HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING AND PROGRESS FILES – A
POLICY AND PROCEDURAL FRAMEWORK
1. Introduction to Progress Files and Personal Development Planning
1.1 Progress Files
The National Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing) recommended that universities and colleges
in the UK develop a Progress File encompassing:
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an institutional Transcript formally recording achievement: and
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student owned “records of achievement” arising from a structured process of Personal
Development Planning .
1.2 The Transcript
The transcript is any formal record of student achievement and is usually provided for students by
the awarding body or their tutor and is based on confirmed records of students’ achievements.
1.3 Personal Development Planning (PDP)
Personal Development Planning is “a structured and supported process undertaken by an
individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their
personal, educational and career development.” (QAA)
The primary objective for PDP is to improve the capacity of individuals to understand what
and how they are learning, and to review, plan and take responsibility for their own learning
and career development. QAA requires that all students in the UK are offered PDP.
It is intended that it forms part of a lifelong record that begins at school and continues beyond HE
throughout working life. The White Paper, The Future of Higher Education 2003, states that
Progress Files should “be used to enable learners to understand and reflect on their achievements,
and to present those achievements to employers, institutions, and other stakeholders”.
The PDP aims to improve employability and support student self-management easing
academic progression and the transition to employment. It facilitates flexible learning, allowing
tutors to tailor academic and pastoral support to individual student needs.
Employers are looking for transferability, self-knowledge and adaptability. PDP develops and
evidences these skills.
In effect PDP helps students document:
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Where am I now?
Where do I want to go?
How will I get there?
A key requirement of PDP is that students are reflective and analytical and not merely
descriptive in recording and exploring information.
PDP policy v3, 19-11-09
2.
The Benefits of Personal Development Planning for learning, retention,
achievement and employability
At entry, PDP:

is a means of assessing a student’s prior experience and achievements and having them
valued and discussed with tutors;

helps students to draw links between their previous experiences and their intended HE
study and to consider what transferable skills they may have;

is a way of focusing attention on the student's own achievements and requirements.
While students are here, PDP:

supports the development of greater self awareness, critical reflection and evaluative
writing;

encourages students to reflect on progress and where improvements need to be made;

is a focus for meetings with their Personal Tutor and a means to allow students to raise
their concerns;

provides a framework for students to understand the different elements of their programme,
how these fit together, and how the student fits within it; this helps to produce an holistic
approach to learning;

is a means of bringing together academic, personal and professional development;

improves the effectiveness of work-based or work-related learning;

helps with the recording of the full range of a student’s experience and skills, gained from
study, work, life experience and student activities while at TMC;

is a process which embraces and develops key academic and professional skills such as
planning, monitoring, evaluating and reflecting;

promotes greater student autonomy in learning;

fosters transferable skills development;

promotes more pro-active and informed career development planning.
On graduation, PDP:

helps students prepare to enter or continue in the world of work or return more focussed;

will provide a tool to use for continuing profession development and lifelong learning;

helps students identify those skills and qualities they have developed in HE which are
applicable and marketable in the world of work;

is a resource for developing fuller and more focussed CVs and letters of application;

provides a basis for preparation and planning for better presentation at employment
interviews;

will support graduates in gaining greater control over the direction of their lives.
PDP policy v3, 19-11-09
3.
TMC’s Approach to Personal Development Planning
Personal Development Planning (PDP) is already part of cross-college institutional practice
through the college tutorial system and teaching methods on many courses. It is also embedded in
skills development modules on some courses. TMC’s approach to PDP for HE builds on existing
college wide tools and practices with some change of emphasis for higher education students.
The importance of PDP should be explained to students at interview, at induction and in the
programme specification. All HE students should be offered PDP. The student handbook, given to
all students at induction, contains a PDP section with clearly written guidance on the PDP process
and its benefits. The PDP section contains additional pro formas that students may use to record
experience, skills or evidence and a listing of useful resources for personal and career planning.
The Adult Individual Learning Plan (ILP) and the personal tutorial system are at the heart of the
college’s implementation of PDP. Personal/programme tutors should have Personal Development
Planning meetings with tutees in order to complete all parts of the ILP with students taking a record
of agreed action points. The ILP document is kept by the tutor in the student’s Individual Learning
File. The ILP and any other departmental progress review documentation, work experience logs
etc. are part of the PDP process.
Wherever possible the relevance of PDP to students’ progress should be reinforced by using
opportunities to link the process to elements of the taught/assessed curriculum. This will be
particularly important in employability skills or PDP modules.
Personal Development Planning should continue throughout a student’s TMC programme and
beyond with Continuous Personal Professional Development Planning (CPPD), supporting lifelong
learning and a stronger focus on career development.
A key tangible outcome for students of PDP processes will be the production of more
comprehensive and targeted CVs which will make proper use of evidence of skills developed both
inside and outside the college. They will also have a clearer focus on personal and career goals
and will be much better equipped to present themselves in a range of situations.
4. How does PDP relate to normal teaching practice?
Personal Development Planning is mainly a matter of making coherent and explicit to all students
the value of established processes that are central to learning in general and especially important
to learning in higher education. Teaching staff and personal tutors have always encouraged
students to make progress towards intellectual independence, to become more self-aware, to plan
for and take responsibility for their own development.
The introduction of Personal Development Planning makes it explicit that dialogue between tutor
and tutee supports not only the student’s deepening understanding of their subject but also the
student’s growing ability to think critically about their own performance and how to improve it.
This already occurs within the curriculum of many courses, where modes of study or assessment
involve challenging students as individuals to develop a piece of work over time and/or to
undertake a process within which progress is reviewed continually. Examples include:
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formative assessments
independent research projects
group projects
assessed seminar presentations
reflective commentaries/logs
PDP policy v3, 19-11-09
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portfolio based assessment
5.
Implementation, responsibilities and monitoring

Cross college HE staff development will include Personal Development Planning, the
Tutorial Guidelines and Framework and ILPs.

The Guidance and Welfare Service will review the PDP section of the HE student handbook
every year.

Personal and programme tutors on HE programmes will be responsible for implementation
of this policy through the tutorial system with the support of divisional lead managers and
curriculum lead managers.

Students have the responsibility for maintenance of their PDR and effective PDP.

Every HE student will have an identified personal tutor responsible for supporting that
student’s personal, academic and professional development, including PDP.

The importance and nature of PDP will be discussed with students at induction with
identification of any opportunities for assessment/accreditation of PDP.

The Guidance and Welfare Service will support tutors in implementation of PDP and
provide feedback during the year on progress to the HE Management Group.

The HE managers will review reports from HE curriculum lead managers on the
implementation of this policy in each department.

Student views will be sought on the implementation of the process each year and the
documentation available.
PDP policy v3, 19-11-09