ICAEW's new Continuing Professional Development scheme launched 1st January 2005

The ICAEW's new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme came into effect in January 2005 and will apply to all members. To help you prepare the ICAEW sent out an information pack in January. This will tell what you need to do and when. We will also be providing a wide range of support to help you get the most out of your professional development.

The new CPD scheme is an opportunity for all members to build on their professional reputation and the reputation of the ICAEW. It is designed to support members in meeting their professional and career needs, wherever they are in the world.

For most members this is already an integral part of their working life. In supporting what you already do, the CPD scheme requires you to think about what is expected of you - that is, reflect, identify whether you need to update yourself in any way - in other words, act and make sure that what you did will enhance the professional judgement you are to make – assess impact.

Each year, you will be asked to declare that you are following the principles of the scheme on an ongoing basis. The first annual declaration will be due in November 2005.

Occasionally, the Institute may request evidence of compliance and would review the evidence and discuss it with you.

How we will support you?

In addition to the information pack, our new CPD website, launched in January, offers support in a number of ways.

We profile a number of responsibilities commonly undertaken by members, e.g. audit, insolvency, practice management, investment business, to name just a few. We identify the common challenges and topical issues, providing signposts to technical and practical advice.

Support for each responsibility is split into the following areas:

Professional Challenges.

These are questions for members to ask themselves to help them decide what their CPD activities might be. We discuss topics that are likely to be affecting members working in each area and provide links to useful resources.

Technical Updates

We identify topics of interest to members and provide links to articles, reports and websites where further information and guidance can be found.

Ethical Dilemmas

We have worked with the Ethics Advisory Service to identify a number of real-life ethical dilemmas that members have faced. Support is offered in the form of interactive case studies, ethical knowledge guides, news articles and support helplines.

Member Experiences

We give examples of how members tackle CPD both in the UK and internationally, i.e. how they decide on their development requirements, what activities they undertake and the impact. A number of Malaysian members have contributed in this way and their examples will be available on the new CPD website.

Share your own experiences

We'd welcome feedback on your own CPD experiences. By providing information about your role, your profession, and the development activities you undertake, you will be contributing to a valuable new member resource. The process is simple and can be via a short telephone interview or completion of a short questionnaire. If you would like to share your own experiences please contact Jordie Michael by email on jordie.michael@icaew.co.uk

The CPD team is also on hand to deal with your queries and provide additional support. You can call the CPD helpline on +44 (0)1908 248293 or email cpd@icaew.co.uk