When Does an HCPC Registrant Need an HCPC Ethics Course?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 8 November 2026

When does an HCPC registrant need an ethics course?

It fits when the question is how you weighed one duty against another:

• care given without valid consent;
• a complaint that your values or beliefs affected how you treated a service user or a colleague;
• a boundary with a service user or a colleague, such as a dual relationship or contact through a personal account;
• information shared without a basis you can now explain;
• a safety concern not reported, or not followed up;
• something that went wrong where the service user was not told or offered an apology;
• a letter that says only “ethics” or “conduct”.

Already told to complete one? See told by the HCPC to complete a course.

Which HCPC standards an ethics concern engages

The standards took effect on 1 September 2024. The HCPC says they “are not hierarchical, are all equally important for practice and are inter-related”. An ethics concern sits across:

• Standard 1, Promote and protect the interests of service users and carers: consent that is “voluntary and informed” (1.4); your values, biases and beliefs (1.5 to 1.7); boundaries with service users, carers and colleagues (1.9 to 1.12).
• Standard 2, Communicate appropriately and effectively, including social networking sites (2.10 to 2.12).
• Standard 5, Respect confidentiality: the four grounds for disclosure (5.2).
• Standard 7, Report concerns about safety, putting service users before “any professional or other loyalties” (7.4).
• Standard 8, Be open when things go wrong: tell, explain, put right (8.1) and apologise (8.2).

You “must always be prepared to justify your decisions and actions”.

At which point in the HCPC process a course counts

After triage and an initial investigation, the concern is checked against the threshold criteria; if the threshold is met, the HCPC drafts allegations and asks for a written response within 28 days of its letter, with one extension of up to 28 days.

That response is the first place a course counts: the HCPC suggests including “any learning from the events and any actions you have taken to put things right”. The Investigating Committee reads it when deciding whether there is a case to answer.

At a final hearing, the HCPTS practice note on impairment (August 2025) asks whether the conduct is remediable, whether you have taken remedial action, and whether it is likely to be repeated. It calls insight “an important factor” and says “serious attitudinal or behavioural issues” can be harder to remediate, so your reflection must show changed reasoning.

What the HCPC ethics course covers

Seven sections and 19 lessons, with a quiz after each of the first six and a final assessment. It runs from the HCPC’s role and the core principles (autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence, justice, confidentiality) to honesty, candour and records as Standards 8 to 10, then consent and communication, boundaries with a service user or a colleague, and breaches, the actions the HCPC can take and the steps to remediate.

When a probity or professionalism course fits better

If the concern is only about honesty (a record, a CV, a timesheet, a declaration), Probity for Healthcare Professionals goes further into Standard 9; see Is an HCPC Probity Course Enough for an Honesty Concern?. If it is about how you behaved at work rather than how you reached a decision, Professionalism and the Professional Standards for HCPC-Regulated Health and Care Professionals is the pair to this course. Our HCPC courses guide matches a course to each standard, or use which course do I need.

Counting an HCPC ethics course as CPD

The HCPC sets no hours or points; CPD “is any activity from which you learn and develop”. Its five CPD standards ask for a continuous record, a mixture of relevant learning, and CPD that improves your practice and benefits service users. If you are picked in the random sample audited at each renewal, you send a written profile, your own work with evidence, covering the previous two years. The course gives 2 CPD hours and a dated certificate; your reflection is the evidence.

The course for an HCPC ethics concern, and for CPD

Courses that sit beside it

Bulk Buy covers the £79 courses: 3 for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. Not sure? Book a free 15-minute call.

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, Ethics and Ethical Standards for HCPC Regulated Health & Care Professionals, Probity for Healthcare Professionals, Professionalism and Professional Standards for HCPC Regulated Health & Care Professionals and Module on Reflection, 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