Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills and the development of personal qualities for the performance of professional practice throughout professional working life.

What does CPD mean for RBSLI?

The spirit of the RBSLI Code of Ethics is in keeping with the above definition and aims of CPD for the achievement of successful interpreting outcomes.

What is the status of CPD for RBSLI Registrants?

RBSLI’s current CPD system is compulsory. RBSLI is committed to promoting continuing professional development and requires all registrants to pursue CPD and maintain their yearly Record. The RBSLI CPD system is designed to support registrants to log and monitor their personalised CPD activities.

What is CPD for RBSLI Registrants?

Registrants are able to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to maintaining and enhancing their skills on their public searchable profile. Evidence of ‘fully achieved’ (18 hours) CPD is shown on the searchable public profile for the previous year.

RBSLI CPD year runs annually from September – October.

Recording your CPD hours

What are the RBSLI ‘Categories’ and ‘Types’ for Recording CPD?

There are no RBSLI ‘approved’ CPD events. There are two ‘categories’ of CPD: ‘Recommended’ and ‘Individual’. Each category has a range of CPD ‘types’.

A fully achieved CPD is 18 hours. Twelve of these can be ‘individual’ hours, but six of the 18 need to be RBSLI ‘recommended’. Registrants may achieve more than 18 hours, but only need to record the minimum 18 hours to achieve CPD and recognition on their profile. Additional hours and are not carried over to the following year.

RBSLI recognises that CPD is about the individual’s maintenance and development. The onus is on the RBSLI registrant to maintain and develop their practice: CPD is a personal route planned by each individual to suit their specific profile. Practitioners use their integrity as professionals to determine which activities are suitable and fit with their practice record as ‘individual’.

Please see the table below of CPD Categories and Types, and for examples of how to record particular types of activities..

Table of RECOMMENDED and INDIVIDUAL Categories and Types

RECOMMENDED Category

TYPES

• Courses and conferences organised by professional interpreter associations. Other Networks or Regional Groups.

RBSLI Recording: Event Certificate (including title, date, and hours)

RBSLI Recording of e.g., A meeting – Chair’s evidence signed and dated with hours

• Workshops, training courses, HE lectures, distance-learning, education classes or in-house training etc.

RBSLI Recording: Event Certificate (including title, date and hours)

• E-learning opportunities

RBSLI Recording: RBSLI record must include web address (plus title, date accessed and hours)

• Acting as a mentor, examiner or assessor for an interpreter related body.

RBSLI Recording: Description of activity (including date, and hours)

INDIVIDUAL Category

TYPES

• Preparing and delivering lectures, presentations, seminars or workshops.

RBSLI Recording: e.g. invitation to attend (letter, email) title and aims of presentation (include date, hours)

• Writing for example, journal papers, articles, blogs or website reviews.

RBSLI Recording: Article title, publication: journal, online blog (including date, reasonable estimation of time, web address etc.)

• Activities to maintain your native/non-native language skills.

Interpreters use their integrity to choose activities relevant to their practice. Please give description with approximate hours.

• Activities to maintain your specialist subject knowledge.