All dental care professionals (DCPs) have been advised to ensure they are on track to meet the minimum continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for maintaining General Dental Council (GDC) registration before the end of the CPD year on 31 July 2021. This includes the need to comply with the ten hours over two years rule and making an annual CPD statement.

The GDC's Enhanced CPD Scheme requires all dental professionals to complete a minimum of ten hours of verifiable CPD over each consecutive two-year period, including any two-years that span more than one CPD cycle. This means in one year a dental professional could do no CPD activity, but in the following year, they would need to complete ten hours of CPD to meet the requirements.

This rule has been introduced to help ensure CPD is spread out over the full five-year cycle, and is the reason dental professionals are asked to make a CPD statement each year at annual renewal time.

Dental professionals must meet these requirements to maintain their GDC registration. The only exception is those who are new onto the register, so have not yet started a CPD cycle. Dental professionals are advised to check the number of CPD hours they have logged last year on their eGDC account, and the number done so far this year, to ensure they are able to meet the minimum requirements.

If there is shortfall due to COVID-19, dental professionals are advised to do all that they can to be compliant by the end of the CPD year. However, if this proves not to be possible for reasons related to COVID-19, the GDC will take your exceptional circumstances into account. Dental professionals might also consider applying for a grace period if they need more time to complete your CPD, but this needs to be applied for in writing before the 31 July deadline.

Further guidance on CPD requirements and the rules of the Enhanced CPD scheme are available from the GDC website, which includes tools to help record and submit CPD. www.gdc-uk.org