How to ask the HCPC to change your name#
The Health and Care Professions Council treats a change of name as a request, made in your online account, that it approves before the Register changes. Its change of name page, last updated in January 2026, gives the steps:
- Log in to your online account and follow the link to My Details.
- Choose Update Personal Details and select Name from the dropdown.
- Enter your new name, upload your evidence and click Save. That sends the request to the HCPC for approval.
The HCPC asks you to make sure the name you submit is the same as your practising name, and it says plainly that it does not accept change of name requests by email. If you have never logged in, activate the account first: the HCPC calls this a one-time step, and you set up multi-factor authentication, by an authenticator app or by email, as you go.
What to upload#
The HCPC's page gives two examples of evidence: a marriage certificate, or "deed poll documentation". It publishes no fuller list and says nothing about certified copies. The evidence is uploaded, not posted, so a clear scan or photograph of your signed deed poll or certificate is what the request needs, and the original stays with you. Will organisations accept a photocopy or a PDF? covers organisations with stricter rules.
For a change the two examples do not obviously cover, such as a surname taken back after divorce, ask the Registration team what it will accept through its contact page before you submit.
What happens next#
The HCPC reviews the request and, if it approves it, updates the Register. It does not publish a timescale for a change of name. The best place to see the result is the online Register, which the HCPC says is updated every day.
The HCPC says the Register shows your name, registration number, profession, the dates of your current registration cycle, the approximate area where you practise, and any conditions on your registration. A former name is not among the details it lists. Every registrant has a unique registration number of up to six digits, starting with the letters of the profession code, such as PA for paramedics and PH for physiotherapists. The change of name page does not say that number changes. Anyone checking the Register can search by surname and profession, or by registration number, so give your number to anyone who needs to check while the name is changing.
Proof for your employer#
Your online account can produce a confirmation of your registration status, which the HCPC describes as a single-page PDF with your personal details, current registration status and registration record on the date it is issued; the details are accurate only for that date. Employers can check up to 100 registrants at once with the HCPC's Multiple Registrant Search. Telling the HCPC does not change your employer's own records, so tell HR and payroll as well.
If you are changing gender as well#
The HCPC publishes no separate process for recording a change of gender. Its change of name page covers names only, and gender is not among the details it lists as published on the Register.
The equality and diversity section of your online account, where "Prefer not to say" is an option for every question, is kept for statistics. The HCPC says personal information in it is not visible to any of its Fitness to Practise, Education or Registration colleagues. Changing your name when you transition takes the passport, licence, bank and other records in turn.
Other registers#
The HCPC Register is separate from every other professional register, and each regulator sets its own evidence rules. Professional regulators covers how the others handle a change of name.
Questions people ask
Can I email my deed poll to the HCPC?
No. The HCPC says it does not accept change of name requests by email, and its contact page adds that, for security reasons, it cannot accept changes to contact details by email either. The request and the evidence both go through your online account.
Will my HCPC registration number change?
The HCPC's change of name page does not say it will. It describes the change as an update to your entry on the Register, and each registrant is assigned one unique registration number, which starts with the letters of the profession code.
What if I have never used my HCPC online account?
Activate it first. The HCPC calls activation a one-time step, and the first time you log in you set up multi-factor authentication, with an authenticator app or by email.
Do I need a passport in my new name before I tell the HCPC?
Its page does not ask for one. The examples of evidence it gives are a marriage certificate and deed poll documentation.
Does the HCPC need the original deed poll?
No original is sent. The HCPC asks you to upload evidence in your online account, and its page does not mention originals or certified copies, so keep the signed deed at home.
Something else? Ask us, and a person replies by email, normally the same working day.
