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Introduction to CPD and registrant requirements
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Continuing professional development (CPD) is a statutory requirement for all fully-qualified optometrists and dispensing opticians to ensure they keep their skills up-to-date and develop new ones in order to practise safely and protect their patients.
CPD is points-based and runs over a three-year cycle, with the current cycle running from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024.
You can find out more about CPD and what’s expected in our CPD guidance for registrants.
Registrant CPD requirements
Requirements for CPD differ by professional group:
CPD requirements for optometrists and dispensing opticians
The sections relate to CPD: a guide for registrants which should be read in conjunction with the below.
1. You must obtain a minimum of 36 CPD points from across the four core domains of Professionalism, Communication, Clinical practice, and Leadership and accountability (see point 4 below) during a cycle. The points requirement is adjusted pro rata for registrants joining part-way through a cycle.
2. You must achieve a minimum of 18 points through interactive CPD (see section 6).
3. We expect you to obtain at least six points per year but would encourage you to do more than this in order to spread your learning evenly across the three-year cycle.
4. You must cover each of the four core domains of Professionalism, Communication, Clinical practice, and Leadership and accountability by obtaining a minimum of one point in each
(see section 5).
5. You must participate in at least one peer review event (after which a reflection statement must be completed). A peer review event can either be a peer review delivered by a GOC CPD provider or a registrant-led peer review as part of a registrant’s self-directed CPD (see section 7).
6. You can participate in self-directed CPD provided that you obtain at least 18 points from GOC CPD providers (see section 8).
7. You must plan your personal development at the start of a cycle by creating a personal development plan in your MyCPD account (see section 4).
8. You must complete a reflective exercise with a peer based on your personal development plan by the end of a CPD cycle (see section 4).
CPD requirements for optometrists with an additional supply (AS), supplementary prescribing (SP) and/or independent prescribing (IP) specialty
The sections relate to CPD: a guide for registrants which should be read in conjunction with the below.
1. You must obtain a minimum of 54 CPD points in total during this cycle which includes:
a. a minimum of 36 CPD points from across the four core domains of Professionalism, Communication, Clinical practice, and Leadership and accountability (see point 4 below).
b. a minimum of 18 CPD points from the Specialty CPD domain (see point 4 below).
The points requirement is adjusted pro rata for registrants joining part-way through a cycle.
2. You must achieve a minimum 18 points through interactive CPD (see section 6).
3. We expect you to obtain at least six points per year, but we would encourage you to do more than this in order to spread your learning evenly across the three-year cycle.
4. You must cover the following domains:
a. each of the four core domains of Professionalism, Communication, Clinical practice, and Leadership and accountability by completing a minimum of one point in each (see section 5).
b. the Specialty CPD domain for AS/SP/IP (see section 5).
This may be achieved through self-directed CPD. See point 6 for further requirements.
5. You must participate in at least one peer review event for specialty CPD with peers with the same specialty registration (after which a reflection statement must be completed). A peer review event can either be a peer review delivered by a GOC CPD provider or a registrant-led peer review as part of a registrant’s self-directed CPD (see section 7).
6. You can participate in self-directed CPD provided that you obtain at least 18 points from GOC CPD providers (see section 8).
7. You must plan your personal development at the start of a cycle by creating a personal development plan in your MyCPD account (see section 4).
8. You must complete a reflective exercise with a peer based on your personal development plan by the end of a CPD cycle (see section 4).
CPD requirements for contact lens opticians
The sections relate to CPD: a guide for registrants which should be read in conjunction with the below.
1. You are required to obtain a minimum of 36 CPD points in total during this cycle which includes:
a. a minimum of 18 CPD points from across the four core domains of Professionalism, Communication, Clinical practice, and Leadership and accountability (see point 4 below).
b. a minimum of 18 CPD points obtained in the specialty CPD domain (see point 4 below).
The points requirement is adjusted pro rata for registrants joining part-way through a cycle.
2. You must achieve a minimum of 18 points through interactive CPD (see section 6).
3. We expect you to obtain at least six points per year, but we would encourage you to do more than this in order to spread your learning evenly across the three-year cycle.
4. You must cover:
a. each of the four core domains of Professionalism, Communication, Clinical practice, and Leadership and accountability by completing a minimum of one point in each (see section 5).
b. the specialty CPD domain for contact lens opticians (see section 5).
This may be achieved through self-directed CPD. See point six for further requirements.
5. You must participate in at least one peer review event for specialty CPD with peers with the same specialty registration or with an optometrist (after which a reflection statement must be completed). A peer review event can either be a peer review delivered by a GOC CPD provider or a registrant-led peer review as part of a registrant’s self-directed CPD (see section 7).
6. You can participate in self-directed CPD provided that you obtain at least 18 points from GOC CPD providers (see section 8).
7. You must plan your personal development at the start of a cycle by creating a personal development plan in your MyCPD account (see section 4).
8. You must complete a reflective exercise based on your personal development plan by the end
of a CPD cycle (see section 4).
CPD requirements for those wishing to relinquish specialty registration
Contact lens opticians or optometrists with AS/SP/IP specialty who wish to relinquish specialty registration should notify the GOC in the first instance.
If you wish to retain registration as a dispensing optician or optometrist, then you must obtain the minimum CPD requirements for that professional group.
Please note, your requirements will be adjusted if you join our register once the cycle has commenced.
You can find an accurate list of your CPD requirements, log points, and view your progress against meeting the requirements, on your MyCPD account. You can access this via MyGOC.
Webinars
At the start of the cycle, we hosted webinars to allow registrants to get to grips with the new scheme and how to use MyCPD. You can view them below: