What is CPD?
Continuing Professional Development commonly known as CPD, refers to the ongoing development of your knowledge and skills to ensure that you are competent to deliver legal services to your clients.
Keeping up to date with your CPD is one of the ways that we can ensure that you are competent to practise, maintaining the integrity of the profession and protecting the public.
We operate an outcomes focused scheme for most CILEx members, which means that through the CPD year, you should follow the process (pictured right) to identify your development needs and maintain and enhance your competence.
CPD submissions 2024
The CILEX CPD year runs annually from 1 October to the following 30 September.
The 2024 CPD year will remain open for updating on your myCRL or myCILEX portal* (via the `My CPD’ section) until 30th September 2024
If you think you might need additional time to meet your 2023 /2024 CPD obligations, please contact us at CPD@cilexregulation.org.uk by 31st August 2024 to request a CPD extension. Please provide your name, membership number and reason for your extension request within your email. We will then advise if the extension period can be granted.
If you have any queries regarding your CPD requirements for the current CPD year (2023 / 2024), please contact CPD@cilexregulation.org.uk
An up-to-date CPD record demonstrates that your skills and knowledge of the latest legal developments are current, helps you gain a competitive advantage and offers reassurance of a high-level service to your clients.
Recording your CPD is a regulatory requirement
As part of the CRL December 2021 CPD Regulations, members are required to record their CPD activities for the current year on the myCILEX portal (via the ‘My CPD’ section) by 30 September each year.
Recording CPD activities on the myCILEX portal is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply may result in the refusal or delay in the issue of Practising Certificates. In previous years, members who had missed the deadline, and were not compliant with the CPD regulations, were invited to submit a copy of their CPD records. CRL staff would upload the record into the portal. However, as we input over 1000 members CPD records manually last year (around 5% of the CILEX membership), we are considering the introduction of a FEE to cover the associated costs.
New CPD training resources from CILEX (2024)
CILEX have created a new collection of high quality digital CPD Practice Area Development Packages to help you meet your CPD targets.
These conveniently bundled packages have all the modules you need to meet your CPD requirements for your specialism (individual modules also available to fill any learning gaps you may have). Includes targeted ‘Hot Topic’ Modules, Legal Practice Modules and Practice Area Updates.
Dispensation
CILEx Regulation are able to offer CPD dispensations where a minimum period of six months has been spent out of employment within the CPD year, which annually runs from 1st October to the following 30th September. If you think you may be eligible for this dispensation, please contact CPD@cilexregulation.org.uk and advise us of your name and membership number and the dates of your break from employment. We can then assess your eligibility for having a dispensation applied to your CPD record.
Reduced number of outcomes
Are you an Advanced Paralegal member in the process of completing your Work Based Learning portfolio?
If so, you may be eligible for a reduction in the number of CPD outcomes you are required to record for the current CPD year. Please contact us at CPD@cilexregulation.org.uk to request this reduction.
CPD additional resources:
CPD Handbook for Associate Members
CPD Handbook for Non-Associate Members
CPD Regulations Schedule 1 December 2021
CILEX offer CPD Training (myCILEX login required)
The importance of professional ethics
CPD Top Tips for Success – 10 minute video
Your myCILEx account
Please note: The online CPD recording system is directly linked to your membership record, each time you add an entry to the online logbook, it will be automatically submitted and saved to your record. Therefore, there is no longer a requirement to tick a ‘submit’ button. At the end of the CPD year, your CPD record will be automatically closed by CILEx Regulation.
Your myCILEx account was changed in August 2019. If you have not logged into your account since before then, you will need to contact the CILEx Membership Team for assistance – 01234 841000 (select any option).
Who needs to do CPD?
The CPD scheme at CILEx Regulation applies to the following CILEx members:
- CILEX Paralegals (previously known as Associate members)
- CILEX Member/ Advanced Paralegals (previously known as Graduate members)
- Legal Accounts Members
- CILEX Fellows*
- Legal Accounts Executives
- CILEx Practitioners*
- CILEX Associate Prosecutors
* There are special requirements for CILEX Fellows and CILEx Practitioners who are practising advocates and holding advocacy rights.
It is a requirement of the Code of Conduct that if you fall within one of the above grades, then you must complete the CPD requirements each year.
If you don’t comply with your CPD requirements you will lose the rights, which attach to your grade of membership or authorisation status from 1 January of the next calendar. You won’t be able to use your grade title or designatory letters and, in the case of CILEX Fellows, CILEX Associate Prosecutors and individuals with practice rights, exercise any of those rights, until you bring your CPD record up to date.
Find out what the requirements are for you by clicking on your grade of membership:
CPD sampling
Each year, as part of the supervision of CILEx’s membership, CILEx Regulation samples the CPD returns from those members required to undertake CPD.
A random sample of 2.5 percent is selected from the member database and we request full CPD records for the preceding CPD year. We also reserve the right to request other CPD records on a risk basis. We review the records provided to ensure that the CPD requirements have been met.
If you are selected as part of the CPD sampling process, we will send you a request to forward your CPD record. This usually takes place in the final quarter of the year, following the end of the CPD year on 30 September. As a result, we recommend that you retain your CPD records for a period of two years following the closure of the CPD year.
CRL CPD Sampling Exercise Report – 2022-2023
If you have any queries regarding the CPD process, please contact us at cpd@cilexregulation.org.uk
