A 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.
Reflection is the part of CPD people dread, mostly because it sounds like an essay. It is not. A good reflection is four sentences and takes two minutes.
The four-line structure
- What I did - the activity, briefly
- What I learned - the specific thing, not a summary of the whole session
- What I changed - the concrete difference in practice
- What is next - the follow-up, or how you will check it worked
Line three is what regulators, appraisers and audit panels are looking for. Everything else is context.
Why models exist and when to use them
Gibbs, Kolb, Rolfe and Borton's "What? So what? Now what?" all get recommended. They are useful for a significant incident or a piece of work you want to think hard about. For routine CPD they are overkill. Use the four-line version for most entries and a model for the two or three deeper reflections you write each year.
Three worked examples
Example 1 - a short e-learning module (nurse)
Completed the trust's updated sepsis recognition module (45 minutes, non-participatory). The change I had missed was the revised escalation timeframe for deteriorating observations. I have added a prompt to my handover checklist so escalation timing is stated explicitly rather than assumed. I will review after four weeks with my team lead to see whether handovers are consistently including it. Relates to the NMC Code: preserve safety.
Example 2 - a conference session (surveyor)
Attended a half-day session on Red Book valuation reporting (3 hours, formal). The useful part was how comparables adjustments should be justified in writing rather than implied by the figure. I have rewritten the comparables section of my report template to require a stated rationale for each adjustment. Next step is to have a colleague review my next two reports against the new template.
Example 3 - professional reading (teacher)
Read the EEF guidance summary on metacognition (40 minutes, informal). The point that landed was that modelling my own thinking aloud matters more than teaching study strategies in the abstract. I have started narrating my reasoning when working through exam questions with Year 11 rather than only showing the finished method. I will look at the next assessment's working-out to see whether pupils are showing more of their reasoning.
What makes a weak reflection
- "It was very informative and I learned a lot" - says nothing
- Summarising the content instead of your response to it
- Claiming a change you did not actually make
- Writing it eleven months later from memory
Write it while it is warm
The reason reflections end up thin is that they get written in a batch, long after the fact. Write yours immediately after the activity, in the same place you log the hours, and it is a two-minute job with real content in it.
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
- How long should a CPD reflection be?
- For routine activities, four sentences is enough: what you did, what you learned, what you changed and what is next. Save longer, model-based reflections for significant events.
- What reflective model should I use for CPD?
- Gibbs, Kolb or 'What? So what? Now what?' all work well for deeper reflections. For everyday CPD entries a simple four-line structure is faster and just as credible.
- What makes a CPD reflection fail at audit?
- Generic wording, summarising the content rather than your response, and no stated change to practice. Auditors look for a specific difference in what you now do.
Read this next
- What happens if you're audited for CPD?CPD audit is a paperwork exercise, not an investigation - unless you have nothing to show. Here is what happens, what is asked for, and what to do if you are short.
- What counts as CPD hours (and what doesn't)A plain list of what you can legitimately claim as CPD, what you cannot, and how to work out the hours when the activity does not come with a certificate.
- How to build a CPD logging habit that survives FebruaryEveryone logs CPD in January. Here is how to make it stick past February, using triggers, tiny entries and a two-minute monthly review.
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