In short
CPD courses for physiotherapists taken online are accepted as one type of HCPC CPD activity, because the HCPC fixes no hours and leaves the choice of activity to you, provided your record mixes at least two types and shows a benefit to your patients. The useful courses are the ones tied to the standards of proficiency for physiotherapists: consent before hands-on treatment, agreeing goals, records, and relationships with a patient or a colleague. Our Probity & Ethics Professionalism and the Professional Standards for HCPC Regulated Health and Care Professionals course costs £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours and is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service.
Planning physiotherapy CPD?
NHS, private clinic, sport or community practice: you want online CPD that fits around your caseload and leaves a dated certificate in your record for renewal or an audit.
A complaint about treatment or conduct?
A patient has complained about consent, touch, communication or a boundary, or the HCPC has written to you. You need CPD on that subject that you can show to the HCPC.
Which CPD courses for physiotherapists match the HCPC standards of proficiency?
The HCPC’s standards of proficiency for physiotherapists, effective from 1 September 2023, describe what a physiotherapist must be able to do. Some of them are about clinical technique, which our courses do not teach; the ones below are about conduct and judgement, and each has a course written for it.
- Consent before hands-on treatment. Standard 2.7 asks for valid consent that is voluntary and informed, and standard 13.17 for the ability to explain the rationale for a physiotherapy intervention. Manual therapy, positioning and treatment that involves undressing are where these meet: Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice.
- Agreeing goals with the patient. Standards 7.4 and 8.13 cover the service user’s preferred role in decisions and agreeing the goals, priorities and methods of treatment: Ensuring Effective Communication.
- Records, including digital ones. Standards 9.1 and 9.3 ask for full, clear and accurate records and the use of digital record keeping tools: Professionalism in Documentation.
- The relationship in a treatment room. Standards 2.6 and 2.11 name mutual respect and the power imbalance of being a healthcare professional, which matter in one-to-one sessions, home visits and contact with a patient or a colleague outside work: Professional Boundaries for Clinicians.
- Confidentiality. Standard 6.1, including when disclosure may be required, for example to a club, an employer or an insurer: Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice.
- Judgement and referral. Standards 4.1 and 1.1: being able to justify your decisions, knowing the limits of your practice and when to refer: Ensuring Clinical Competence and Patient Safety.
- Money in private practice. Treatment packages, invoices and insurance claims fall under the HCPC’s standard on honesty and trust in its standards of conduct, performance and ethics: Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals.
Is physiotherapy CPD online enough for the HCPC?
Online physiotherapy CPD is accepted, but not on its own. The HCPC names online and distance courses as one example of CPD, does not approve or endorse any provider, and asks every registrant for at least two different types of activity. For a physiotherapist, the second type can come from the HCPC’s list of work-based and professional activity: peer review of a colleague’s notes, a journal club, work shadowing, in-service sessions, supervising students, or reflective practice on a case. More on what counts as evidence for each is in our guide to HCPC CPD evidence.
How do physiotherapists write up a course for HCPC CPD?
HCPC CPD standards three and four ask you to show that your CPD improved the quality of your practice and benefited the people you treat. A certificate shows only that the course took place, so add three lines to your CPD record on the day you change something:
- Why this course. “A patient told me after a lumbar assessment that she had not understood why I needed her to undress to her underwear.”
- What I changed. “I now explain the reason for each part of the examination before I start, offer a gown and a chaperone, and record the patient’s consent and the offer in the notes.”
- The benefit to patients. “An audit of my next twenty sets of notes showed the explanation and the chaperone offer recorded in each one.”
If you are one of the physiotherapists picked for audit at renewal, those lines become the core of your statement against the standards, and the note audit is a second, work-based type of activity.
Which course after a complaint or HCPC concern about a physiotherapist?
Match the course to the words of the complaint. A complaint that treatment went ahead without a clear explanation points to the consent course; a message to a patient after discharge, or a friendship that began in clinic, points to the boundaries course; a disputed invoice points to financial integrity; a missing entry in the notes points to documentation. Complete it, then write what you now do differently, measured against the standard concerned. If you have been told by the HCPC, a panel or your employer to complete a course, our guide told by the HCPC to complete a course sets out the steps, and the guide to courses for HCPC registrants covers how a concern runs.
Please note
Taking a course does not settle a complaint or decide an HCPC case, and it does not guarantee that a CPD profile will pass audit. Before you answer a complaint or the HCPC, ask your professional body, union or indemnity insurer for advice. This guide is general information for physiotherapists, not legal advice.
Our courses beside CSP resources
Members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have its own CPD resources, and those are the place for clinical and specialist physiotherapy CPD. Our courses cover a different part of the record: the ethics, professionalism, consent, records and boundaries behind the HCPC standards, the subjects that a complaint about conduct turns on. Each one is a self-contained online activity of 2 CPD hours with its own certificate.
CPD courses for physiotherapists: prices and Bulk Buy
All courses run online with no fixed start date, so they fit around clinics, and the certificate is issued with the completion date as soon as you finish.
For physiotherapists and other HCPC registrants
Professionalism and the Professional Standards for HCPC Regulated Health and Care Professionals
Professional behaviour against the HCPC’s standards of conduct, performance and ethics, ending in insight, reflection and remediation, for a CPD record or a reply to an HCPC concern. Probity & Ethics is CPD accredited and certified by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).
- £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10)
- 2 CPD hours
- Certificate on completion
Subject courses for physiotherapy practice
A clinic buying for its team can use Bulk Buy: £200 for 3 courses, £300 for 5, £500 for 10. For help choosing, see which course do I need or book a free call.
Guides that help
This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub, which brings together every Probity & Ethics guide and course on the subject.
The CPD courses linked from this guide, Professionalism and Professional Standards for HCPC Regulated Health & Care Professionals, Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice, Ensuring Effective Communication as Healthcare Professionals and Professionalism in Documentation for Healthcare Professionals, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.
Questions and answers
Is there a minimum number of CPD hours for physiotherapists?
None are fixed. The HCPC sets no hours or points for physiotherapists; it looks for a continuous record, at least two different types of activity relevant to your practice, and evidence that your practice and your patients benefited.
Do online CPD courses count for physiotherapists?
Yes, as one type of activity. Pair them with a second type, such as peer review, a journal club or reflection on a case, and write down what you changed after each course.
Are your CPD courses for physiotherapists HCPC approved?
No CPD course is HCPC approved, because the HCPC does not approve or endorse CPD activities. Our courses are CPD accredited and certified by The CPD Certification Service, provider no. 13197.
Which course suits a complaint about consent for manual therapy?
Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice, followed by a written reflection against standard 2.7 (valid consent) and 13.17 (explaining the rationale for an intervention) of the standards of proficiency for physiotherapists. Take advice before you reply to the complaint.
Do these courses replace clinical physiotherapy CPD?
No. They cover ethics, professionalism, consent, records and boundaries. Clinical skills CPD comes from other sources, such as the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, in-service sessions and specialist courses.
What do the courses cost?
Each is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours, and the Modules on Insight and Reflection are £49. A clinic can buy 3 for £200, 5 for £300 or 10 for £500.
Sources
This guide is based on the following HCPC pages, checked on 3 November 2026.
