What is CPD Week and Why it Matters?

Taking place this year from 2–6 March 2026, HCPC CPD Week is part of the regulator’s ongoing efforts to support registrants in understanding the principles and expectations around CPD. The week gives every registrant, including occupational therapists, a focused opportunity to pause, learn and engage with their CPD in meaningful ways. Whether that’s planning future development, reviewing existing activities, engaging in reflective conversations, or joining online learning sessions, CPD Week invites us to be proactive about how we grow as healthcare professionals. 

HCPC’s standards of continuing professional development emphasise that CPD is more than simply collecting hours — it is about what we learn, how we apply that learning and how it impacts our practice and outcomes for service users. Reflective practice sits at the heart of these standards, and CPD Week is a timely reminder that reflection is not an add-on, it’s integral to safe, effective, and ethical occupational therapy practice. 

During CPD Week, HCPC encourages registrants to explore activities that deepen their understanding of a range of topics such as communication in practice, professionalism, equality diversity and inclusion (EDI), audit and CPD profiling. These sessions are designed to support us not only to meet the standards but to interpret and shape them in our own unique contexts, fostering ongoing improvement rather than just compliance. 

Reflection as the engine of professional growth

At The Occupational Therapy Service (TOTS), we champion the idea that reflection is not a by-product of learning; it is the engine of meaningful professional development. We know from experience that simply attending courses, webinars, or workshops isn’t enough if we don’t also take time to consider how that learning changes our understanding, our decisions, and ultimately our practice.

Reflection allows us to make sense of new knowledge, relate it to our daily challenges and embed it into our approach to assessment, intervention, and recommendations in order to ensure that clinical reasoning is robust, using an up to date and critically appraised evidence base. It’s through purposeful reflection that CPD becomes more than a requirement, it becomes a process by which we maintain professional integrity whilst maximising the outcomes for our clients.

This is entirely in keeping with the HCPC’s emphasis on reflective evidence. When it’s time for re-registration, registrants need to demonstrate not merely attendance but thoughtful engagement with their CPD — to show why activities mattered and how they influenced practice. 

Linking CPD Week to The OT Show

As we reflect on The Occupational Therapy Show in November 2025, and our 2026 conference planning, the connection between HCPC CPD Week and the OT Show’s conference programme becomes even more meaningful. The OT Show has long been one of the most anticipated events in our professional calendar; a national event that blends learning, innovation and community throughout its two-day programme. 

For OT Show 2025, held at the NEC Birmingham on 26–27 November 2025, the conference offered more than 100 hours of CPD-accredited sessions, keynotes, workshops and exhibitor demonstrations. Diverse topics ranged from practical clinical skills to strategic thinking about service design, leadership and innovation. Many sessions were structured to prompt not just learning, but reflection, encouraging attendees to step back and consider how new ideas could transform their own practice. 

We heard powerful feedback from colleagues who attended, many spoke about the depth of insight they gained from sessions and how discussions prompted them to reframe aspects of their practice. One attendee noted how the varied programme helped them discover fresh approaches to supporting independence and wellbeing. These reflections are evidence of how the OT Show isn’t just about accumulating ‘CPD’ but helping therapists convert learning into real-world improvements. 

The 2025 Experience Fueling 2026 Development

Following the success of OT Show 2025, the programme for The OT Show 2026 is already taking shape with an eye toward building upon that rich learning culture. Early previews suggest a strengthened focus on reflective and applied learning, including additional interactive sessions, deeper dives into specialised areas of practice and ways to integrate technological and policy developments into everyday clinical reasoning. 

We’re especially excited that the evolving 2026 programme is being developed with input from occupational therapists and people with significant insight from around the UK, a process that mirrors the reflective values embedded in CPD Week itself. By capturing insights from everyday practice and the challenges clinicians face across sectors, the forthcoming show is shaping up to be both highly relevant and deeply inspiring for registrants seeking to grow their confidence, capabilities and impact.

Embedding CPD Learning Beyond the Week and Beyond the Show

It’s worth underlining that neither CPD Week nor The OT Show stands alone as an island in our professional development. Rather, they are key anchor points in a lifelong learning journey. CPD Week provides that annual reflective checkpoint; The OT Show integrates wide-ranging learning opportunities that can feed directly into your CPD portfolio; and day-to-day practice offers countless moments to connect learning with action.

We encourage therapists to plan ahead this CPD Week and consider how you might use the insights and experiences from CPD Week to inform your engagement with the OT Show later in the year. Document your reflections, think about themes you want explored, and use these as a compass to guide which sessions and networking moments you prioritise in November.

In conclusion

Continuing Professional Development is more than a regulatory requirement, it is a declaration that as a profession we are committed to excellence, to evolving in line with evidence, and to delivering the highest standards of care. HCPC’s CPD Week is a reminder to pause, reflect and refine what we do. The OT Show complements this by offering rich, accredited learning experiences that help therapists translate reflection into action.

Together, they represent a powerful synergy: one that nurtures reflective therapists who don’t just do CPD but actively engage with it.

We look forward to seeing how you harness the energy of CPD Week and carry it forward into your practice — and into the halls and theatres of The OT Show 2026 and beyond as we build the programme together.