What is CPD? Why it Matters for FREC 3 and FREC 4
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If you’ve completed FREC 3, or you’re thinking about progressing to FREC 4, you’ve probably come across the term CPD.
CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development. In simple terms, it’s how you keep your knowledge and skills up to date after your course.
In pre-hospital care, that really matters.
Because it’s not about what you learnt once. It’s about what you can do now, when it counts.
It also plays a key role in moving from FREC 3 to FREC 4. To start FREC 4, you’ll need to evidence a minimum of 118 hours of CPD, completed after achieving your FREC 3.
That’s where people often get caught out.
This guide explains what CPD actually is, what counts, and how it applies in practice.
What is CPD?
CPD is everything you do to stay safe, current, and effective after your initial training.
That might include:
Attending further training
Practising skills
Reflecting on real incidents
Talking through cases with others
Keeping up with clinical updates
It’s not about collecting certificates.
It’s about staying capable.
Why CPD matters in pre-hospital care
In this line of work, skills don’t stay sharp on their own.
Patient assessment, airway management, recognising deterioration - these are all perishable skills. If you don’t use them or revisit them, they fade.
And when you need them, you don’t get time to think it through.
You act.
CPD is what keeps those skills usable under pressure.
CPD after FREC 3
FREC 3 gives you a strong, regulated foundation in pre-hospital care.
It prepares you to respond safely and effectively in a wide range of environments from close protection, community first responding, event medicine, confined space rescue to police and fire and rescue services.
But if you’re planning to move on to FREC 4, there’s a clear expectation that your learning continues beyond the course.
CPD requirements for FREC 4
To progress from FREC 3 to FREC 4, you must evidence at least 118 hours of CPD, completed after achieving your FREC 3 qualification.
There’s no backdating this.
Anything completed before you passed FREC 3 does not count.
This is where some learners come unstuck. They assume previous experience or older training will carry over, but the expectation is clear — your development needs to be current and ongoing.
What counts as CPD?
CPD isn’t limited to formal courses. In reality, it’s a mix of learning, experience, and reflection.
Examples of effective CPD include:
Attending further training (e.g. ILS, trauma courses, updates)
Practising skills, either independently or in structured sessions
Scenario-based training and simulations
Reflecting on real incidents or patient contacts
Professional discussion with colleagues or more experienced clinicians
Case reviews or debriefs following incidents
Supervised practice or operational shifts
Teaching or supporting the learning of others
Reading clinical guidance, research, or updates
E-learning or structured self-directed study
Audit, feedback, or review of your own practice
The strongest CPD is usually a mix of hands-on practice, real-world experience, and reflection.
It’s not about ticking boxes. It’s about staying capable.
The mistake most people make
Most people treat CPD as something they’ll “get around to”.
They finish FREC 3, take a break, and only start thinking about CPD when they want to progress.
By that point, they’re behind.
CPD works best when it’s continuous. Small, regular learning is far more effective than trying to build 118 hours all at once.
Working on an ambulance or as a CFR
If you’re operational - whether that’s ambulance work, event medical cover, or volunteering as a Community First Responder - you’re already in the best environment for CPD.
Every patient you see is a learning opportunity.
But there’s an important distinction.
“Experience is what happens.
CPD is what you take from it.”
To count as CPD, that experience needs to be:
Reflected on
Recorded
Linked to learning
That’s what turns experience into development.
CPD after FREC 4
FREC 4 takes things further.
You’re expected to assess, interpret, and make decisions - not just follow a process.
Because of that, CPD becomes central to maintaining the qualification.
FREC 4 is often described as an “evergreen” qualification, but that only applies if you:
Maintain a CPD portfolio
Complete regular refresher training
Stay current with clinical practice
For most people, that includes completing an Immediate Life Support (ILS) course each year.
ILS reinforces the core skills that underpin everything else - airway, breathing, circulation, and team-based resuscitation - and naturally forms part of your CPD.
What does a CPD log actually look like?
Most people overcomplicate this.
It doesn’t need to be academic or overly detailed. It just needs to show what you did, what you learnt, and what you’ll do next.
CPD Log Example
One of the biggest issues we see is not that learners have not done enough development. It is that they have not recorded it properly.
To help with that, we have created a downloadable FREC 4 CPD portfolio template. It shows:
How to structure your CPD log
The level of detail expected
Examples of suitable activities
How to record dates, hours and learning points
You can download it using the link below. We will ask for your name and email so we can send you the template and occasional updates about FREC courses and learning resources.
If you are serious about progressing to FREC 4, this is a practical place to start.
CPDme
If you’d prefer to keep your CPD organised digitally, platforms like CPDme are worth a look. Instead of using paper logs, you can record your learning, upload certificates, and add short reflections as you go. Everything is stored in one place, which makes it much easier when you need to evidence your CPD for work, progression, or governance. You can also quickly package your CPD into a report, which makes it far easier to share when needed.
CPD and professional credibility
Anyone can say they’ve done a course.
What matters is whether you can show you’ve stayed current since.
Your CPD portfolio is your evidence.
It shows:
You’re keeping your skills up to date
You’re actively learning
You’re taking responsibility for your practice
That matters in every environment - from security and events to ambulance work.
Final thought
CPD isn’t extra.
It’s part of being safe to practise.
Whether you’re working towards FREC 4 or already operating at that level, your ability to assess, decide, and act depends on how well you maintain your skills.
The qualification gets you started.
CPD is what keeps you ready.
FAQs
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Yes. You must evidence at least 118 hours of CPD, completed after achieving your FREC 3, before starting FREC 4.
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Yes. Immediate Life Support (ILS) is highly relevant CPD and helps maintain your clinical currency.
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Yes, but only if you reflect on it and record what you’ve learnt.
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Keep it simple:
Date
Activity
What you learnt
What you’ll do next
Consistency matters more than format.
