CPD requirements by profession

CILEX CPD requirements for legal executives

Last reviewed 20 October 2026

If you are looking for a number of CPD hours CILEX requires, most members will not find one — the main scheme counts outcomes, not time. That is a deliberate shift away from hours, and it changes what a good CPD year looks like: the question is no longer how long you spent, but what your learning achieved.

Outcomes, not hours

An outcome is a piece of learning you identified a need for, undertook, and can show made a difference to your competence. Nine of them a year, with the planned/unplanned split below:

The planned-versus-unplanned split is the part people underestimate. At least 5 of the 9 must come from planned activity — learning you set out to do, not learning you happened into. Four outcomes from things that simply came up at work will not meet the requirement, however genuine they were.

The professionalism activity

Separate from the nine outcomes, every member must complete at least one professionalism CPD activity each year. Treat it as a distinct obligation rather than something that can be folded into your general outcomes — it is specified on its own for a reason.

Who the outcomes scheme covers

The outcomes-based scheme applies to most grades — Chartered Legal Executives, CILEX Practitioners, Fellows, Advanced Paralegals, Associate Prosecutors, Graduate members, Legal Accounts Members and Legal Accounts Executives among them. A separate hours-based scheme applies to some members. If you are unsure which scheme you are on, confirm it with CILEX rather than assuming — the requirements are genuinely different, and planning against the wrong one is the easiest way to fall short.

Why “outcomes” is harder than it sounds

An hours-based scheme can be satisfied by attendance; an outcomes-based one cannot. Each outcome has to show what you learned and what changed as a result. A course title and a date do not make an outcome — the reflection does.

The practical consequence is that the quality of the learning matters more than its length. A focused session with clear learning outcomes gives you something specific to evidence an outcome against. A long but vague update often produces activity you struggle to turn into a loggable outcome at all.

Where CPD accreditation fits — and where it doesn't

This is the part most training providers get wrong, so it is worth being blunt about it.

CILEX does not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers. Neither we nor any other CPD accreditation body can make a course “CILEX-approved”. Any provider telling you otherwise is overstating what they hold, and members who repeat that claim in a record are the ones exposed if it is questioned.

What independent accreditation actually does is narrower and more useful: it gives members evidence that the learning was assessed against a published standard, with stated outcomes, a justified hour claim, and a certificate anyone can check. When your record is sampled, that evidence is what turns “I did a course” into something defensible.

An AssuredCPD-accredited course carries stated learning outcomes, a CPD-hour figure assessed as proportionate rather than self-declared, and a unique verification code. We are explicit in our own rules about what providers may and may not claim — see what you can and can't claim once a course is CPD accredited.

What to look for in a course

Whatever body you report to, the same four questions separate learning that will stand up from learning that won't:

• Are the learning outcomes written down? You cannot reflect on what a course changed if it never said what it intended to teach.
• Is the hour claim justified, or just asserted? An inflated figure is the single most common reason a course fails our assessment, and it is the figure you will be putting your name to.
• Was anything actually assessed? A completion certificate for watching a video is not evidence of learning.
• Can the certificate be checked by someone else? A PDF proves nothing on its own. A reference a third party can verify does.

Under an outcomes-based scheme the first question does most of the work: a course that states what it intends to teach gives you the raw material for a loggable outcome; one that does not leaves you with activity but no outcome.

How the UK bodies compare

CPD requirements are set independently by each body, and they differ far more than most people expect. Across the twelve below, three set no hours target at all; three count records or outcomes rather than time; two require a set share of the total to be verifiable; one fixes nearly half the requirement to named subject areas. Knowing which model you are under matters more than knowing any single number.

Three practical points fall out of that table. First, a figure from one body tells you nothing about another — 40 ACCA units, 35 NMC hours over three years and nine CILEX outcomes are not comparable quantities. Second, several bodies now specify not just how much CPD but what kind: verifiable units for ACCA and the GDC, named themes for CIOB, participatory hours for the NMC, planned outcomes for CILEX. Third, if you hold dual registration you are under both regimes at once, and the stricter one governs your planning.

Five mistakes that cost people their CPD year

These come up across every regime, and all five are avoidable at no cost.

1. Planning against the wrong year. Some bodies run January to December, some from your own renewal, registration or subscription date, and some to a fixed deadline like 30 September. Diarise your date, not a colleague's.
2. Leaving the interactive or planned part until last. Participatory hours, peer discussions, planned outcomes and facilitated sessions all need forethought or another person's time. They are the components most likely to slip, and the least possible to do in a hurry.
3. Collecting certificates that prove attendance but not learning. If the certificate does not state learning outcomes and hours, you are reconstructing the detail from memory months later — and under a verifiable-CPD regime you may not be able to count it at all.
4. Recording activity but not impact. Every records-based and outcomes-based regime asks what changed in your practice. A list of course titles answers a different question.
5. Believing a provider's claim of regulator approval. None of the bodies above approve or endorse external CPD providers. A course advertised as “approved” by your regulator is misdescribed, and repeating that claim in your own record is your exposure, not the provider's.

Common questions

How many CPD hours do CILEX members need?

Most members follow an outcomes-based scheme with no hours target. The requirement is at least 9 CPD outcomes a year, of which at least 5 must come from planned activities, plus at least one professionalism CPD activity. A separate hours-based scheme applies to some members.

What is a CPD outcome for CILEX?

A piece of learning you identified a need for, undertook, and can show improved your competence. It is defined by what the learning achieved rather than how long it took. At least 5 of your 9 outcomes each year must come from planned activity.

When is the CILEX CPD deadline?

Members submit their CPD record by 30 September each year, covering at least 9 outcomes with at least 5 from planned CPD, plus the professionalism activity.

What is the CILEX professionalism CPD requirement?

Every CILEX member must complete at least one professionalism CPD activity each CPD year, separate from and in addition to the nine CPD outcomes.

Does CILEX approve CPD courses or providers?

No. CILEx Regulation does not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers or courses. Members decide what is relevant and log the outcomes achieved.

Do CPD hours from one professional body count for another?

Usually yes, if the learning is relevant to your practice under both, but the arithmetic does not transfer. Each body sets its own requirement, period and recording rules, so the same activity may need to be logged twice in different formats. If you hold dual registration, plan against the stricter regime.

Can any training provider be approved by my regulator?

Generally no. The UK professional bodies covered here do not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers or courses. A provider advertising itself as regulator-approved is misdescribing what it holds, and repeating that claim in your own CPD record is your exposure.

What should a good CPD certificate show?

The provider, the date, the hours claimed, the learning outcomes covered, and a reference someone else can check independently. A certificate stating only that you attended is the most common reason people struggle to evidence an activity later.

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AssuredCPD is an independent CPD accreditation body. We are not a government or regulatory body and do not award regulated qualifications. AssuredCPD accreditation is not endorsement, approval or recognition by any professional body named on this page, and we have no affiliation with them. Requirements are summarised from each body’s own published guidance and were checked on 20 October 2026; those bodies change their rules from time to time, so always confirm against the official source linked above before relying on it.