Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is work undertaken over and above the normal commitments of barristers with the purpose of developing their skills, knowledge and professional standards in areas relevant to their present or proposed area of practice, and in order to keep themselves up to date and maintain the highest standards of professional practice.
Practising barristers are required to undertake CPD throughout their careers. For the most up to date information please visit the Bar Standards Board website.
CPD can be obtained by undertaking activities such as attending or contributing to courses directly relevant to practice as a barrister, including BPTC and compulsory pupillage courses, teaching law on undergraduate law or GDL courses or writing law books, articles or practice notes for publication (up to a maximum of 4 hours per calendar year).
Delivering a lecture counts as double the length of a course (to account for preparation time), although credit cannot be obtained for a repeat delivery of the lecture in the same calendar year.
The Middle Temple offers a series of guest lectures each year, which are accredited both for CPD and as Qualifying Sessions for the students.