a verification fee of £100 per activity. The Our Services page is consistent with this, stating that each development activity should be applied for individually.

The three-tier service model — membership registration, individual activity verification, and participant certification — is structured in a way that is consistent with course-level rather than blanket provider-level accreditation.

No publicly accessible register of verified activities or accredited courses is available on the website. Consumers cannot therefore independently confirm whether a specific course they are considering holds current verified status. The CPD Register's methodology identifies a verifiable public register of accredited courses as good practice for this criterion.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-costs--process.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Review and Renewal

The website does not publish a defined review or renewal cycle for verified learning activities. The annual membership fee of £200 implies that membership is renewed on a yearly basis, but no information is provided about whether verified learning interventions are re-assessed on a defined cycle, or what process applies if course content changes materially following initial verification.

The absence of a disclosed review cycle means prospective customers cannot assess whether verifications are subject to ongoing quality assurance, or whether a verification granted at a point in time remains meaningful in subsequent years. This falls below the good practice standard set out in The CPD Register's methodology for this criterion.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-costs--process.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Sale of Training Courses or Materials

No evidence was found on the website that CPD Verification Service sells its own training courses or training materials. The website presents the organisation solely as a provider of accreditation and verification services to other organisations. The CPD Benefits page addresses the value of CPD for employers, employees, customers, and learning providers, but does not market any proprietary training products.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/cpd-benefits.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Financial Relationships with Third-Party Service Providers

No financial relationships with third-party service providers — such as affiliate arrangements, referral fees, or commercial partnerships — are disclosed on the website. No sponsored or recommended suppliers are listed. No evidence of undisclosed financial relationships with third parties was identified during this review.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026 (all pages reviewed)

Ownership or Control Relationships with Aligned Commercial Interests

The ICO register confirms the operator is Mr Neal Anthony Dix, a sole trader. The About Us page identifies three named individuals as constituting the assessment panel: Dr John Beer OBE (described as having a background in Local Government and social care, and currently chairing two charities), Caroline Goulton (described as a teacher and literacy specialist), and Neal Dix (described as a Learning and Development professional). Neal Dix is the same individual confirmed as the sole trader operator by the ICO register.

No information is provided on the website about whether any panel member holds commercial interests in organisations that might submit courses for accreditation, or about what conflict-of-interest policies are in place. The operator serving simultaneously as sole trader, commercial operator, and named panel member is a structural arrangement that is not addressed in the organisation's published materials.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/about-us.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: ICO register, registration reference ZB623063 — accessed 11 May 2026

Consistency of Filings with Advertised Activity

The ICO register (reference ZB623063) confirms the data controller as Mr Neal Anthony Dix, trading as CPD Verification Service, at 66 Garstons Way, Holybourne, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 4BQ. The registered address is consistent with the address published on the website across all pages. The ICO registration was made on 6 November 2023 and is current, with expiry on 5 November 2026.

As the operator is a sole trader, there are no Companies House filings against which advertised activity can be assessed. No inconsistency between the ICO record and the website's advertised activity was identified.

Source: ICO register, registration reference ZB623063 — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026

Companies House Status

CPD Verification Service is operated by Mr Neal Anthony Dix as a sole trader. Sole traders are not required to register with Companies House, and no limited company corresponding to this trading name or operator has been identified. The absence of a Companies House record is not a finding of concern in itself; sole trader status is a lawful form of business operation.

Source: ICO register, registration reference ZB623063 — accessed 11 May 2026

Website Status

The website at https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ was active and serving recognisable commercial content at the time of this review. All pages assessed — homepage, Our Costs & Process, Our Services, About Us, Contact, and Privacy Policy — loaded and returned expected content. The site appears to be hosted on the Weebly platform.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026

Regulatory Rulings and Public Enforcement Records

No published rulings, decisions, or enforcement actions against CPD Verification Service or Mr Neal Anthony Dix were found in searches of the Advertising Standards Authority, the Information Commissioner's Office, or other regulatory and enforcement bodies at the time of this review. The ICO registration (reference ZB623063) is current and in good standing.

Source: ASA rulings search — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: ICO register, registration reference ZB623063 — accessed 11 May 2026

Distinguishing CPD from Regulated Qualifications

The website does not use the language of regulated qualifications. Terms such as Level 2, Level 3, Diploma, Qualification, or equivalent regulated qualification terminology are not employed in the organisation's marketing materials. The service is consistently described as verification, accreditation, and certification of CPD learning activities, which is distinct from the regulated qualifications framework overseen by Ofqual and equivalent bodies.

The CPD Benefits page describes participant certificates as being able to "enhance your reputation and CV," but no claim is made that certificates represent regulated qualifications, and no qualification level or awarding body recognition is implied. No concern regarding conflation of CPD accreditation with regulated qualifications was identified at the time of this review.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/cpd-benefits.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Unsubstantiated Claims

The following claims on the website are not supported by publicly accessible evidence and warrant scrutiny for substantiation purposes:

"Rigorous assessment process"
The homepage and About Us page describe the assessment process as rigorous. No published criteria, standards document, or methodology is available against which this characterisation can be evaluated. The claim is not verifiable from publicly accessible information.

"Team of expert CPD practitioners"
The homepage refers to a team of expert CPD practitioners. The About Us page identifies three named panel members. Their professional backgrounds are in Local Government and social care (Dr John Beer OBE), education and dyslexia assessment (Caroline Goulton), and Learning and Development (Neal Dix). The basis on which these backgrounds constitute specific expertise in CPD accreditation methodology is not explained.

"Independent accreditation"
The About Us page states that because CPD is verified independently, organisations can be confident that learners have achieved CPD through impartial means. The structural basis for independence is not explained. The operator, Mr Neal Anthony Dix, is both the sole trader running the commercial enterprise and a named member of the assessment panel. No governance arrangements, conflict-of-interest policy, or separation of commercial and assessment functions are described anywhere on the website.

"Quality across all organisations"
The Our Services page states that the expert panel ensures quality is maintained across all organisations. No published quality assurance framework, consistency methodology, or inter-rater reliability process is described, making this claim unverifiable.

These claims, if used in advertising, would require substantiation under CAP Code rule 3.1 (Substantiation) and rule 3.7 (Truthfulness). None can be verified from the organisation's publicly accessible materials at the time of this review.

Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/ — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/about-us.html — accessed 11 May 2026
Source: https://www.cpdverificationservice.com/our-services.html — accessed 11 May 2026

Further Information about this organisation

Website

https://cpdverificationservice.com/

Companies House Number

Not applicable — operator is a sole trader (Mr Neal Anthony Dix). No limited company registration.

Companies House Incorporation Date

Not applicable

ICO Number

ZB623063

ICO Registration Date

6th November 2023

Physical Office Published

Yes — 66 Garstons Way, Holybourne, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 4BQ (residential)

Telephone

Yes

Live Chat

Pricing Published

Yes

Accreditation Criteria Published

Activities Individually Accredited

Yes — stated

Review Frequency

Not disclosed

Last Updated

11th May 2026

Disclaimer

We do our best to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date. If you are part of the above-mentioned organisation and some of the information, we have found is inaccurate please contact us at [email protected] so we can rectify this for you.

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