Yes - almost every professional body accepts reading as CPD. The catch is that it usually counts as informal or non-verifiable, and only if you record what you took from it.
Short answer: yes. Reading counts as CPD with essentially every UK professional body. But it is the category of CPD most often rejected at audit, and always for the same reason - the record says "read an article" and nothing else.
Where reading sits in the rules
Bodies split CPD in different ways, but reading almost always lands on the self-directed side:
- NMC - non-participatory CPD, counts towards the 35 hours but not the 20 participatory hours
- RICS - informal CPD, counts towards the 20 hours but not the 10 formal
- ACCA - non-verifiable CPD unless you can evidence it, in which case it may count as verifiable
- HCPC - counts as one of the required range of learning activity types
- CIMA / outcomes-based schemes - counts fully if you can show it changed something
The practical rule: reading rarely counts towards the "structured" or "verifiable" subtotal, but it almost always counts towards the total.
What makes a reading entry credible
Three things:
- What you read - title, author or publication, and date
- How long it took - be honest; twenty minutes is twenty minutes
- What you did differently - one or two sentences
That third line is the whole difference between a record that survives audit and one that does not. "Read NICE guidance update on sepsis recognition; changed the escalation prompt I use on handover" is evidence. "Reading - 1 hour" is not.
What kind of reading counts
- Professional journals, research papers and systematic reviews
- Regulatory and standards updates, guidance notes, statutory documents
- Sector books and technical texts
- Serious industry publications and research summaries
- Case law and legislative changes relevant to your role
What does not count: general news, LinkedIn scrolling, and anything you cannot connect to your professional practice.
How many hours can you claim?
Claim the time you actually spent, not the length of the document. If a 40-page report took you 90 minutes, log 1.5 hours. Most bodies get uncomfortable when reading dominates a record - if 30 of your 35 hours are reading, expect questions, and top up with something participatory.
Make it a two-minute habit
Reading is the easiest CPD to do and the easiest to forget. The fix is to log it the moment you close the document, while the takeaway is still in your head. Do it later and you will either skip it or log a hollow entry.
Keep your CPD in one place
A record only helps if it exists before you need it. Our free CPD tracker logs an activity in seconds, tallies your hours automatically, keeps your reflections with the entry, and exports a clean PDF whenever you need evidence. Free for life for individuals - and the record belongs to you, not your employer.
Frequently asked questions
- Does reading count as CPD?
- Yes. Almost all professional bodies accept relevant professional reading as CPD, though it usually counts as informal, self-directed or non-verifiable rather than formal or structured learning.
- How do I evidence reading as CPD?
- Record the title and source, the date, the time spent, and a short reflection on what you learned and what you changed as a result.
- How many hours can I claim for reading?
- The time you actually spent. Be realistic, and avoid a record made up almost entirely of reading - most bodies expect a mix of activity types.
Read this next
- Do podcasts and webinars count as CPD?Both count, but they are treated differently. Webinars can often be formal or participatory; podcasts almost never are. Here is how to log each properly.
- Formal vs informal CPD: what the difference actually meansFormal, structured, verifiable, participatory - different bodies use different words for broadly the same split. Here is what each means and why it matters.
- How to write a CPD reflection - with three worked examplesA CPD reflection needs four things: what you did, what you learned, what you changed, and what is next. Here is the structure plus three worked examples.
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