GPhC revalidation requires pharmacists to demonstrate continuing professional development — but the free CPD platform landscape is fragmented. Three platforms dominate: CPPE (Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education), RPS (Royal Pharmaceutical Society) Learning, and PharmOutcomes. Each provides a different type of learning, and understanding the differences helps you build a CPD portfolio that is both efficient and defensible at revalidation.
CPPE
CPPE provides free online learning programmes for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in England, funded by Health Education England. The content is clinically focused, structured as learning programmes with assessments, and maps to the GPhC CPD framework.
Strengths: Free. High-quality clinical content — programmes on clinical topics (respiratory, cardiovascular, diabetes, mental health) written by pharmacy academics and practitioners. Assessment-based — you complete modules and receive a certificate. Programmes are regularly updated to reflect current practice and guidelines. The most comprehensive free clinical CPD platform for pharmacists.
Limitations: England only (Scotland has NES Pharmacy, Wales has HEIW, Northern Ireland has NICPLD — equivalent but separate platforms). Content is module-based (passive learning — read and answer) rather than adaptive. No question bank integration. No performance tracking across clinical domains over time.
Best for: All pharmacists in England wanting structured, free, clinically focused CPD. Essential for revalidation portfolios.
RPS Learning
RPS Learning provides CPD resources for Royal Pharmaceutical Society members — webinars, guides, toolkits, and online learning modules. Available to RPS members (membership required — approximately £200/year for pharmacists).
Strengths: Expert-authored content from RPS faculty. Webinar series on current pharmacy topics. Professional development resources (leadership, management, advanced practice). The RPS brand carries weight in pharmacy circles.
Limitations: Membership required — not free. Content is less clinically detailed than CPPE for therapeutic topics. More focused on professional development than clinical knowledge. Not assessment-based in the same way as CPPE — learning is less structured.
Best for: Pharmacists who are RPS members and want professional development CPD (leadership, advanced practice, policy) alongside clinical knowledge.
PharmOutcomes
PharmOutcomes is primarily a service recording platform (recording Pharmacy First consultations, flu vaccinations, etc.) — but it also provides some CPD learning resources linked to the services pharmacists deliver.
Strengths: Directly linked to service delivery — CPD can be generated from real patient encounters recorded on the platform. Practical, service-focused learning. Available free through community pharmacy contracts.
Limitations: CPD content is limited to service-related topics. Not a comprehensive clinical learning platform. The CPD element is secondary to the service recording function.
Best for: Community pharmacists who want to generate CPD from their daily service activity.
Where iatroX Adds Something Different
The three platforms above provide passive or module-based learning. None uses adaptive question-based learning. None provides a performance dashboard showing your clinical knowledge proficiency across therapeutic areas. None tests your applied clinical decision-making under exam-like conditions.
iatroX adds an active-learning CPD dimension. The GPhC Q-bank (1,000+ adaptive questions) tests your applied clinical knowledge across the CRA framework — cardiovascular, endocrine, nervous system, infection, pharmacy law. The performance dashboard shows your proficiency by domain over time. And every question answered is a retrievable learning activity you can record in your CPD portfolio.
For qualified pharmacists, this is not exam preparation — it is ongoing clinical knowledge maintenance through active retrieval practice. The evidence consistently shows that active testing produces stronger knowledge retention than passive reading (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).
The recommended CPD stack: CPPE (structured clinical modules) + iatroX Q-Bank (active knowledge testing and proficiency tracking) + PharmOutcomes (service-linked CPD). RPS Learning for professional development if you are a member.
Start at iatrox.com/quiz-landing?exam=uk-gphc.