It is now becoming apparent that some members believe due to the pandemic they no longer have to complete annual CPD (Continuing Professional Development). Please note this is not the case. If you are not complying with section 2.4 of The Society of Will Writers Code of Practice (see below) we have a right to place your membership on hold until sufficient CPD has been completed. This could affect benefits that you receive from The Society of Will Writers, from the use of the SWW logo to using our preferred insurance scheme through Marsh Commercial.
2.4 A Member shall ensure that at all times he has the required general and technical competence to advise on the provision of the Will Writing Services which the Member offers and has full and proper knowledge of developments in his areas of professional expertise. To this end the Member shall comply strictly with the rules of the Society’s Continuing Professional Development Scheme.
How Can I Gain CPD During The Pandemic?
We do not consider it difficult to gain the necessary CPD hours under any circumstances and have spent much time in recent years doing as much as possible to make ways to gain CPD as easily accessible as possible. We do not feel the requirements too high or onerous, and with your time managed sensibly, you should be able to gain the minimum required hours by devoting only a couple of hours to CPD a month.
As a member, you have access to our free monthly online CPD (accessed via the College website). We cover a different topic each month, with a handout and multiple-choice quiz to complete. Passing this quiz each month is worth 1 hour structured CPD, however, if you fail you will still qualify for 1 hour unstructured CPD, providing you have thoroughly read the provided handout. You would therefore accrue 12 hours structured if you passed them all, leaving you only 4 hours shy of the required 16 structured hours CPD for the year to gain elsewhere.
To make up the rest, you could attend your regional groups as currently they are all being held virtually with no cost to attend. These are normally worth 2 hours structured CPD with around 6 meetings per year per region, giving another potential 12 hours structured CPD. You are not tied into your local group and can ask to attend any other groups to gain more CPD, however, you must let us know if you would like to attend meetings outside of your region.
We also have a range of distance learning courses, as well as running a number of live online courses with more in the pipeline to be released in December. Please contact [email protected] to find out what courses are on offer, as well as dates and how to book onto them. Our online courses do come at a price, however, we are offering these at very competitive rates, with all being less than what they would be were they being held residentially at The College of Will Writing in Lincoln. You are also welcome to attend any courses by alternative providers, and providing the content is relevant to Will Writing you may count these for structured CPD.
If you are unsure if a course you have attended, or an activity you have completed qualifies for CPD (whether structured or unstructured), please speak with us and we will advise.
We do understand that at times members may find themselves genuinely unable to complete CPD for various reasons. If there is something affecting you or your ability to meet the requirements, you must speak to us as soon as possible so that we can help and advise.
If you have any other questions regarding CPD, please contact the office where a member of the team would be more than happy to help.
