Personal development plan (PDP): writing goals your appraisal can sign off
For doctors preparing for appraisal, and any UK professional whose review expects agreed development goals.
What the personal development plan asks for
A personal development plan is the forward-looking half of professional development: where CPD records what you did, a PDP states what you are working on becoming. Each goal names a development need, how it was identified, what you will do about it, how achievement will be shown, and a target date. For doctors it is a formal output of GMC appraisal — a new plan agreed each year, with progress on the old one (or an explanation) expected at the next; appraisal and review frameworks across other professions ask for the same structure under different names. A goal is reviewed, not just kept: achieved, carried forward with a new date, or honestly retired as no longer relevant.
Common questions
What is a personal development plan (PDP)?
A short, agreed list of development goals: what you need to develop, how the need was identified, the actions you will take, how achievement will be demonstrated, and a target date. It is the document an appraisal or professional review keeps returning to — last year's plan is reviewed, next year's is agreed.
What makes a development goal SMART?
Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. In practice: name one capability rather than a theme, say what you will actually do, define what an appraiser could look at and agree it happened, keep it within your role's reach, and give it a date. "Improve leadership" is a theme; "chair the monthly governance meeting from March and collect feedback from two attendees" is a goal.
Where do development goals come from?
From evidence, not introspection alone: appraisal discussions, audit results, complaints and compliments, and structured feedback. Multi-source feedback is the sharpest source — the questions colleagues rate you lower on than you rated yourself are development needs already identified and evidenced.
What happens to a goal at review?
One of three verdicts. Achieved, with a line of reflection on what changed. Carried forward, with a new target date and a note on why it needs longer. Or no longer relevant, because roles and priorities move — retiring a goal honestly reads far better at appraisal than a plan nothing ever leaves.
Is a PDP required?
For doctors, yes in effect: GMC appraisal expects a PDP agreed each year and progress against it, or an explanation, at the next. Most other UK regulators do not mandate a PDP by name, but reflective frameworks — the HCPC's standards, the NMC's revalidation reflections, professional review in engineering and teaching — all assume development is planned rather than accidental. An agreed list of goals with review dates satisfies all of them.
How does a PDP connect to CPD?
The plan says why the learning happened. A course chosen against a stated development need, with the outcome reviewed, is a stronger appraisal story than the same course attended at random — and auditors read it that way. Recording CPD against the goal it serves turns a list of certificates into evidence of development.
Next step
Start your development plan: A goal is a need, what you'll do, how you'll show it worked, and a date. Link CPD entries and planned events to it as evidence, and review each goal at appraisal: achieved, carried forward, or no longer relevant.