Plan your professional development
As communications professionals, our work must always be of the highest standard, supporting ministers to deliver the government’s priorities. We can help you plan your professional development by using a Personal Development Plan (PDP), GCS Advance Programme and GCS on-demand learning.
Your feedback matters
On this page:
- Download your Personal Development Plan (PDP) template
- Learning and development and CPD points
- GCS Advance
- GCS on-demand learning
Download your Personal Development Plan (PDP) template
Template
Use the following template to:
- plan your learning
- record your learning activities and the related Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points
Download the PDP template (Word, 1 page, 35KB)
Example of a completed PDP
To help you visualise how to record your learning, see:
- example of a completed PDP (Word, 1 page, 34KB)
Learning and development and CPD points
A wide variety of activities count towards your CPD points. This will help you meet the minimum GCS requirement of 30 CPD points per year.
The majority of your learning and development (L&D) should come from experiences you get on the job or through doing practical work. The rest comes from learning from relationships with other people (like a coach or mentor) and from formal training.
You might find it helpful to use a rough 70/20/10 guide to check the variety of learning in your PDP:
- 70% on the job learning
- 20% learning from relationships
- 10% learning from formal training such as our courses, live or on-demand
GCS Advance
GCS Advance is the brand new learning and development programme that is designed to
- help your career development
- give you the skills you need to be at the forefront of the communications landscape
- ensure you get the recognition you deserve
Learn more about GCS Advance and take a look at the GCS Advance prospectus.
GCS on-demand learning
Explore GCS Essentials, on-demand resources and live training events to support your development as a government communicator.