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Please note that the CPD Course for Barristers 2024 will end on 31 December 2024, and all papers will need to be completed by then. Email us for free registration or call us on 020 3197 4384 to find out more.
Since January 1, 2017, both the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have adopted a new approach to learning and development that no longer requires the completion of a minimum number of hours.
Practitioners are now required to identify their own individual learning and development needs, create a personal development plan for the year, record and evaluate activities undertaken during the year, and declare annually that they have addressed their learning and development needs.
Keeping up to date with the latest legal developments in your practice area is an essential part of demonstrating that you are maintaining the highest standards of professional practice.
Detailed guidance on the new scheme appears on the Bar Standards Board website, but the following is a brief summary of the main requirements and explains why reading Criminal Law Week and completing a Criminal Law Week CPD course can help you carry out and evidence your learning.
Barristers who are established practitioners (different rules apply to new practitioners) are now required to:
| REVIEW: | prepare a written CPD Plan setting out learning objectives and the activities they propose to undertake during the year. |
| RECORD: | keep a written record of the CPD activities undertaken over the past three years, including reflection on CPD undertaken during that time, any variation in plans and an assessment of future learning objectives. |
| REFLECT: | reflect on planned and completed CPD activities to assess whether objectives have been met. |
| REPORT: | declare to the Bar Standards Board annually that they have completed your CPD. This should be completed as part of the authorisation to practise process, when the practising certificate is being renewed. |
The CPD guidance sets out five general areas for training and development that barristers should consider when setting learning objectives:
It is not a requirement that all of these areas have learning objectives associated with them every year and there is no set number of learning objectives that barristers should aim to complete in a year.
The guidance states that it is anticipated that barristers will want to set some high level learning objectives that address core requirements, such as keeping up to date with legal developments, as well as setting some more specific learning objectives. The guidance also states that it may be appropriate to repeat some learning objectives every year and that it is good practice to complete a variety of different types of permissible CPD activities, including online courses.
A suggested CPD programme template covering the review, record and reflect stages above is available on the Bar Standards Board website, together with a sample of a compliant CPD record. The table for the record stage includes the headings “Title of CPD activity”, “CPD provider”, “Learning objective(s) to which this activity relates”, “Can this activity be evidenced if you are spot-checked” and “Hours spent on this activity”.
After reading Criminal Law Week and completing a Criminal Law Week CPD Course, you will be able to enter into your CPD record that:
Detailed guidance on continuing competence appears on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website, but the following is a brief summary of the main requirements and explains how completing Criminal Law Week CCC can help you evidence your learning.
Solicitors are now required to:
The competences required of solicitors cover four broad areas:
A development plan template and a development record template, together with case studies are available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s website.
After reading Criminal Law Week and completing a Criminal Law Week Continuing Competence Course, you will be able to enter into your development record that:
Our courses consist of 12 online multiple-choice question papers spaced throughout the year, based on previous issues of Criminal Law Week and requiring no other knowledge. Questions are set by the Criminal Law Week team. Each question paper is designed to take about an hour to complete and to ensure you have a thorough understanding of recent developments in the criminal law and a proper understanding of the impact of those developments.
Our course is run over a period of 12 months from the commencement of the CPD year on January 1 through to the end of December.
Registrants are notified by email when a new CPD paper becomes available. Registrants can then complete their questionnaires online using My CPD/CCC at any time before the end of the CPD year, with an online and email record provided for each paper completed successfully. If eight out of the 12 questions are answered correctly, one CPD paper has been completed successfully.
Registrants are informed by email at the end of the course of the total number of CPD papers they have completed successfully and can keep track of this during the year using My CPD/CCC.
You can manage your CPD course with My CPD/CCC. Log in, using your email address and password, and you will be able to answer CPD papers and receive an immediate result, keep a record of the number of CPD papers you have completed successfully, and take a look at the schedule for the remaining papers.
One online CPD registration comes free with each CLW subscription. Email clw.cpd@thomsonreuters.com with your details to register. We are no longer selling independent CPD subscriptions. If you require multiple CPD registrations, please contact us on the same email address or call 020 3197 4384 to discuss your requirements further.
A suggested CPD programme template is available on the Bar Standards Board website, together with a sample of a compliant CPD record. The table for the record stage includes the headings “Title of CPD activity”, “CPD provider”, “Learning objective(s) to which this activity relates”, “Can this activity be evidenced if you are spot-checked” and “Hours spent on this activity”. To read more about the BSB requirements, see the BSB requirements section above.
After completing a Criminal Law Week CPD Course, you will be able to enter into your CPD record that:
Our courses consist of 12 online multiple-choice question papers spaced throughout the year, based on previous issues of Criminal Law Week and requiring no other knowledge. Questions are set by the Criminal Law Week team. Each question paper is designed to take about an hour to complete and to ensure you have a thorough understanding of recent developments in the criminal law and a proper understanding of the impact of those developments.
Our course is run over a period of 12 months from the commencement of the CCC year on November 1 through to the end of October.
Registrants are notified by email when a new CCC paper becomes available. Registrants can then complete their questionnaires online using My CPD/CCC at any time before the end of the CCC year, with an online and email record provided for each paper completed successfully. If eight out of the 12 questions are answered correctly, one CCC paper has been completed successfully.
Registrants are informed by email at the end of the course of the total number of CCC papers they have completed successfully and can keep track of this during the year using My CPD/CCC.
You can manage your CCC course with My CPD/CCC. Log in, using your email address and password, and you will be able to answer CCC papers and receive an immediate result, keep a record of the number of CCC papers you have completed successfully, and take a look at the schedule for the remaining papers.
One online CCC registration comes free with each CLW subscription. Email clw.cpd@thomsonreuters.com with your details to register. We are no longer selling independent CCC subscriptions. If you require multiple CCC registrations, please contact us on the same email address or call 020 3197 4384 to discuss your requirements further.
A development plan template and a development record template, together with case studies are available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s website. To read more about the SRA requirements, see the SRA requirements section above.
After completing a Criminal Law Week Continuing Competence Course, you will be able to enter into your development record that:
Each Criminal Law Week issue contains:
Reading Criminal Law Week every week is therefore an excellent way to keep up to date with all the latest legal developments in your practice area, which is an essential part of demonstrating to your professional body that you are maintaining the highest standards of practice.
A suggested CPD programme template is available on the Bar Standards Board website, together with a sample of a compliant CPD record. The table for the record stage includes the headings “Title of CPD activity”, “CPD provider”, “Learning objective(s) to which this activity relates”, “Can this activity be evidenced if you are spot-checked” and “Hours spent on this activity”.
A development plan template and a development record template, together with case studies are available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s website.
To read more about the BSB and SRA requirements, see the BSB and SRA requirements sections above.
After reading Criminal Law Week, if you have not also completed a CPD course or a Continuing Competence Course with us, you will be able to enter into your CPD record that:
If you would like us to evidence that you have a CLW subscription, please email us at clw.editiorial@thomsonreuters.com or call us on 020 3197 4384 and we will be able to provide you with an emailed letter confirming this that you can present to your regulatory body.
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