Most farm SQPs are required to gain 24 enhanced/compulsory farm CPD points within their overall point target, by 30 June 2025. Those who qualified after 1 January 2022 and so didn’t have that requirement in Period 7 (i.e. by June 2023) must now meet this obligation. More details on this are in the page on the subject.

SQPs are now able to meet up to 30% of their points obligation from CPD that is not AMTRA-accredited (or 50% for veterinary nurses), but which still supports the AMTRA SQP role. See Question 17 on "self-reflection CPD" for more details.

In order to maintain their status, SQPs must achieve a minimum number of CPD points during each AMTRA CPD period.

Currently each CPD period runs for two years. The current CPD period, "CPD period 8", runs from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2025. Points must be earned during that period – points earned near the end of the period may not be added to your record until after 30 June 2025, but the important thing is to have earned them by 30 June 2025.

The same deadline applies to everyone, including those who qualify after the start of the CPD period.

During each CPD period, each person must earn a minimum number of CPD points. The number of points that each SQP type will be required to obtain during each CPD period is indicated below.

Anyone who qualified before the end of 2023 needs to get the full number of points shown. Those who become a SQP in 2024 need only achieve half the number of points given below by June 2025; those who become an SQP in the first half of 2025 will have no formal CPD obligation for this period. (See also the following answers on full allocation of points, and on adding modules, for more details.)

There is no maximum number of CPD points – everyone is encouraged to undertake as much CPD as they can

Additionally, most farm SQPs must gain at least 24 points towards their enhanced/compulsory farm total – these points count towards the overall total too.

Those who qualify part-way through a CPD period should attain the following points:

• Those who qualify with less than 6 months of the CPD period remaining (i.e. during the first half of 2025): no formal CPD obligation.
• Those who qualify with more than 18 months of the CPD period remaining (i.e. by 31 December 2023 in the case of the current CPD period): full CPD points obligation.
• Those who qualify part-way through the CPD period (i.e. during 2024): half the normal CPD points obligation.

Those absent due to maternity leave or long-term sick leave:

• for 6 to 18 months in the current CPD Period then CPD points obligation is halved.
• for more than 18 months in the current CPD Period, the CPD obligation is waived.

You may be required to produce appropriate documentary evidence of maternity leave or long-term sick leave. We cannot confirm any reduction in point target for maternity leave or long-term sick leave until you return to work – otherwise we don’t know how long you were absent.

Farm SQPs who first qualify to join the AMTRA Register after 2023, or who gain the farm-animal element of their qualification after 2023, are not required to do the enhanced/compulsory farm CPD in this CPD period (though are encouraged to do so).

Farm SQPs who gain a CPD points reduction due to maternity leave, long-term sick leave or other exceptional factors, are not required to do the enhanced/compulsory farm CPD in this CPD period (though are encouraged to do so).

Some people add additional species modules after they first become AMTRA qualified - this might be a career progression, or the other module exams may have been failed at the first attempt.

Additional CPD points are added to the total needed, consistent with the principle of half points or no points for part-way through the CPD period, as described in the previous two answers.

The number of CPD points required is best illustrated by an unusual example:

• Chris passes the Base and Companion Animal modules in 2023, becomes a companion-animal SQP (in the "C" category), and thus needs 30 CPD points.
• She passes the Equine module in 2024 to become an SQP in the "E" category: as that is between 6 and 18 months from the end of the CPD period, her additional points requirement is half of the difference between SQPs in the "C" and "E" categories, i.e. an extra 10, making 40 in all.
• Finally, she passes the Farm Animal module in early 2025: as that is less than 6 months from the end of the CPD period, there is no additional CPD points obligation, so the total required stays at 40.

From July 2025, her points requirement will be the full 80 for an SQP in the "R" category for the following two years. It's not essential to understand this calculation - your personal points target is on every points update from AMTRA.

Anyone who does not meet their points target by the end of the CPD period (i.e. earned by 30 June 2025), will not be permitted to renew their AMTRA status for the following year (i.e. 2026). The points have to be earned by the deadline date, but as always there will a delay before they are added to your record – the requirement is to earn the points by the end of the CPD period, not have them on the record at that date.

Additionally, anyone who is required to obtain 24 enhanced/compulsory farm CPD points and doesn't, will lose the farm element of their AMTRA registration from 30 September.

AMTRA offers a "revalidation viva" to demonstrate ongoing competency for those who haven’t gained enough points by the deadline, but passing the assessment is challenging and relatively costly, so that option should not be relied upon.

The easiest way is to log in to your AMTRA record - on the AMTRA website just click 'Login' in the top right-hand corner. If you've forgotten your password, you can use the login page to request another password be sent to you.

CPD points earned are added to each person's records when they are received from the CPD provider. You are advised of the number of CPD points you have accumulated from time to time. If we have an email address for you then we will send you an update every time your record is updated – another good reason to ensure that we always have an up-to-date email address that will reach you directly – but if we only have a postal address for you, we will send you an update approximately every two months.

If you haven’t received a points update within the last two months, please contact us: perhaps we are sending it by email but you aren’t receiving it for some reason.

If there are points missing, please contact the organisation or company that provided the CPD - but do leave them six weeks after the event to advise AMTRA of points earned and for AMTRA to process the information received. Please don't contact AMTRA regarding missing points (unless it was an AMTRA event).

If the points are wrong rather than simply missing, please email or write to us with details of which points are wrong.

a) Attending AMTRA-accredited CPD seminars – the seminars need not be run by AMTRA (though the AMTRA CPD Academy is a great place to start) but must be accredited by AMTRA in advance. Most CPD nowadays is done online, and webinars / online seminars, whether recorded or live, count in the same way as face-to-face seminars.

b) Distance learning supported by multiple choice quizzes – i.e. by reading or watching supportive material and answering sets of accredited questions, such as on the AMTRA website, elsewhere online, or in magazines.

c) Self-reflectivon CPD – SQPs may meet up to 30% of their points obligation from CPD that is not AMTRA-accredited (or 50% if they are a veterinary nurse), but which still supports the AMTRA SQP role, provided appropriate self-reflection is carried out via the facility on the AMTRA website. See Q17 on "self-reflection CPD" for more details.

d) Relevant Further Education or Higher Educational qualifications – SQPs gaining a relevant FE or HE qualification within the CPD period may claim one CPD point for each academic credit. Evidence of the qualification will be required, and should be submitted along with the FE/HE CPD points claim form (available on the AMTRA website or from the AMTRA office).

See also Q16 if you are a vet nurse.

CPD will be accredited and allocated points by AMTRA, taking input as needed from external experts. The number of points allocated will be based on the duration and nature of the content – in general, material that is more core to the SQP role will earn more points per hour.

Only if the events or distance learning take place at least 12 months apart. This applies even if the two occasions are in different CPD periods – they must be more than 12 months apart.

However, you may gain points for similar topics from different CPD providers – for instance, both providers may be talking about equine parasitology, but the discussion and emphasis given will be different and the result is complementary, whereas there is much less additional benefit from hearing the same presentations twice in a short period.

Generally we will spot duplicates before they are added to your record, but if we spot them later we will remove the points and notify you – do not rely on duplicated points to reach your points target.

Points earned on the AMTRA website, or added via the self-reflection option (see Q17), will be added immediately.

Accredited CPD organisers provide AMTRA with details (name & AMTRA number) of those who completed the CPD. Some providers are very quick at doing this, others rather slower, so please allow up to six weeks, and contact them if points are still missing from your AMTRA record.

We also strongly recommend that everyone completing AMTRA-accredited CPD keeps a record of what they did (ideally including the AMTRA accreditation reference, if available) and when, and any evidence (certificate, email confirmation, etc). This may be helpful in resolving any discrepancies.

SQPs may meet up to 30% (or 50% for veterinary nurses) of their points obligation from CPD that is not AMTRA-accredited, but which still supports the AMTRA SQP role, provided appropriate self-reflection is carried out via the facility on the AMTRA website. See Question 17 on "self-reflection CPD" for more details.

No – the whole purpose of CPD is to ensure that you keep up-to-date.

No – CPD is by its nature a post-qualification process. It would also be very difficult to differentiate between training to support the qualification and accreditable CPD, meaning that the majority of those qualifying would have enough CPD pointed accumulated for their first CPD period, something AMTRA does not wish to see.

AMTRA recognises that veterinary nurses who are also AMTRA SQPs do undertake a significant amount of CPD through the obligations of their other profession, though much won't be directly relevant to the AMTRA role.

VNs are still required to undertake the same amount of AMTRA CPD as other SQPs, but they may claim 50% of their points from self-reflection CPD, rather than the 30% for other SQPs.

SQPs may claim up to 30% (or 50% for veterinary nurses) of their overall target from CPD which is not AMTRA-accredited but which supports the AMTRA SQP role. Such CPD is subject to self-reflection, and must be claimed via the AMTRA website at amtra.org.uk/CPDreflections.

Such CPD must be recorded within 3 months of it taking place, and accompanied by appropriate "reflection" - usually a short summary with you describing what you learned, how you might change your prescribing or advice as a result, what further CPD/learning might be appropriate next, or other reactions to the CPD you wish to describe.

What you write needn't be complicated. A good starting point is sentences beginning with "I". Try saying it out loud first. It doesn't have to be long - two or three sentences on each aspect should be fine. Reflection is usually best completed immediately after the CPD while thoughts are fresh in your mind, and though we've allowed you up to three months, we recommend you do it much sooner than that.

A proportion of the self-reflection CPD claims will be examined by the AMTRA office, and we may call you to discuss what you've described.

You can reflect on a range of CPD including seminars, meetings, reading, teaching others, learning new skills.

AMTRA CPD points will be awarded at the rate of 4 points per hour of reflective CPD, but capped at 30% (50% for veterinary nurses) of your overall personal points target.

For farm SQPs, there is an element of enhanced/compulsory farm CPD, with a focus on resistance and its management, within the existing CPD points target.

Note that this CPD is 'compulsory' in the sense that all farm SQPs must obtain at least 24 of these points, but there are more than 24 points available, so which CPD is undertaken by each person is up to them - none of the individual pieces of CPD is 'compulsory'.

More details are set out in the page on the subject.