There is no national CPD hours requirement for teachers in England. No regulator sets a figure, and any provider telling you that teachers “must complete X hours a year” is inventing it. What actually drives teacher CPD is a combination of statutory safeguarding training, the Teachers’ Standards, your school’s appraisal cycle and — for early career teachers — the Early Career Framework. Meeting your obligations is about doing training that is relevant to your role and keeping a record of it, not about hitting a number.
At a glance: Nexis CPD offers £9 CPD-accredited online courses for school staff, with a verifiable e-certificate on passing — and any three courses cost £18.
What is actually required of teachers?
Four things create the real obligation, and only one of them is close to a fixed rule.
- Safeguarding training. Keeping Children Safe in Education is statutory guidance that schools and colleges in England must have regard to. All staff must receive safeguarding and child protection training at induction, and that training must be updated regularly. This is the closest thing to a hard requirement school staff face.
- The Teachers’ Standards. Part One expects teachers to take responsibility for improving their teaching through appropriate professional development and to keep their subject and pedagogical knowledge up to date.
- School appraisal and directed time. Maintained schools set aside INSET days and directed time for professional development. Your school, trust or college decides what that covers.
- The Early Career Framework. Early career teachers follow a structured two-year induction. That is a defined programme, not a free choice.
Notice what is missing: an hours target. There isn’t one.
Is it different outside England?
Yes, and it matters if you move or work across borders.
In Scotland, registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland involves Professional Update, a scheme linking your professional learning to the Teaching Standards with employer sign-off — a more formal cycle than anything in England. In Wales, teachers register with the Education Workforce Council and are supported by a Professional Learning Passport. Northern Ireland operates its own arrangements through the GTCNI.
The England position described in this article — no fixed hours — should not be assumed to apply elsewhere in the UK.
What counts as CPD for a teacher?
More than people think. Formal courses count, but so do lesson observation and feedback, coaching and mentoring, subject network meetings, moderation and standardisation, reading and research, and INSET.
What turns an activity into usable CPD is two things: relevance to your role, and a record. Most teachers do far more professional development than they can evidence, because they never write it down. An online course with a dated certificate has one clear advantage here — it produces the evidence automatically.
Which courses do school staff most often need?
Based on what schools actually buy, safeguarding dominates — and it is the area where the statutory expectation is clearest. A common combination for a teacher, TA or support staff member is:
- Safeguarding Children Level 1 — the foundation every member of school staff needs
- Safeguarding Children (Advanced) Level 2 — for those with greater responsibility, including those supporting the DSL
- Safeguarding Children with Disabilities — children with SEND face additional barriers to disclosure and are at higher risk
Those three together cost £18 rather than £27, because any three courses trigger the pay-for-2-get-3 offer. Add all three to the cart and the discount applies automatically.
Beyond safeguarding, school staff commonly add equality, diversity and inclusion, first aid, and — for those handling pupil records — data protection.
How should you record it?
Keep a simple running log with the date, the activity, roughly how long it took, and — the part that matters most — what you changed as a result. Reflection is what appraisers and inspectors look for. A list of certificates with no reflection is a filing cabinet, not professional development.
Store certificates somewhere you control rather than only in a school system you may lose access to when you move.
Frequently asked questions
How many CPD hours do teachers need in England?
There is no national CPD hours requirement for teachers in England. No regulator sets a figure. What applies instead is statutory safeguarding training under Keeping Children Safe in Education, the expectation in the Teachers' Standards that teachers keep their knowledge up to date, your school's appraisal and directed time arrangements, and the Early Career Framework for early career teachers. Any provider quoting a mandatory hours figure for English teachers is inventing it.
Is safeguarding training compulsory for school staff?
In effect, yes. Keeping Children Safe in Education is statutory guidance that schools and colleges in England must have regard to, and it requires all staff to receive safeguarding and child protection training at induction, updated regularly. It is the closest thing to a hard training requirement school staff face, which is why safeguarding is the most commonly purchased CPD in education.
Do teachers in Scotland and Wales have different requirements?
Yes. Scotland operates Professional Update through the General Teaching Council for Scotland, linking professional learning to the Teaching Standards with employer sign-off, which is a more formal cycle than anything in England. Teachers in Wales register with the Education Workforce Council and are supported by a Professional Learning Passport. Northern Ireland has its own arrangements through the GTCNI. Do not assume the England position applies elsewhere.
What counts as CPD for a teacher?
More than formal courses. Lesson observation and feedback, coaching and mentoring, subject network meetings, moderation and standardisation, reading and research, and INSET all count. What makes an activity usable as CPD is that it is relevant to your role and that you record it, including a note of what you changed as a result. Most teachers do far more development than they can evidence because they never write it down.
Can online courses count towards teacher CPD?
Yes, where the content is relevant to your role. An online course with a dated certificate has the practical advantage of producing evidence automatically. It does not replace the safeguarding training, induction and supervision your school must provide, nor role-specific training such as Designated Safeguarding Lead training, and your school decides what counts towards your appraisal.
CPD courses for school staff
Every Nexis CPD course is £9, CPD accredited by Assured CPD, fully online, and ends with a verifiable e-certificate carrying a unique ID and QR code an employer can check.
£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18.
This article is general information, not legal advice. A CPD awareness course is not a regulated qualification and does not replace the safeguarding training, induction and supervision your school must provide, nor role-specific training such as Designated Safeguarding Lead training. Whether a particular activity counts towards your professional development is a matter for your school, trust or — outside England — your registration body. Always follow your school’s safeguarding policy and KCSIE.