The professional climate is changing. Increasing regulation, higher ethical standards and greater transparency are all being asked of professionals and the organisations that they represent. The Institute recognises the importance of retaining public confidence and further raising standards of delivery of advice and guidance linked to learning and work. It is vital to ensure that the profession is able to guarantee the public the degree of professionalism they expect.

The Institute has produced a CPD Framework that will ensure that continuous professional development for career guidance professionals and their employers builds appropriately on initial qualification, is fully integrated with practice, and underpinned by reflective practice. It provides a flexible structure for the planning, recording, assessment and accreditation of CPD that individuals undertake both formally e.g. courses and conferences, and more informally such as reading professional journals and work shadowing.

The Framework assumes a great deal about the centrality of CPD to reflective practice and evidence-based practice. It was developed in conjunction with the Professional Development Committee and the Ethics and Standards Committee, and is based on identified examples of good practice from the CPD Frameworks and Schemes of a variety of professional associations

The Framework will

• Encourage career guidance practitioners to undertake and record their Continuous Professional Development
• Encourage employers of career guidance practitioners to support them in continuously updating their skills and knowledge, and record that they have done so
• Provide a methodology by which members can record their CPD in a way that can be measured, assessed and recognised
• Provide the means by which practitioners can meet the CPD criteria for joining the Register of Career Guidance Practitioners.