Continuing Professional Development

In 2021-2022, the Royal Academy of Dance, together with the assistance of our inaugural partners, DanceSurance, Harlequin Floors, and Bloch, created an ongoing Teachers’ Scholarship Fund supporting RAD Registered Teachers who wish to develop their skills and knowledge by engaging with Continuing Professional Development.

Learn more and apply below.

CPD Declaration: Each year you will be required to declare that you have completed you CPD requirement. Declaration is easy – all you need to do is login to the Members’ Area and go to the CPD Declaration page under ‘My Account’. You will then be offered three options:

• Completed CPD – you have completed 20 hours of CPD, or believe you are eligible for a part exemption of 10 hours.
• Eligible for exemption – You believe you are eligible for a full exemption of 20 hours and understand that you will be asked to submit evidence if selected for the CPD Audit.
• Not met CPD requirement – You have not met your CPD requirement and understand that this is a requirement for retaining your teacher registration and you may be subject to sanctions. Simply select the statement that most closely reflects your situation.

Please note you will not need to submit any evidence unless you are selected to take part in the CPD Audit. We recommend that you keep supporting evidence for a minimum of two CPD years.

Exemptions: The CPD year runs from 1 September to 31 August each year. If you do not think you will be able to meet your requirement, you can self-declare an exemption.

If you declare yourself exempt and are selected for the audit, at no time will the CPD team ask to see medical evidence. We will simply ask that you confirm your medical exemption and state that your declaration is true.

For further information, please see our Guide to RAD CPD Exemptions.

If you have any questions about exemptions, please contact us at cpd@rad.org.au.

RAD Registered Teachers taking part in CPD activities will enable us to show that our teachers are at the forefront of dance education and training and that they have the most up-to-date knowledge and skills.

RAD teaching members must complete 20 hours of CPD between 1 September and 31 August every year. The CPD requirement can be made up of a minimum of 10 hours of Time–Valued CPD and a maximum of 10 hours of Independent CPD. You can fulfil your CPD requirement by participating in both RAD CPD and external CPD (CPD offered by other organisations).

CPD requirement for Registered Teachers with a non-RAD qualification from an approved awarding society: Teachers who have joined as a RAD Registered Teacher with a non-RAD qualification from an approved awarding society need to complete 20 hours of RAD CPD within one year of gaining their Registered Teacher Status. For example, if you joined on 1 July 2024, you will need to complete 20 hours of RAD CPD by 30 June 2025.

Time-Valued CPD activities are valued by the amount of time it takes to complete them and will normally take place in a formal learning environment. They include activities run by the RAD and by other organisations. Some examples of Time-Valued CPD include in-person practical workshops and training sessions and online or distance learning units, courses/workshops. If you are enrolled on a recognised higher or further education programme of study, this can also form part of your CPD requirement.

Time-Valued CPD should have:

• clearly stated aims and objectives,
• demonstrable learning outcomes,
• relevance to your dance teaching career, and
• evidence of completion.

It is up to you to decide whether external (non-RAD CPD) activities meet this criteria.

Independent CPD is completed in a less formal setting than a workshop or a course. There is no definitive list of accepted Independent CPD courses simply because Independent CPD can and should include a diverse range of activities. To attempt to produce a list would be very limiting when our underlying ethos is one of recognising the day-to-day learning and development activities that teachers already do. You can claim up to two hours of Independent CPD per type of activity. The CPD department can provide guidance on the type of activities that can count as your Independent CPD.

This could include:

• private study to learn new skills,
• online research,
• reading dance-related publications,
• contributing to the local dance community through committees or charity work,
• mentoring students,
• watching performances,
• planning or producing a show, and
• class planning

For further advice, please contact cpd@rad.org.au.

Recording and declaring your CPD

Throughout the CPD year, you should keep a record of all the CPD you take part in. This can be done by keeping a folder of all relevant documents and certificates. You may be asked to provide this evidence if you are selected as part of the annual audit.

Graduates from RAD Faculty of Education programmes

If you’ve recently graduated from a Faculty of Education programme this will count towards your CPD for the year in which your award is given. For example, if your award is given in November 2023, you will need to start your CPD hours from 1 September 2024, or if your award was given in May 2024, you will need to start your CPD from September 2024.

New and reinstating teachers

New teaching members and re-instating teaching members (after one year or more cancelled membership) only need to complete their CPD on a pro-rata basis. If you have joined or re-joined the RAD after July each year, you can download the spreadsheet below as a guide:

CPD Requirement for New and Reinstating Teachers

As an essential quality assurance exercise, we carry out a CPD Audit, where 5% of teaching members will be selected and asked to submit evidence in support of their CPD declaration. If you are selected, you must provide evidence that you have met the minimum requirement of 20 hours of CPD. You will only need to submit evidence if you are selected to participate in the Audit. It is important that you keep evidence throughout the CPD year.

Examples include but are not restricted to:

• copies of certificates, and
• letters of attendance.

All evidence must show:

• your name,
• the date (or range of dates) of the activity,
• the title of the activity, and
• confirmation of your participation.

The evidence provided should be able to verify your attendance/participation in the specified activity.

We recommend that you keep supporting evidence for a minimum of two CPD years.

CPD Audit form

If you have been selected to participate in the CPD Audit, we will send you a form that you must complete and return with supporting documentation. We will not be able to complete the Audit of your activity without this form.

What happens when we receive your form?

We will send you an email confirming receipt of your Audit data and review the information you have sent us. If we need any further clarification or information regarding your evidence, we will contact you either via email or telephone.

Once we have reviewed the information, and no further clarification is required, we will contact you to confirm whether you have successfully completed your CPD requirement for the year.

If after further consultation with you, you have been unable to demonstrate that you have met the minimum CPD requirement we will send confirmation that you have not completed your requirement for the year and explain what will happen next.

Questions

If you have questions about the CPD Audit, please contact your National Office. If you do not have a National Office listed for your country, contact RAD headquarters in London. Visit the contact us page for all contact information.

All RAD teaching members must complete 20 hours of CPD in order to retain their status, as set out in the Code of Professional Practice. This to ensure that you maintain up-to-date knowledge, understanding, and skills to respond to developments in the dance profession.

Effective Date: 10 March 2021

The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is committed to producing the best teachers in the world. Our CPD scheme will enable us to evidence that our teachers are at the forefront of dance education and training and that they have the most up-to-date knowledge and skills. CPD also gives teachers the chance to take an active role in their career development and to pursue any personal interests they have.

CPD only use personal information if we have a proper reason to do so and this includes if we share information outside of the RAD.

For more information, please visit our Privacy Policy page.

CPD T&Cs

CPD FAQ

Participation in online CPD document