The enhanced Training Diary gives qualified solicitors and fee earners a Full Cycle workflow, based on the SRA's continuing competence approach. This guide walks you through capturing a reflection, turning it into a goal, recording the activities you complete, and signing off your annual declaration.
Opening your diary
If your firm has assigned you to a continuing competence diary, you'll find Training Diary in your apps list on the left-hand menu. You'll see a card for each diary you've been assigned to, showing the dates of your current CPD year, how far you've got through each stage, and the number of days remaining. Click Open diary to go in.
Inside, your diary is laid out as four numbered stages — 01 Reflect, 02 Plan, 03 Do, and 04 Evaluate — each with its own actions and a running count of where you are. A Cycle dropdown at the top lets you look back at earlier CPD years, and a banner across the top shows how long you have left to make your declaration.
Capturing a reflection
The Reflect step is where you record a development need as you notice it.
On the 01 Reflect card, click Capture a reflection.
Under What's on your mind?, describe the need you've identified (for example, "Improve research skills using a particular resource").
Choose the Source of the reflection from the dropdown — options include self-identified, file review, supervision, a case or matter, a regulation update, an appraisal, a trainee question, conference or training, and mandatory.
Click Capture.
New reflections start off needing review. From there you can link one to a goal, mark it as informal learning, or decide no action is needed — so you can capture something quickly now and decide what to do with it later.
Turning a reflection into a goal
The Plan step captures what you intend to do about a development need. You can start from a reflection or add a goal directly in Plan — both capture the same information.
From your reflection, choose to link it to a goal. The goal title is pre-filled from the reflection.
Link the goal to the identified gap.
Add the detail of what you plan to do (for example, request support from a colleague or attend a training course).
Choose a priority from the dropdown.
Add the goal.
To add a goal without starting from a reflection, go to the Plan section, add a new goal, and complete the same fields.
Recording an activity
Use the Do step to record learning you've actually completed.
On the 03 Do card, click Log an activity, then choose the relevant category.
Give the activity a title, then describe what you did and the outcomes you achieved.
Set the date of the activity. You can backdate entries if needed.
Optionally link the activity back to one of your reflections or goals.
Upload any supporting evidence, such as a course certificate, using the upload option.
Save the activity. You can keep logging activities as you go.
Important: Don't upload documents that contain confidential client information. Redact any client names or details before attaching a document.
Evaluating your learning
The Evaluate step is where you review whether each activity changed your practice, or whether the development need remains. Once you've logged activities in Do, they appear here waiting for you to evaluate them.
On the 04 Evaluate card, click View evaluations — activities awaiting evaluation are listed there (the card shows "Nothing waiting" and marks you Up to date when you're clear).
For each activity, record whether it improved your practice or whether a gap still remains, completing any evaluation fields your firm has configured.
Save your evaluation.
Evaluating as you go keeps your record current, so your annual declaration is a quick review rather than a year-end catch-up.
Completing your annual declaration
A banner at the top of your diary shows how many days remaining you have to declare. When you're ready to sign off your continuing competence for the year:
Click Declare in that banner. This opens the Declare compliance wizard, which shows the date your cycle ends.
Work through the five steps — Reflect, Plan, Do, Evaluate, and Sign. Each step summarises what you recorded at that stage and asks you to confirm it's an accurate record, using Next to move on and Back if you need to revisit something.
Complete the final Sign step. Your compliance status updates at the same time.
If a stage is empty — no reflections this cycle, for example — that doesn't block you. The wizard says so explicitly and lets you continue, as long as an empty record is an accurate reflection of your period.
Exporting your record
You can export your continuing competence record at any time — useful if you need to corroborate your declaration.
Click Export at the top of your diary.
Choose your Export Format — an XLSX spreadsheet or a PDF report.
Choose which Jurisdiction to include, and your Date Range.
Click Export.
Your continuing competence record is deliberately kept separate from the Objectives module. Continuing competence is your own professional responsibility, so it's treated as distinct from the objectives that feed into your appraisal.
Where to next
For the simpler activity-logging experience (used by trainees and non-solicitors), see Using Training Diaries to capture learning. For common questions, see the Training Diaries FAQ. If you get stuck, contact your CX/CSM team.