Personal development planning

Personal development planning is intended to help you identify the skills you're developing through your studies; this section is focused on the 'generic' skills that you're likely to need.

Do you know where your life is going?
Are you confident that your degree is properly equipping you for the future?
Do you have clear goals for the next five years, and a good idea of how to achieve them?
Are you confident that you have the skills employers will be looking for?
Do you have a clear idea of your abilities, your strengths and weaknesses?

If your answer to any of these questions is 'no' or 'not sure', then you need personal development planning...

What is personal development planning?

The UK’s Quality Assurance Agency, the organisation that monitors standards and makes recommendations on good practice in universities, defines it as ‘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.’

What's that supposed to mean?

Basically, it’s about reflection: reviewing your experiences, and learning from them. These experiences may be academic (how you get on with your subject, how well you participate in class, how well you perform in assessment), or more practical (how well you organise your time and juggle different commitments), or they may have nothing to do with your studies (for example, what you've learnt from extra-curricular activities). Reflecting on these experiences can give you not only a better idea of your own abilities and the areas where you might need to do a bit more work, but also a better idea of yourself and what you want from life - which then helps with planning for the future. Incidentally, the ‘structured and supported’ comment means that the University actively encourages you to engage in this reflection by providing guidance, sign-posting opportunities and focusing on personal development as part of the personal tutor system.

How can this help me?

Part of the answer - the reason why the government is so keen on the personal development planning agenda - is the magic word ‘employability’. This sort of reflection can help you understand what skills and abilities you already possess as a result of your studies, so that you can articulate this to potential employers. This is especially important for Arts students, as our programmes are not directly vocational; as an Arts graduate you will be fully qualified, in skills and intellectual ability, to take on all sorts of jobs, but you may need to make more of an effort, compared with an Economics graduate, to convince an employer of this. Reflection can help you improve both your employability and your academic performance, by identifying the areas that you need to work on or the skills that you need to develop to complete your portfolio; it can help you learn how to learn, and how best to benefit from the feedback you receive. You'll have to do this sort of critical reflection regularly when you leave Bristol, for staff review or professional development purposes, so it’s a good habit to get into early. However, this is not just about jobs, making you into the right sort of cog to take your place in the economy; it’s about identifying your values and priorities as much as your abilities and competencies.

How do I do it?

There isn't a single answer to this question. Sometimes your degree programme will include opportunities for critical reflection, whether on particular issues or on a entire unit; if it doesn't, there’s nothing to stop you starting a regular diary of your thoughts, or a blog (offering the opportunity to get feedback from other people). Mostly, though, it’s a matter of making sure that you pause to reflect at the right moments - or example, when receiving feedback on your work, or at the beginning and end of the academic year, or before completing an application form - rather than something you necessarily have to do every week or every month.

Above all, you should use critical reflection to help you get the most out of the personal tutor system. Part of your tutor’s job is to help your academic and personal development, but this is always more successful when what they're doing is helping you to help yourself. See the templates section to download a progress review form, which you should fill in before your tutorial meeting and share with your tutor as a basis for discussion.

It is worth considering building up a portfolio of your skills and experience; if nothing else, just by keeping copies of the progress review forms so that you can look back over your development during your time at Bristol. This is for your own use; no employer is likely to want to see it, but it should help you find key information when you're putting together letters of application or filling in forms.

Where can I find more information?

If you want to read more about what personal development planning involves, you can download a copy of a longer and more detailed guide, 'Personal development planning made easy' (Word doc, 94KB). You can find details of training opportunities and on-line advice at the University's Student Skills and Careers Service websites. If you have any specific queries or comments about this document and the associated templates, please contact the Undergraduate Dean via the Faculty Office. If in doubt about anything, ask your personal tutor!