CPD Audit and Audit Deferral FAQs

Continuing Professional Development - Audit FAQs

1. Will I be called for audit automatically?

No. Only a percentage of the eligible register will be requested to submit their record as part of a random audit.

2. Can a particular group be called in the audit?

Yes. Registration Boards reserve the right to target a particular group of practitioners or an individual at any time.

3. Can I only be called for audit at the end of a CPD cycle?

No. Registration Boards reserve the right to target a particular group of practitioners or an individual at any time. For this reason, it is imperative that CPD is completed on an ongoing basis and an up to date record is maintained.

Dates of the audit period for your profession are available on profession specific CPD pages on the CORU website.

4. Are there any exemptions from the routine audit?

Only those who have been on the register for the full audit period will be eligible to be called for routine audit.

Those who join the register mid period should engage with CPD without delay in order to be compliant with their Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics, but will be ineligible to be called for the random audit.

5. How will I know if I have been called for audit?

All registrants who are being called for an audit will be contacted directly. If you have not been contacted, you have not been called.

6. Once I have been called for audit, how long do I have to submit my CPD record?

Registrants who have been called for audit will be given 30 days to submit their record for review.

7. Can I defer an audit?

Registrants are expected to engage in CPD as a requirement under their Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. However, in recognition of personal circumstance, we understand that it may not always be possible to comply with the requirement to participate in CPD audit.

These circumstances may include maternity/adoptive leave/other statutory leave or long-term illness. Requests for deferral can be made to the Registration Board following request to participate in CPD audit and will be considered on a case by case basis. There is no guarantee that requests to defer audit will be successful. Those accepted for deferral will automatically be selected in the next round of audits. See audit deferral specific questions below.

8. How can I request a deferral of audit?

Deferrals may only be requested following a notification of selection for CPD Audit.

You will have 30 working days to submit your deferral request form from the date that you have been selected for audit. You may request a deferral through the registrant portal.

9. My application for deferral of audit has been granted - what next?

You will automatically be called for audit in the next audit for your profession.

10. Who will assess my CPD record?

The purpose of audit is to satisfy that a registrant has a system and process in place to keep their professional knowledge and skills up to date. The audit will look at a registrant’s record of CPD. The review of CPD records will be conducted by the CORU executive with expertise in CPD.

11. Will my CPD record be returned to me?

No. All CPD records and deferral requests will be deleted from the registrant system following the completion of a CPD audit in line with CORU’s Data Retention Policy.

12. What are the possible outcomes of an audit?

A review of your CPD record could result in one of two outcomes. Either you are deemed compliant or non-compliant.

A registrant may be deemed non-compliant if they fail to engage with their Registration Board having being selected for CPD Audit, fail to submit a CPD Record and have not been granted a deferral by their Registration Board or if there are concerns raised regarding their fitness to practice as a result of information disclosed on their CPD record.

Further information on CPD Audit Guidelines will be available in due course.

13. Can I be selected again for audit if I have already been deemed compliant?

Yes. The random nature of sampling could select a registrant more than once to participate in audit. All registrants who have been on the register for the audit period are eligible to be called.

14. Do I need to submit supporting documentation with my CPD Record?

Registrants are not required to submit supporting documentation, for example certificates, case studies or minutes of meetings. CORU’s CPD Record Template is the only document that we require registrants selected for audit to submit.

Registrants should however maintain supporting documentation as evidence of engagement in CPD for their own records.

Further information on completing CORU's CPD Record Template is available as a visual aid here.

PLEASE NOTE: Registrants will no longer be required to submit the CORU CPD Audit template as part of the CPD Audit. This template remains available on the CORU website as a recording tool for registrants to populate the relevant fields on the CPD Audit section of the registrant portal.

The fields required to be populated on the registrant system for CPD audit correspond to the fields on the CPD Record template.

Registrants can copy and paste the information they have recorded on their CPD Record template into the relevant fields on the registrant system.

15. What are the Executive looking for when reviewing a record?

The CPD record should include your

Implementation of learning activities that achieved 30 CPD credits of new or enhanced learning
Evaluation and reflection of the learning achieved
Review of learning needs for the next 12-month period
Planned learning activities for the next 12-month period

16. I am not able to meet the deadline for submission of my CPD record due to exceptional circumstances that have arisen unexpectedly - what should I do?

If due to personal circumstances, you are unable to submit your CPD record or meet the submission deadline you should request a deferral via the registrant portal.

17. What feedback will I receive on my CPD records?

Registrants will be informed of compliance by their Registration Board. A registrant may be deemed compliant or non-compliant. There is no scope for CORU or a Registration Board to give qualitative feedback on a registrants CPD record.

18. I have more questions about CPD. Where can I find more information?

Registrants are advised to read the CPD Guidance and CPD Support issued by their Registration Board on the CORU website for more information about CPD.

Specific queries can be emailed to cpd@coru.ie.

19. I need help with completing my CPD Record Template. Where can I find more information?

There is a CORU Registrant Guide to Completing CPD Audit available here on the CORU website.

There is also a step-by-step video to submitting a CPD Audit available here on the CORU website.

CORU has produced a visual aid to support registrants selected for CPD audit, to assist them in completing the CPD record template that can be used to populate the required information on the registrant portal if called for audit. All registrants selected for audit are advised to view the video ahead of completing their CPD record for audit. The video is available to view here.

PLEASE NOTE: The CPD record template referred to in the video is no longer required to be submitted as part of the CPD Audit. This template remains available on the CORU website as a recording tool for registrants to populate the relevant fields on the CPD Audit section of the registrant portal.

The fields required to be populated on the registrant system for CPD audit correspond to the fields on the CPD Record template.

Registrants can copy and paste the information they have recorded on their CPD Record template into the relevant fields on the registrant system.

Continuing Professional Development - Audit Deferral FAQs

1. Can I defer an audit?

Registrants are expected to engage in CPD as a requirement under their Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. However, in recognition of personal circumstances, we understand that it may not always be possible to comply with the requirement to participate in CPD audit.

These circumstances may include maternity/adoptive leave/other statutory leave or long-term illness. Requests for deferral can be made to the Registration Board following request to participate in CPD audit and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. There is no guarantee that requests to defer audit will be successful. Those accepted for deferral will automatically be selected in the next audit.

2. How can I request a deferral of audit?

Deferrals may only be requested following a notification of selection for CPD Audit. You will have 30 working days to submit your deferral request from the date that you have been selected for audit. You may request a deferral through the registrant portal.

3. Can I submit supporting documentation with my deferral request?

Additional documentation is not required. If you do submit any additional documentation, it will be destroyed and will not be presented to the Board as part of your request.

4. How do I request a deferral from CPD?

On the registrant system select the ‘CPD Audit’ tab on the left-hand side of the screen. Select the ‘No’ option to request an audit deferral, select the reason for deferral and provide relevant details where required.

5. When will I know the Board’s decision?

Your deferral request will be presented to the Board at their next meeting. Once the Registration Board have made a decision, you will be informed by email with advice on what the next steps are. Please note, dependant on meeting schedules it may take up to eight weeks before you receive a decision following submission of your deferral request.

6. My deferral request was refused, what do I do now?

You will have 30 working days from the date of notification of refusal to submit your completed CPD record.

7. My deferral request was accepted, what do I do now?

You will automatically be called for the next audit, you should continue to engage in CPD until the next Audit period for your profession.

8. Will I be audited for the same period if my deferral request is accepted?

No. You will be audited on the new audit period if your deferral request is accepted.

9. I want to appeal the refusal of my deferral request. What do I do?

If you wish to appeal the Registration Board’s decision, you can contact cpdaudit@coru.ie for more information on the appeals process.