Personal Development Plan Builder and Review Workbook
HTML edition updated 9 September 2026. This is an educational planning aid, not an official application form or individual advice.
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Purpose and boundaries
Prepare a small, achievable development plan that connects a learning need with action, support, evidence and review. This is a proposal for discussion. It does not approve funding, change clinical scope, certify competence or guarantee progression.
Use neutral planning notes. Do not record names, GMC numbers, identifiable cases, health details, confidential employer material or private document links here. The website is not an approved appraisal record. Entries in the webpage stay in the open page and are not saved automatically. Store completed downloads securely and transfer appropriate information to your approved system.
Worked example: a fictional planning situation
“Attend a leadership course” names an activity but leaves the purpose unclear. A stronger proposal identifies a need to chair multidisciplinary meetings more effectively, combines targeted learning with observed practice and feedback, and agrees a review of what changed. It also states that observation time and access to the role need agreement. The course may be one useful action; the development objective concerns learning and application.
1. Define the need and intended change
Use evidence from scope, feedback, reflection, a new responsibility or an unfinished objective. State what you want to understand or do differently. Avoid objectives chosen only because a course is available or because a title sounds impressive.
2. Choose realistic actions
Describe how you will learn and apply the learning. Break an ambitious aim into a manageable next step. Where an activity involves new clinical responsibilities, the appropriate supervision and authorisation process remains separate from writing it in a PDP.
3. Identify support and dependencies
Specify time, supervision, access, feedback, funding or other support. Distinguish confirmed arrangements from requests. A plan that depends entirely on support nobody has agreed is vulnerable; discuss alternatives and the route for resolving the dependency.
4. Define useful evidence
Choose evidence that shows learning or application rather than only attendance. It might include a discussion, observed practice, feedback, a revised approach or a proportionate evaluation. Avoid arbitrary numerical targets that do not meaningfully represent the development need.
5. Agree timing and review
Set a realistic review point and prioritise alongside other work. The online tool permits up to five entries for convenience, not because the GMC requires five objectives. Discuss the actual scope of the PDP with the appraiser and adjust it if circumstances materially change.
6. Close, continue or revise
At review, describe activity, learning, application and remaining needs. An objective may be completed, continued or revised after discussion. Do not mark it complete merely because the original date has passed, and do not carry it forward indefinitely without examining why it remains unfinished.
Review the plan before using it
Check that the notes describe what is known, what remains uncertain and what someone still needs to agree. A completed field does not prove approval, competence or revalidation readiness. Keep official correspondence and actual deadlines separate from illustrative planning dates. Seek appropriate advice where an individual decision or a licence may be affected.
Sources and related learning
Editorial source review: 9 September 2026. The links below are primary sources; publication dates vary. Current official guidance and approved local arrangements take priority. This is independent education, not a GMC-endorsed form or individual advice.