March 29, 2022
“Why is CPD different to annual training?” – It’s a question we get asked a lot as a training provider, and we want to try and clear things up through this blog post.
To answer this question, we need to go back to 2016 when the DVSA first announced the new annual training and exam requirements.
The DVSA initially called the training element ‘CPD’, but also used the word ‘training’ interchangeably in their documentation (special notices, emails, testing guide etc).
It took the DVSA a couple of years to use just a single word to describe the new requirement, and stopped using the word ‘CPD’ since it was such a broad term and not addressing the specific ‘training’ requirement.
They have since removed the word ‘CPD’ from their documents and instead stuck with ‘Annual Training’.
CPD stands for ‘Continuing Professional Development’. It can also be referred to as Continuing or Continual Professional Development.
CPD is a very broad piece of training, aimed to bring subjects from a wide variety of topics to your professional training record.
CPD typically covers topics such as, but not limited to:
– Health & safety training;
– Fire safety in the workplace;
– GDPR training.
Bringing CPD closer to the MOT industry, we can also include topics such as, but not limited to:
– Special notices;
– Matters of testing blog;
– New equipment and vehicle types.
Annual Training is specifically what the DVSA call the annual training requirement. This is your 3 hours of training based on the DVSA stipulated topics each year, that runs from 1st April to 31st March.
The DVSA Annual Training is very specific, unlike CPD which is very broad.
The Annual Training must, and can only cover the topics set by the DVSA each year. These are the same topics as the Annual Assessment.
You can find out what topics are set for the 2022-23 year by visiting our webpage here: 2022-23 DVSA Annual Training & Assessment Topics
Now that we know what CPD and Annual Training is, let’s compare them and understand why CPD is not Annual Training.
CPD as we know is a very broad training element. It has no set topics and can include things such as Health and Safety to MOT equipment training.
Annual Training is very specific, and can only be based on the topics set by DVSA such as drivers view of the road, or corrosion assessment.
Since the DVSA Annual Training requirement is to train 3 hours on the set topics, it is not possible to include CPD topics as part of this requirement, since ‘Health and Safety’ is not one of the DVSA Annual Training topics.
In short, yes.
Although the DVSA stopped using the term ‘CPD’ in order to cause any more confusion within the industry, they still state (in Section E3 of the MOT Testing Guide), that 3 of the ongoing requirements all MOT testers MUST keep up to date with is to:
– Study all relevant special notices;
– Train on any new or modified equipment;
– Study/train on significance and correct functioning of new features introduced on vehicle types likely to be tested (such as EV or hybrid vehicles).
These are very clearly different to the Annual Training topics, and as such, cannot be classed as Annual Training. Taking this further, any training a tester does complete on these topics cannot be claimed as part of their 3 hours of DVSA Annual Training.
Unfortunately that is not the case.
As we can see in the MOT Testing Guide, additional training is clearly part of the DVSA requirements and as such, can’t be ignored. Failing to comply with the DVSA requirements does put you at risk of losing your licence to carry out MOT tests.
Unlike DVSA Annual Training, there’s no specified amount of time you must spend on CPD.
This therefore leaves it open to interpretation to determine how much CPD is enough. here at MOT Juice, we believe that if 3 hours is adequate for the Annual Training, then it too is enough for CPD.
We also believe the key to CPD is in the ‘Continued’ part of it. As long as we are doing training on a ‘Continued’ (frequently, regularly, ongoing etc) basis, then we are complying with the DVSA requirements.
Providing you cover the necessary topics highlighted in Section E3, then you should be good. Ultimately, you could do 100 hours of CPD each year if you desire.
Here at MOT Juice, we supply a CPD curriculum alongside the DVSA Annual Training curriculum, for just Ā£30 extra per year.
Our CPD system supplies MOT Testers with 1 15-minute CPD training module each month which covers a range of topics including the ones specified by DVSA in Section E3 of the MOT Testing Guide.
You can take a look at our Training, CPD and Exam package here: MOT Juice Pricing Page.
As always, MOT Juice have an excellent Support Team on stand-by ready to help you with whatever questions you have. You can call us on 01293 911 120, email us at support@motjuice.co.uk, or submit an enquiry form on our contact us page.
