This guide is for Course Owners who want to add Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points or hours to courses and award them automatically when participants complete them.
CPD award: The points or hours a participant earns for completing one Registration on a course. A Registration is one participant's individual place on the course.
Availability: CPD Points & Hours is included on Pro, Teams and Custom plans. You need Course Owner access to set it up.
CPD and certificates are separate. A course can award CPD without issuing a certificate, issue a certificate without awarding CPD, use both, or use neither.
Enable CPD for your account
Go to https://admin.cademy.io and log in.
Select Settings in the main menu.
Select CPD.
Turn on Enable CPD.
Keep the default Points Label and Hours Label, or replace them with the terms your organisation uses, such as CE credits or Course hours.
Select Save.
Your labels are used wherever CPD appears, including course controls, public course pages, listing filters, embed badges, Registrations, Contact activity, exports and certificate variables.
If CPD is missing: Check that your account is on Pro, Teams or Custom, that you have Course Owner access, and that CPD has been enabled under Settings > CPD.
Add CPD points or hours to a course
Select Courses in the main menu.
Open the course and select Edit.
Open Settings, then select Certificates & CPD.
Turn on Award CPD.
Enter a value in the points field, the hours field, or both. Each value must be greater than 0 and can have no more than one decimal place, such as 2 or 2.5.
Select Save.
Leave a field empty if your organisation does not use that unit. For example, a course can award 6 CPD points without also awarding CPD hours.
Certificates and CPD are separate: Turning on Award CPD does not require Automatically issue certificate to be enabled.
Show CPD on public course pages and listings
Public course page Highlights
The course's CPD values appear in the Highlights section on its public course page. This applies to both automatic Highlights and manually written Highlights.
With automatic Highlights, the CPD chip appears with the other course information.
With manual Highlights, the custom chips appear first and the CPD chip is added automatically afterwards.
The course editor preview shows the same CPD chip in both modes.
There is no separate CPD control in the Highlights editor. Turn off Award CPD for the course when its CPD chip should be removed.
Add a CPD badge to course-listing cards
A CPD badge can be added to course cards in a Standard Website Embed or a Cademy for WordPress course listing. It is off by default, so existing listings do not change until you choose it.
For a Standard Website Embed:
In the Cademy dashboard, select Apps.
Open Embeds.
Under What would you like to embed?, choose Multiple Courses.
Choose Grid, Rows, Dates List or Date Cards.
Open Options.
Open Card Details and select CPD.
Check the preview, then select Get Code and replace the existing embed code on your website if required.
For a Cademy for WordPress course listing:
Open the WordPress Dashboard.
Select Pages and edit the page containing the Cademy Courses block.
Select the Cademy Courses block in the page editor.
Open the Block settings in the right sidebar.
Open Card Details.
Select CPD.
Select Save to update the page.
A CPD course card shows the points, hours or both, such as 6 CPD points · 4 CPD hours. Courses without CPD do not show an empty badge.
Minisite cards: Visitors can filter CPD courses on a Cademy Minisite, but Minisite course cards do not currently show the optional CPD badge.
For complete setup instructions, see Embed Cademy Courses on Your Website or Cademy for WordPress: Embed Courses on Your Website.
Let visitors filter courses that award CPD
Visitors can filter CPD courses on:
the course provider's Cademy Minisite;
a Standard Website Embed; and
a Cademy for WordPress course listing.
On a Standard Website Embed, the CPD filter is selected by default for eligible accounts. To check or change it:
Go to Apps > Embeds.
Choose Multiple Courses and any layout except Calendar.
Open Options.
Open Search & Filters.
Select CPD to show the filter, or clear it to hide the filter.
To use the filter as a visitor:
Open the CPD filter above the course list.
Select Awards CPD to hide courses that do not award CPD.
Optionally enter Minimum CPD points, Minimum CPD hours, or both. Decimal values such as 0.5 are supported.
Select Apply.
Use Clear inside the CPD filter, or Clear Filters above the course list, to remove it.
The page address records the selected CPD filter. Copy the complete address after applying the filter when you want to share the same filtered course list.
On a Cademy for WordPress course listing, selecting Awards CPD and then Apply updates the course list on the current page. The page address includes cpd=awarded, and only courses that award CPD remain visible.
No matching courses: The CPD filter can appear for an eligible course provider even when none of their published courses currently award CPD. Selecting Awards CPD then produces an empty result. Check the course's Certificates & CPD settings or clear the filter.
How custom CPD labels appear
Course-page Highlights, embed card badges and the minimum-value fields use the labels saved under Settings > CPD.
If both labels start with the same scheme name, the filter button uses that name. For example, RCN points and RCN hours produce an RCN filter button. If the labels do not share a clear opening name, the button remains CPD while the points and hours fields still use the saved labels.
When CPD is awarded
Cademy awards CPD when a participant's Registration first reaches Completed. Completion is calculated from the attendance and online lesson evidence recorded for that Registration.
Classroom or live online course with one required session: The participant is marked Attended.
Classroom or live online course with several required sessions: The participant is marked Attended for every required session.
On-demand course: The participant completes every published online lesson.
Blended course: The participant completes every required session and every published online lesson.
On-request course: Submitting a request does not award CPD. The participant needs an actual Registration for the arranged course and must meet its attendance requirements.
For the complete status rules, see Understand Registration Completion Statuses. For attendance instructions, see Attendance tracking.
Staff can also correct an on-demand or blended learner's lesson status from the Registration. If the change makes the Registration Completed, it can award CPD. See Change a Learner's Lesson Progress.
One Registration per participant: Every participant needs their own Registration to receive CPD. This includes guest participants added to an order. A booking contact or other person without their own Registration cannot receive an award.
One Registration can hold one active CPD award. If the same participant takes the course again using a new Registration, the new Registration can earn another award.
The awarded values are saved at the time of the award. Changing the course's CPD points or hours later does not change awards already issued.
Correcting completion evidence: Changing attendance or lesson progress after completion can move the Registration out of Completed, but it does not automatically revoke CPD already awarded. Revoke the award separately when it should no longer remain active.
Where CPD awards appear
Registration
Open the participant's Registration and expand Certificate & CPD. The CPD entry shows the awarded points or hours and the award date. A revoked award is shown separately from an active award.
Contact activity
Open Contacts, select the participant, then select the CPD activity tab. Each entry shows the value, course, award date and whether the award has been revoked. Select an entry to open its Registration.
The CPD tab shows individual awards. Cademy does not currently calculate a participant's accumulated CPD total or provide a learner-facing CPD record.
For complete Contact instructions, see Manage Contacts.
Registration exports
Open Registrations, select Export, then choose one of these options:
All Columns: Includes the CPD points and hours columns when CPD is available and enabled.
Choose Columns: Lets you select the points and hours columns from the CPD group.
The export column names use your organisation's saved CPD labels. Each row shows that Registration's active award. A value is blank when the Registration has no active award, its award was revoked, or that unit was not awarded.
CPD columns are available only in Registration exports. Contact exports do not include CPD awards because Cademy does not currently calculate per-contact totals.
For the complete export process, see Managing Registrations: Search, Filter, and Export.
Certificate templates
When CPD is available and enabled, certificate template text can use these options under Insert variable (x):
CPD points
CPD hours
CPD points label
CPD hours label
The CPD points and CPD hours variables use the Registration's active award when one exists. Before an award exists, they use the course's current CPD values. The value variables are blank after an award is revoked.
For the complete certificate-template process, see Certificates.
Revoke a CPD award
Correct the attendance or lesson progress first when the participant should no longer be treated as having completed the course. Then revoke the award:
Open the participant's Registration.
Select the three-dot Registration actions menu.
Select Revoke CPD… or Revoke Certificate & CPD…, depending on what the Registration holds.
Review the warning and confirm the revocation.
The award remains in the Contact's CPD activity with a REVOKED marker. Revoking an award does not change the Registration's Completion status, attendance or lesson progress.
Important: If the attendance and lesson progress still add up to Completed, the award can be issued again when completion is evaluated again. Correct the evidence before revoking when the participant should remain incomplete.
Turn CPD off
Go to Settings > CPD.
Turn off Enable CPD.
Select Save.
Turning CPD off stops new awards and hides the CPD course controls, public Highlights, course-list filters, embed badges, Contact CPD tab, export columns and certificate variables. Existing course settings and award records are kept and become available again if CPD is re-enabled.
Moving to a plan below Pro has the same effect while the lower plan is active.
Frequently asked questions
Why can I not see the CPD page or Award CPD control?
You need a Pro, Teams or Custom plan and Course Owner access. The course control appears only after Enable CPD has been turned on under Settings > CPD. After a plan change, reload the Admin dashboard. Public course pages, certificate variables and exports can take about one minute to update, while admin access can take up to 10 minutes without a reload.
Can I award CPD without issuing a certificate?
Yes. CPD and certificates are separate course settings. You can use either one or both.
Will past course completions receive CPD automatically?
No. Enabling CPD does not automatically add awards to Registrations that were already completed.
Can I add a CPD award manually?
No. CPD awards are currently created automatically from Registration completion. There is no manual or external-award option.
What happens if I change the course's CPD values later?
Existing awards keep the points and hours that applied when they were awarded. New awards use the course's current values.
Can someone earn CPD again for repeating the course?
Yes, when the repeat attempt has a new Registration. The same Registration cannot hold two active awards.
Does every participant on a booking receive CPD?
Every participant with their own Registration can receive CPD, including a guest participant added to the booking. Each Registration must meet the course's completion requirements. A person without their own Registration cannot receive an award.
Can I see a participant's total CPD?
No. Cademy currently shows individual awards in admin, but it does not calculate accumulated totals or provide a learner-facing CPD record.
Why does the CPD filter show no courses?
The filter can appear even when no published course currently awards CPD. Check that at least one published course has Award CPD enabled with points or hours set, or clear the filter to restore the complete course list.
Why does the filter button still say CPD after I renamed the labels?
The button uses a custom scheme name only when both labels begin with the same words, such as RCN points and RCN hours. Otherwise the button remains CPD, while the minimum-value fields, Highlights and badges still use your saved labels.
Why is CPD missing from a course card?
On a Standard Website Embed or Cademy for WordPress course listing, open Card Details and select CPD. Also check that the course has Award CPD enabled with at least one points or hours value. Minisite course cards do not currently show the badge, and courses without CPD never show an empty badge.
Why is CPD missing from the public course page?
Check that CPD is available and enabled for the account, that Award CPD is enabled for the course, and that at least one points or hours value is set. CPD is added automatically to both automatic and manual Highlights.
Why can I not move a Registration?
A Registration with an active certificate or CPD award cannot be moved to another course or date. Revoke the active certificate or CPD award first, then move the Registration.