If you have been off the GDC register and want to come back, the CPD part of GDC restoration can feel like the biggest hurdle. It does not have to be. What you need depends mainly on how long you have been away, and once you know which group you fall into, the job becomes a checklist rather than a worry. This guide explains how the GDC sorts restoration applications, what CPD evidence it asks for, and how to gather it calmly, step by step.

People leave the register for all sorts of reasons: a career break, family, health, work abroad, or a renewal that slipped through the net. None of these should put you off returning.

How GDC restoration works

You apply to restore your registration online, through MyGDC, from the GDC's Restoring your name to the register page. That page sets out the whole application, including the character reference, the identity check and the documents the GDC needs to see. Read it, and the GDC's key facts about registration that it links to, before you start.

As part of the application you choose a CPD declaration. Which one applies to you depends on two things: how long you have been off the register, and whether you were ever removed for not meeting the CPD requirements. The GDC has separate CPD pages for each group of registrants:

Use the page for your title. The structure is the same for both, but the CPD year, the hours due and so your calculation differ.

Which group are you in?

In broad terms, the GDC's pages describe three situations.

How long you have been off the register What the GDC asks for
Less than 12 months (and never removed for CPD) A CPD declaration. You do not submit evidence of your CPD.
12 months to under five years (and never removed for CPD) Evidence of verifiable CPD completed since the start of your current CPD cycle, for the hours due on a pro rata basis, with a CPD activity log and your personal development plan (PDP).
More than five years, or removed for CPD at any time Five years of CPD evidence, dated within five years of your application. There is a separate rule if you were removed for CPD but had been on the register for less than five years.

This table is a map, not the rulebook. The exact wording, the worked examples and the pro rata calculation are on the GDC's pages linked above, and those pages are what your application will be judged against. If your situation does not fit neatly, read the worked examples there, or contact the GDC directly.

Off the register for less than 12 months

This is the lightest group. You make a declaration and do not send in evidence. The declaration still matters, though: you are confirming what you hold, so make sure your record for your most recent completed cycle really is complete before you sign anything. If certificates are scattered across email inboxes, provider websites and a drawer in the kitchen, now is the time to bring them together.

Off the register for 12 months to under five years

Here you send evidence. The GDC asks for three things:

  1. Verifiable CPD certificates covering the hours you need, dated after your current cycle started.
  2. A CPD activity log covering your current cycle.
  3. Your personal development plan (PDP).

Only CPD completed since the start of your current cycle counts. Older certificates, however good the course, will not help with this application. The GDC's pages show how to work out the number of hours due, so check your cycle start date first and count from there.

Off the register for more than five years, or removed for CPD

In this group you submit five years of CPD evidence, all dated within five years of your application. If you were removed for CPD and had been on the register for less than five years, you instead submit evidence from the start of your current cycle, on the same pro rata basis as the group above. Check the GDC page for your title for exactly what to include.

Getting your CPD evidence in order

The work is the same in kind for everyone: find what you have, fill the gaps, and present it clearly.

1. Find the dates that apply to you

Your group sets the window. For 12 months to under five years off (or removal for CPD with under five years on the register), it is your current CPD cycle: the GDC's pages explain how to find its start. For more than five years off (or removal for CPD after five years or more), it is the five years before your application. Under 12 months, your declaration covers your most recent completed cycle (or your first cycle, if you have not completed one yet). Write the dates at the top of your log.

2. Gather every certificate you already have

Search your email for providers' names and the word "certificate". Check the accounts you hold with CPD providers. Then sort what you find into "inside my window" and "outside it". Only the first pile counts as evidence.

3. Check each certificate shows what the GDC needs

For CPD to count as verifiable, the evidence needs to show certain details, including the subject and learning content, the anticipated development outcomes, the date, the hours, your name and the quality assurance arrangements. The full list is in section 5.3 of the GDC's CPD guidance for dental professionals. Since March 2025 the GDC no longer requires your GDC number or a signature on a certificate.

4. Fill the gaps with verifiable CPD

Once you know the hours still to find, plan them rather than collecting whatever course appears first. The GDC's recommended CPD topics are a sensible place to start, especially after time away. Keep in mind that only verifiable CPD counts towards your GDC hours.

5. Write your PDP and keep your log current

Your PDP sets out the CPD you plan to do, the development outcomes it links to and when you expect to complete it. Your log records what you have done. The GDC links to templates for both from its Recording and submitting CPD page. Our guides to GDC CPD requirements and dental nurse CPD requirements explain how the PDP fits into Enhanced CPD.

6. Check, then apply

Before you submit, put your certificates, log and PDP side by side. Does every certificate fall inside the right dates? Do the hours add up? Does each activity link to at least one development outcome? A complete application avoids avoidable follow-up questions.

Keeping it simple once you are back

Once you are restored, the habit that helps most is recording CPD as you go: a certificate scanned the day you earn it is one you never have to hunt for. The GDC requires you to keep your CPD records for five years after the end of your cycle, so a tidy system now saves trouble for years.

How Enhanced CPD Pro can help

For people returning to the register, Enhanced CPD Pro offers a service to catch up on all the CPD you need and compile it into audit-compliant reports. Alongside that, you have everything GDC registrants get in the app:

  • Certificate scanning: upload or photograph a certificate and the app parses it and creates a detailed CPD record. You can also email a certificate to the app.
  • CPD importers: bring in CPD records held in other web services, so everything is in one place.
  • An AI-assisted PDP that tracks your goals and the courses that progress them.
  • AI-assisted reflective notes using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle.
  • A course library of full-length courses.

The app helps you prepare your evidence; the GDC makes the decision on your application.

"This app is a life saver, I'd been off the GDC register a few years and the whole requirements to re-register had changed … it's been so easy. Saves time and stores everything you need" — Megan Elizabeth Mccallion, GOMERSAL DENTAL LOUNGE (Endorsal review, June 2024)

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to send CPD evidence to restore my GDC registration?

It depends on how long you have been off the register. If it is less than 12 months and you were never removed for CPD, you make a declaration and do not submit evidence. Otherwise you submit evidence. The GDC's restoration pages for dentists and DCPs have the detail.

Which dates does my CPD evidence need to fall within?

It depends on your group. If you have been off the register for 12 months to under five years, or were removed for CPD with less than five years on the register, only CPD completed since the start of your current cycle counts. If you have been off for more than five years, or were removed for CPD after five years or more on the register, the evidence must be dated within five years of your application.

What documents does the GDC ask for?

Where evidence is needed: verifiable CPD certificates covering the hours due, a CPD activity log for your current cycle, and your PDP. The full application, including the character reference and identity check, is on the GDC's restoration page.

What kind of CPD does the GDC accept for restoration?

Verifiable CPD. Only verifiable CPD counts towards your GDC hours, and where evidence is needed the GDC asks for verifiable CPD certificates. Section 5.3 of the CPD guidance lists what verifiable evidence must show.

Back to practice, one step at a time

GDC restoration is a process with clear steps: know your group, find the dates that apply to you, gather and check your certificates, fill the gaps with verifiable CPD, and present a complete log and PDP. Take it one step at a time and it is far more manageable than it first looks.

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Read next: CPD reflection with the Gibbs Reflective Cycle: an example