A Professional Development Plan (PDP) is a short planning document, compiled  by you, that examines your current CPD needs, looks at how these might be met and lists objectives for the future. It helps you to structure and focus your training needs and should address the following points:

• Where am I now?
• Where am I going?
• How am I going to get there?

When producing a PDP, you should:

• consider your current job and the skills you need to do it competently. What changes are likely to occur in the next few years?
• list both your short and long-term ambitions. Be realistic about your ambitions and the time needed to achieve them.
• think about the areas in which you will need to target your CPD to achieve your ambitions – be realistic and prioritise. A PDP is not a request for unlimited training. Your employer will be interested in the business case for your PDP.
• look to the future; don’t restrict yourself to thinking about current professional responsibilities. Should you strengthen existing skills or develop new ones?
• list your priorities for the next two years. These will form the basis for deciding what CPD opportunities to take up. It is important to remember that your priorities are not cast in stone; you may decide to change them in the future.