Dental Nurse CPD: What Counts and How to Record It

If you are a GDC-registered dental nurse, you need 50 hours of verifiable CPD in each five-year cycle, with at least 10 hours in every two consecutive CPD years. According to the General Dental Council (GDC), only verifiable CPD counts towards those hours: the activity needs evidence from the provider, and it needs a matching entry in your own CPD record. This guide explains what counts, what does not, and how to record it so you can declare it each year without stress.

The rules below come from the GDC's enhanced CPD guidance and its CPD web pages. The GDC regulates dental professionals across the UK, so these rules apply to dental nurses in all four nations.

Quick reference for dental nurses

How many hours, and when?

The GDC sets different totals by role. Dentists need 100 hours per cycle, dental therapists and hygienists 75, and dental nurses and dental technicians 50. All hours you declare must be verifiable.

There is no fixed yearly total. Instead, the GDC requires a minimum of 10 hours for every two consecutive CPD years, and you must not have two consecutive years with zero CPD. In a 2025 blog for dental care professionals, the GDC said it applies the 10 in 2 rule without adjusting for exceptional circumstances.

When your first cycle starts depends on when you registered. For dental care professionals who registered on or after 1 January 2010, it starts on the next 1 August after you first registered. Each cycle then runs for five years.

The GDC also says CPD is tied to your registration, not your employment. A career break or time off work does not pause the requirement.

What counts as verifiable CPD

The GDC's guidance lists examples of verifiable CPD that "may include" the following (the list is not exhaustive):

• courses and lectures
• training days
• hands-on clinical training or workshops
• clinical audit
• attending conferences
• e-learning

What makes an activity verifiable is not its format but the evidence behind it. The GDC says the provider's evidence should show:

• the subject, learning content, aims and objectives
• the development outcomes the activity is expected to meet
• the date or dates
• the total hours
• your name as the participant
• quality assurance, including who provided it
• confirmation from the provider that the information is full and accurate

This is usually a certificate, but the GDC accepts other forms, such as an email from the provider, if they show the activity is verifiable. If you cannot get a certificate (for example, after a peer review), the GDC offers a verifiable CPD mapping document. The GDC has also said registration numbers are helpful on certificates but are no longer required.

The GDC does not approve CPD providers, so you must use your own judgement about whether an activity is relevant and properly evidenced. In-house training is not addressed specifically, so whether a practice session counts depends on whether you hold evidence covering the points above.

What does not count

You can still do non-verifiable CPD and it may help your practice, but the GDC says it should not be declared, and it does not count towards your 50 hours. Breaks and travel time are also excluded from the hours you record, and you can only count the hours shown on the evidence. CPD completed after 31 July counts towards the following year, not the one that just ended.

The four development outcomes

Every activity you log must be linked to at least one GDC development outcome. In summary:

• A: effective communication with patients, the dental team and others, including when obtaining consent, dealing with complaints and raising concerns
• B: effective management of yourself and others, or effective work with others in the dental team, in the interests of patients
• C: maintenance and development of knowledge and skill within your field of practice
• D: maintenance of the skills, behaviours and attitudes that maintain patient confidence in you and the profession, and put patients' interests first

Recommended topics for the team

The GDC has a list of "highly recommended" topics. They are recommendations, not compulsory, and the GDC says they will be relevant to most dental professionals:

• medical emergencies: at least 10 hours in each cycle, and at least two hours every year
• disinfection and decontamination: five hours per cycle
• radiography and radiation protection: five hours per cycle, if you undertake radiography
• legal and ethical issues, complaints handling, oral cancer early detection and safeguarding children and vulnerable adults: recommended, with no hours set

How to record your CPD

The GDC expects three things: a personal development plan, an activity log and the evidence.

1. Personal development plan

Create a PDP at the start of your cycle. It should identify your maintenance and learning needs and include planned CPD relevant to your field of practice, the development outcomes linked to each activity, and timeframes across the cycle. The PDP is for your own use, though the GDC may ask to see it.

2. Activity log

For each activity, the GDC says your log should record:

• the title and a description
• the date or dates completed
• the number of hours, as shown on the evidence
• the development outcome or outcomes achieved
• a reflective element, or an indication that reflection took place

The GDC is not prescriptive about how you reflect. You can reflect alone or with a mentor, peer or employer; what you must do is record that it took place.

3. Evidence

Keep the certificate or equivalent for every entry. Your declared hours must match your log and your evidence.

The annual statement and keeping records

Each year, you make your CPD statement through myGDC. The CPD year for dental care professionals runs from 1 August to 31 July, and the statement is due by 28 August. You confirm the number of hours you completed, using whole hours (round partial hours to the nearest hour), and that you have a CPD record. If you did no CPD, you record zero hours.

The GDC does not routinely review everyone's record, but it can sample records. If you are selected, you submit your PDP, activity log and evidence, with at least 28 days' notice. Keep everything for the duration of your five-year cycle and for five years after the cycle ends.

A grace period is possible only if you apply in the final six months of your cycle (from 1 February in year five for dental care professionals). If granted, it gives 56 extra days from 1 August, and the GDC says it cannot be applied retrospectively. Missing the requirements can lead to removal from the register and an application to restore your name, so treat the deadline seriously. For more on how the scheme works for dentists, see our guide to GDC CPD requirements for UK dentists.

Frequently asked questions

How many CPD hours does a dental nurse need?

50 hours of verifiable CPD in each five-year cycle, with at least 10 hours in every two consecutive CPD years, according to the GDC.

Do I have to complete medical emergencies training every year?

It is a highly recommended topic rather than a compulsory one. The GDC recommends at least 10 hours across a cycle with at least two hours each year, so most dental nurses plan for it annually.

Can I count reading or in-house training?

Reading is non-verifiable and should not be declared. In-house training can only count if you hold evidence that meets the GDC's verifiable criteria, such as a certificate showing the subject, aims, date, hours and quality assurance.

What if I am on a career break?

The GDC says the requirement follows your registration, not your employment. A zero year is possible within the 10 in 2 rule, but you are expected to complete 10 hours in the years either side.

How long should I keep my CPD records?

For your five-year cycle and a further five years after it ends.

Keeping it manageable

Log each activity and file its certificate as you go, rather than rebuilding your record in August. Our training matrix template shows one way to track hours across a team. Whichever provider you use, always check that the certificate contains what the GDC asks for before you count the hours. You can find wider professional development guidance on our CPD hub.

This article is general information, not regulatory, legal or compliance advice. Requirements can change, so check the GDC website and your own record before making your annual statement.