CORU CPD for Social Care Workers: 30 Credits Explained

There were 2,335 social care workers on the CORU register at 30 June 2025. It is one of the more recently opened boards, which means a large share of registrants are in their first or second CPD period and have not yet been through an audit. The obligation is the same as for every other CORU profession, but how you meet it in a residential or day-service setting looks different from how a hospital-based colleague would.

The rule, in one paragraph

CORU asks every registrant to demonstrate 30 CPD credits in each 12-month period. The period runs from your registration or renewal date, not the calendar year. One hour of new or enhanced learning counts as one credit, and you assign the credits yourself based on what you actually learned and how it affected your practice. Repeating an activity you have already completed earns nothing unless it produces genuinely new learning. For the full picture across all professions CORU regulates, see our guide to CORU CPD requirements.

Three rules that catch people out

Surplus credits do not carry forward. Thirty-five credits this period does not give you a five-credit head start next period. Each 12 months stands alone.

Portfolio maintenance is capped at four credits. Keeping your CPD records organised is legitimate CPD, but only up to four credits in any period.

It applies even when you are not practising. On leave, between roles, working abroad, or not currently in practice — the obligation follows your registration, not your employment.

Start with learning from day-to-day work

CORU lists learning from day-to-day work as eligible activity, and in social care that is where most of the learning genuinely happens. Activities that count when they produce new learning you can evidence:

• Behaviour support planning and reviewing plans that did or did not work.
• De-escalation and positive behaviour support practice and debriefs.
• Safeguarding concerns raised, managed and closed out.
• Key-working and care or support planning reviews.
• Multi-disciplinary meetings, where preparing or contributing taught you something.
• Supervision and team reflective practice — both explicitly on CORU's list and both routine in social care services.
• Reflecting on critical incidents, which CORU names directly.

The first-renewal trap

Because the 12-month period runs from your registration or renewal date rather than the calendar year, first-time registrants frequently assume they have until 31 December. Check your own renewal date on your CORU record and work backwards from it. If you registered mid-year, your first period ends mid-year.

Supervision and reflective practice are the easiest credits to evidence

Both are already scheduled in most services and both are explicitly eligible. The gap is almost always recording: the session happened, but there is no note of what was learned or what changed afterwards. Writing two or three lines after each session is the difference between an activity and an auditable credit.

What an audit actually asks for

Your Registration Board may select you for a CPD audit. If it does, you submit four things: records of the activities that produced your 30 credits of new or enhanced learning; your evaluation and reflection on that learning; a review of your learning needs for the coming 12 months; and a plan of the activities you intend to undertake.

The reflection is a separate item from the activity record, and it is the part most often missing. A line confirming that you attended something is not reflection — CORU wants your assessment of what changed in your practice as a result.

Keep your records for as long as you remain on the register. Deferral of an audit is considered case by case, and CORU states explicitly that workload is not a sufficient reason. Our guide to how CPD requirements compare across NMBI, the Medical Council, CORU and the PSI sets out how this differs from the other Irish regulators.

No course is “CORU-approved”

CORU does not accredit or approve CPD activities or providers. If a provider tells you a course is CORU-approved, that approval does not exist. What matters at audit is whether the activity produced new learning that you can evidence and reflect on. That gives you a very wide range of eligible activity — and it puts the responsibility for judging relevance on you.

Practical steps

Find your own renewal date and align your personal learning plan to it, because that is the period an audit covers. Record reflection as you go rather than in the week before renewal. And keep a running total, since there is no carry-forward to absorb a shortfall.

If you are newly registered, our guide to the CORU registration process covers what happens before the CPD obligation begins, and what CORU is and what it regulates explains the wider framework.

If you are working towards or hold a QQI qualification, our guide to QQI Level 5 Healthcare Support explains how that sits alongside the CPD obligation.

What 30 credits looks like over a year

An illustrative portfolio for a social care worker in a residential service. Credits are assigned by the registrant, so these are indicative.

This is one illustration, not a template to copy. CORU asks for a range and a balance of activities, and the credits you claim must reflect learning that was genuinely new to you.

Frequently asked questions

Does the 12-month period run with the calendar year?

No. It runs from your registration or renewal date. Two colleagues who registered in different months will have different CPD periods and different deadlines.

Can I carry extra credits into next period?

No. Surplus credits are lost at the end of each period. There is no mechanism to bank them.

Do I still need CPD if I am on leave or working abroad?

Yes. The obligation attaches to your registration, not to whether you are currently practising. CORU states it applies to everyone on a register, including those on leave and those working overseas.

How many credits can I claim for keeping my portfolio up to date?

Up to four in any 12-month period. Record-keeping is legitimate CPD but it is capped.

Is there an approved list of CORU CPD courses?

No. CORU does not accredit or approve CPD activities or providers. Any claim that a course is “CORU-approved” is inaccurate. What matters is whether the activity produced new learning you can evidence and reflect on.

What happens if I am audited and fall short?

Your Registration Board will engage with you about the shortfall. Deferral of an audit is considered case by case, and CORU states that workload is not a sufficient reason for deferral.

Does repeating mandatory training count every year?

Only if it produces new learning for you. CORU is explicit that repeating an activity earns no credits unless there is genuinely new learning — so a refresher that covers changed guidance may count, while an identical repeat may not.

I registered mid-year. When does my first period end?

Twelve months from your registration date, not 31 December. Check the date on your CORU record and work backwards from it — this is the most common error among newly registered social care workers.

Does mandatory training my employer provides count?

Often yes, but only to the extent it produced new learning for you. An annual repeat of identical content generally will not; a session covering updated guidance or a new procedure will.