Continuing Professional Development (CPD) isn’t just a regulatory box to tick.
It’s proven to improve patient care, patient safety, and your own professional wellbeing as a radiographer.
But let’s be honest CPD can sometimes feel expensive or time-consuming.
The good news?
Not all CPD has to cost money.
In fact, you’re probably already completing CPD activities in your daily work you just might not be recording them properly.
Below are five completely free CPD activities every diagnostic radiographer should know about - plus how to turn them into strong, audit-ready evidence.
If you’ve ever read a journal article, guideline, or trusted online resource about imaging, safety, or new techniques that’s CPD.
Examples include:
- Reviewing an article on trauma imaging or dose optimisation
- Reading updated IR(ME)R guidance
- Exploring an online post about positioning best practice
The key is reflection, not just reading.
How to make it count:
After reading, write a short reflection:
- What did I learn?
- How will this influence my patient care or scanning technique?
- Will it change how I justify or optimise exams?
Record the article title, source, and date, then upload your reflection to your CPD portfolio.
Every radiographer learns through peer discussion reviewing images with colleagues, debating findings, or discussing positioning challenges.
If you’ve reviewed an X-ray, CT, or MRI case with a colleague and learned something new, that counts as CPD.
How to make it count:
Note:
- The case type or topic (e.g. paediatric wrist trauma, sinus CT protocol)
- What insight did I gain?
- How will this improve my decision-making or image quality?
These discussions demonstrate teamwork, critical thinking, and reflective learning all recognised by the HCPC.
If you supervise or support students, pre-regs, or new staff you’re already contributing to professional learning.
Activities that qualify:
- Demonstrating positioning or safety protocols
- Reviewing images together
- Giving feedback on patient communication or radiation protection
- Leading a mini teaching session during shift handover
How to make it count:
Reflect briefly on:
- What topic did we cover?
- What did I learn from explaining it?
- Did it highlight any areas for me to develop further?
CPD isn’t only about receiving knowledge, sharing it also counts.
From webinars to manufacturer-run workshops, free CPD events are everywhere.
Many professional bodies, universities, and equipment suppliers host online study days at zero cost. Even attending a one-hour online talk on image optimisation or patient safety can be valuable CPD.
How to make it count:
- Always download or request a certificate if available
- Write a short reflection afterwards: What were my key takeaways? How will I apply them in practice?
You can even log the reflection directly inside The Radiography People platform, every CPD course has built-in reflective prompts and automatic certificate generation.
Auditing your own work or department is one of the most powerful (and completely free) forms of CPD.
Examples include:
- Analysing reject rates or exposure trends
- Checking positioning accuracy for consistency
- Comparing patient dose levels across protocols
- Reviewing adherence to local MRI safety or IR(ME)R documentation
How to make it count:
Document:
- What did I review?
- What did I find?
- What changes could be made, and what impact might they have on patients or workflow?
This not only provides rich CPD evidence but also supports quality improvement and patient safety.
The HCPC’s CPD standards emphasise one thing above all reflection and application.
It’s not enough to attend or observe; you must demonstrate how the learning improved your practice.
Each CPD activity should clearly link to at least one HCPC Standard, such as improving service delivery or benefiting service users.
If you can describe the learning, its impact, and the benefit to patients or colleagues - it counts.
We’ve built an online CPD platform by radiographers, for radiographers so you can meet every CPD requirement easily and confidently.
With one simple account, you can:
✅ Access all our CPD courses monthly in X-ray, CT, MRI, Radiation Protection, and Leadership
✅ Use pre-filled reflection templates that meet HCPC standards
✅ Download instant certificates for your audit portfolio
Our courses are flexible, mobile-friendly, and clinically relevant - filled with interactive cases that translate directly into better patient care.
Most standalone courses cost more than our subscription fee.
With 2.5% of radiographers due for audit this year, now’s the perfect time to get audit-ready.
