CPD Cheat Sheet for Social Workers - printable version

Recording Your CPD — Cheat Sheet and Templates Free Download

Every registered social worker in England must record a minimum of two pieces of continuing professional development (CPD) each year as part of renewing their registration with Social Work England. At least one of those entries must include a peer reflection. Miss the 30 November deadline and the registration lapses — which means losing the legal right to practise.

This cheat sheet and template pack takes the overwhelm out of CPD. Whether recording a training session, a podcast listened to on the commute, a documentary, a supervision conversation, or a book read years ago — this guide shows exactly how to turn genuine learning into a CPD record that is reflective, evidenced, and genuinely useful.

What's inside:

• A plain-English breakdown of what CPD actually is and why it matters beyond ticking a box
• Social Work England's Professional Standard 4 requirements explained clearly — all eight indicators
• What counts as CPD — formal training, self-directed learning, peer discussion, everyday practice moments and more
• How peer reflection works and what it should look like in practice
• Two original reflective frameworks to structure any CPD entry — the MAPS Reflective Model and the GROW-TH Reflective Model (George, T., 2026)
• Five fully completed CPD examples using the One Stop Social Work templates — showing what a strong entry looks like at every stage of the form
• A short CPD recording template — one holistic reflection covering all relevant Standard 4 indicators
• A detailed CPD recording template — structured question by question, with colour-coded prompts for each Standard 4 indicator
• A full Harvard reference list for all sources cited

Who this is for:

Student social workers preparing for qualified practice. Newly qualified social workers navigating their first registration renewal. Qualified social workers who find CPD recording a last-minute scramble. Practice educators who want to model good reflective practice to students. Anyone who does the learning but struggles to write it up.

Free to download, share and use. Print it off. Take it to your next training. Record CPD as it happens — not as a task to do later.