What is Reflective CPD?
Competence is maintained through proactive continuing professional development (CPD). Professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs) mandate CPD requirements through either inputs or outputs-based schemes.
- Inputs-based CPD – (or ‘hours-based’) requires practitioners to complete a set number of learning hours each year.
- Outputs-based CPD – shifts the focus to reflection, requiring practitioners to consider the impact of their learning on their practice.
Reflective CPD necessitates professionals to evaluate how professional development activities have influenced their work and the outcomes for clients.
Why Reflection Matters
CPD is most effective when it is a partnership between practitioner and employer, underpinned by a shared commitment to high professional standards. When CPD is thoughtfully linked to job roles and appraisals, it creates a virtuous cycle – the skills of the practitioner grow, businesses thrive, clients receive better service, and the standing of the profession is enhanced.
The first stop for CPD opportunities is usually a practitioner’s professional body. Rich opportunities for CPD is key to a compelling member offer. Research undertaken in 2020 by the Professional Association Research Network (PARN) assessed the impact of PSRB CPD schemes and how CPD is perceived by public. The research aimed to understand both the motivations behind engagement in CPD, whether it influenced public perception when engaging professional advice, and how its value is measured, communicated and understood by the professions and their consumers.
The research found that nearly 64% of professional bodies had not formally evaluated the impact of their CPD offerings. The benefits of CPD were assumed, rather than evidenced. Where measurement of impact did occur, it was at a practitioner level, rather than broader stakeholder outcomes.
PARN’s research, however, revealed a surprising level of engagement for the public. 48% of respondents understood what CPD was, and many indicated that engaging services they would prefer professionals who actively engaged with it.
The findings suggest CPD is under-communicated as a strategic asset in the professional body’s toolkit, and there’s a growing need to evaluate its real-world impact through the lens of public trust and professional credibility rather than limiting to part of the member offer.
The Regulator’s Perspective
The CPD schemes across the professions regulated under the Legal Services Act 2007 vary. Each regulator defines, assesses and ensures competency is maintained through its own frameworks, standards and CPD requirements. This results in a fragmented regulatory landscape. Yet the delivery of legal services is inherently multi-disciplinary, with practitioners operating within distinct regulatory frameworks which also share important commonalities. However, when CPD is not sufficiently valued or prioritised – whether by professional bodies failing to articulate the impact, or by firms not enabling the time and resources for professional development – the result is diminishing professional standards and poorer client outcomes.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) framework requires solicitors to reflect meaningfully on CPD and assess its impact. Since 2023, the SRA has published annual reports on how solicitors are maintaining competence.
Findings show persistent challenges: many practitioners still engage superficially with reflection. This creates risks not only to individual competence but also to public trust.
The message from the SRA is clear: reflective CPD is not optional. It is central to professional accountability. As the SRA’s continuing competence guidance states, practitioners must ‘reflect on the quality of their practice and identify and address learning and development needs in a planned and regular way’ (SRA, 2023).
Internationally, approaches vary. The American Bar Association and many US state bars still rely on an hours-based system, while in Canada the Law Society of Ontario has introduced hybrid requirements that combine mandatory hours with reflection. These examples show both the momentum toward outcomes-based models and the difficulty of achieving consistency across jurisdictions.
Moving Beyond Tick-Box Learning
The move toward reflective CPD was designed to shift the profession away from ‘tick-box’ compliance – annual hours logged without impact on practice. Reflection requires professionals to acknowledge uncertainty in their learning, to appraise mistakes critically, and to apply insights in practice while upholding ethical standards in complex real-world scenarios.
For practitioners, a simple framework can help to make reflection more effective:
- What did I learn?
- How has it changed my practice?
- What further development do I need?
These small but consistent steps move reflection from paperwork to practice, embedding competence in daily professional life.
Risks of Superficial Engagement
Despite its centrality, reflective CPD can still fall into superficiality if practitioners view it as an administrative burden rather than a learning opportunity. The SRA’s Annual Report shows too many solicitors complete CPD forms without demonstrating meaningful engagement with their development.
If left unaddressed, the risks are clear. Public trust may be undermined if clients believe CPD is a formality. Fragmentation between regulators may deepen as they adopt divergent approaches. And professional credibility may suffer if reflection is reduced to a compliance task rather than a driver of competence.
For regulators, the challenge is not only in mandating reflection but also in cultivating a culture that values it.
Lessons From Other Professions
This challenge is not unique to the legal sector. In medicine, the General Medical Council (GMC) requires doctors to demonstrate reflection as part of their revalidation process, with reflective notes explicitly protected from disclosure in malpractice proceedings. In accountancy, the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) introduced a new framework in 2023 requiring members to identify learning needs through reflection rather than relying solely on hours. Teaching has also embraced reflective practice, with the Chartered College of Teaching linking CPD to classroom impact.
Across sectors, the trend is clear – reflection sustains competence and builds public trust. The legal profession is not an outlier, but it does face particular pressures in demonstrating transparency and accountability to clients.
A Call to Action
Reflective CPD strengthens both competence and public trust. To unlock its full value, the legal profession must encourage deeper, more authentic engagement with reflective practice; promote public understanding of how CPD safeguards quality; align professional bodies around clearer, more consistent frameworks; and learn from international and cross-sector approaches that demonstrate reflection’s impact.
By doing so, CPD moves from being a regulatory obligation to a visible asset – one that enhances confidence in legal services and the profession as a whole.
In part two of this series, we explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping professional competence and CPD frameworks.
FAQs on Reflective CPD
- What is reflective CPD? – Reflective CPD focuses on learning outcomes and how professional development impacts practice, rather than just logging training hours.
- Why is reflective CPD important in the legal profession? – It ensures competence, builds public trust, and prevents CPD from becoming a tick-box exercise.
- How do regulators view reflective CPD? – Bodies such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority require meaningful reflection as part of their continuing competence frameworks.
