In short
Online CPD courses for doctors count for GMC revalidation when they fit your scope of practice and you reflect on them at appraisal, because the GMC sets no number of CPD points and leaves the choice of activity to you. Online courses suit the non-clinical side of a doctor’s CPD: ethics, probity, confidentiality, consent, boundaries and records, which apply in every specialty. Our Probity & Ethics Ethics and Ethical Standards for Doctors course costs £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours, is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service, and serves a doctor planning appraisal or a doctor answering a complaint or GMC concern.
Appraisal coming up?
Your personal development plan has a gap on professional standards, or your appraiser asked for CPD outside your specialty. You want a dated certificate and a reflection you can upload.
A complaint or a GMC concern?
A patient complaint, an employer investigation or a GMC letter, and you need CPD on the subject of the concern that you can show to your responsible officer and the GMC.
Do online CPD courses count for GMC revalidation?
Yes. The GMC asks you to carry out CPD every year, to cover the whole of your practice and to tailor it to your needs, and it does not mandate a number of CPD points for revalidation. It says nothing about the format, so an online course counts as much as a study day, provided it is relevant to your work. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges confirms that there is no regulatory requirement for a set number of credits each year; some colleges and faculties still guide members who want to keep recording credits, so check yours. How the five-year cycle and the six types of supporting information fit together is in our GMC revalidation guide.
Which online CPD courses for doctors cover the whole of your practice?
“The whole of your practice” includes the parts that are the same in every specialty. Clinical updates come from your college, your deanery and your department; the gaps an appraiser finds are in professional standards. Each subject below has its own online course:
- Ethics and Good medical practice: Ethics and Ethical Standards for Doctors and Professionalism and the Professional Standards for Doctors.
- Honesty in CVs, research, claims and sick notes: Probity for Healthcare Professionals.
- Confidentiality and disclosure: Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice.
- Consent, privacy and chaperones: Privacy, Consent and Chaperone in Healthcare Practice.
- Boundaries with a patient or a colleague: Professional Boundaries for Clinicians.
- Prescribing: Prescribing Guidance and Standards.
- Records and candour: Professionalism in Documentation and Duty of Candour in Healthcare Practice.
What does CPD certified and accredited mean for a doctor’s course?
Doctors searching for CPD accredited and certified courses for doctors want to know that a course has been checked by someone other than its author. Our courses are CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197), an independent body that reviews each course against its CPD standards before the course can carry its mark. The certificate states the course title, the CPD hours and the date you completed it. Certification shows that the course meets CPD standards; it does not replace your own judgement that the subject fits your scope of practice, which is what the GMC asks of you. More detail is on our CPD accreditation page.
How to record an online course for appraisal
The GMC asks you to put your CPD needs and plans in your personal development plan, and to reflect on what you gained from CPD and how it maintained or improved your practice. Keep each record short:
- The need. “My PDP named confidentiality after a request from a patient’s employer for information I was not sure I could share.”
- The activity. The course title, 2 CPD hours, the date, and the certificate uploaded to your appraisal portfolio.
- The change. “I now ask for written consent for any disclosure to an employer and record what I disclosed and why.”
At appraisal, discuss the courses that changed your practice, as the GMC suggests, rather than listing every certificate.
CPD courses for doctors after a complaint or GMC concern
A complaint is one of the six types of supporting information, so it comes to appraisal in any case, and a course on the subject shows what you did about it. If the GMC is involved, its revalidation guidance says doctors in fitness to practise proceedings should keep collecting supporting information and keep having appraisals as far as possible, and must tell their responsible officer or suitable person about a concern. The GMC is likely to wait until the proceedings end before it sets your revalidation date. Choose the course that matches the words of the concern; our GMC courses guide matches each type of concern to a course, and probity in medicine and the professional boundaries course for doctors explain two subjects in more depth.
Please note
A course does not decide a complaint or a GMC case, and it does not guarantee a revalidation recommendation; your appraiser and responsible officer make their own judgement. If the GMC has written to you, take advice from your medical defence organisation or the BMA before you reply. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Online CPD courses for doctors: prices and Bulk Buy
Each course runs online with no start date, so it fits around rotas and on-call, and the certificate is ready the moment you finish.
For GMC registered doctors
Ethics and Ethical Standards for Doctors
The ethical principles behind Good medical practice applied to clinical decisions, ending in insight, reflection and remediation, for your appraisal portfolio or a response to a concern. Probity & Ethics is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).
- £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10)
- 2 CPD hours
- Certificate on completion
Other online CPD courses for doctors
A practice or department buying for several doctors 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
The CPD courses linked from this guide, Ethics and Ethical Standards for Doctors, Professionalism and Professional Standards for Doctors, Probity for Healthcare Professionals and Ensuring Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice, 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
What number of CPD points does a doctor need for GMC revalidation?
The GMC sets no number. It asks for CPD every year across the whole of your practice, a plan in your PDP and reflection at appraisal. Some royal colleges and faculties still give guidance on recording credits for their members.
Are online CPD courses for doctors accepted at appraisal?
Yes, when the subject fits your scope of practice and you add a reflection on what changed in your work. The GMC does not limit CPD to any format.
Are these CPD accredited and certified courses for doctors?
They are CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service, provider no. 13197, and each certificate gives the title, CPD hours and completion date. The GMC itself publishes no list of approved CPD courses for revalidation.
Which online course should a doctor take after a GMC concern?
The one whose subject matches the concern as the GMC describes it, for example probity, confidentiality, consent or boundaries, followed by your own written reflection. Take advice from your defence organisation before you send it to the GMC.
Does a doctor under GMC investigation still need appraisal?
Yes, as far as possible. The GMC asks doctors in fitness to practise proceedings to keep collecting supporting information and having annual appraisals, and to tell their responsible officer or suitable person about the concern.
What do the courses cost?
Each subject course is £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10) for 2 CPD hours; the Modules on Insight and Reflection are £49. Three courses cost £200, five £300 and ten £500.
Sources
This guide is based on the following GMC and Academy of Medical Royal Colleges pages, checked on 3 November 2026.
