Continuing Professional Development

All lighting professionals must demonstrate continuing professionalism and competence. Our programme of courses, seminars and events play a key role in helping lighting professionals maintain and update their existing skills, acquire new skills and progress their career. In this way, members can achieve their full potential, reach personal objectives, strengthen professional credibility and accelerate career development.

What is CPD?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) refers both to the development of new skills or knowledge and maintenance of existing knowledge and skills to ensure they remain up to date. CPD can be undertaken for personal or professional development.

What is IPD?

Initial Professional Development (IPD) refers to the development and practical application of the knowledge, skills and behaviour required for professional registration. Professional registration requires a range of experience across a number of competence areas. These will take time to develop, and a structured approach to your development will ensure that you are able to achieve registration at the right time in your career.

Why do we need CPD?

It is not possible to train for a career and expect that once qualified there is little more to learn. The growth of knowledge and competitive pressures, both social and economic, make it essential that an individual’s needs are continuously under review. Employers often require employees to be more flexible and many career opportunities require individuals to have broader education and training achievements.

In addition, there is increasing emphasis on competence. Many ILP members are required to exercise professional judgement, often on matters linked to health and safety and management.

Only someone who is able to demonstrate ongoing competence will be able to make a reasonable professional judgement. Recording evidence of CPD will demonstrate your CPD achievements and is evidence of both your continuing competence and your aim to realise your full potential.

CPD Action Plan

As an individual, you should identify CPD needs and detail the action required, taking into account:

Career intentions, short and long term
Levels of experience, skills and knowledge
Learning opportunities available
Your employer’s business objectives
Relevant personal interests
Guidelines and requirements of the ILP

ILP CPD Record

It is required that a summary of CPD is held, preferably using mycareerpath which can be found in your MyILP Portal.

Key activities in this process are:

Planning the CPD activities
Doing the CPD activities
Reflecting – recording Key Learning Points, Benefits & Achievements
Evaluation – evaluating the activity overall and how this meets the requirements of your CPD plan.

The ILP’s Requirements

It is an obligation of membership of the ILP that CPD is both planned and recorded.

The ILP recommends that you carry out regular reviews of your career aims and objectives and identify education, training and assessment needs.

You should ensure that you have evidence demonstrating that you have engaged in activities related to CPD amounting to at least 30 hours per year.

The ILP carries out random auditing of CPD on 25% of Engineering Council (EngC) registrants on an annual basis. If requested, you are obliged to provide your CPD records for audit. Failure to engage when asked to submit your records for audit, could result in loss of your EngC registration.

When seeking transfer to a higher class of membership, you must provide evidence of your CPD activities and a plan of your proposed CPD activities for the forthcoming twelve months.

Read the ILP CPD Policy