Written by our assessment team: what the criteria mean in practice, the evidence that works, and where learners get caught out.
What this unit is really about
Unit 302 is the CPD unit, and the spec gives you an unusually direct piece of advice: it recommends this unit is delivered at the beginning of the programme and runs concurrently with other units. Take that seriously. LO3 asks you to carry out development activities, monitor progress against your plan, evaluate how they improved your performance and then set new goals based on that evaluation. That is a cycle, and a cycle needs elapsed time.
Learners who start unit 302 in month one finish it almost incidentally: the qualification itself is a development activity, so the reading, the practice and the feedback all become evidence. Learners who leave it to the end have to write a plan and evaluate it in the same fortnight, which reads exactly as hollow as it sounds.
The evidence that works
| Learning outcome | Evidence that works well |
|---|
| LO1 — understand development | A written piece on why CPD matters in a team leader role, an evaluation of development activity types, and the components of a PPDP |
| LO2 — identify needs | A strengths and improvement analysis, the feedback you gathered, SMART development goals, and the PPDP itself |
| LO3 — manage development | Certificates, notes and outputs from activities completed, your dated progress record, an evaluation of the change in your performance, and your next set of goals |
The PPDP is the spine of the unit, and criterion 1.5 asks you to describe its components — so your own plan should demonstrate them: current position, goals, activities, resources, timescales, success measures and review dates.
Making the evaluation credible
Criterion 3.3 asks you to evaluate how development activities have improved own performance, and this is where portfolios go thin. "I feel more confident" is not evidence. Usable measures include:
- A repeat of the same feedback questions three months apart, showing the shift
- A specific situation you handled differently, with the before-and-after described
- A concrete outcome — an error rate, a completed delegation, a meeting you chaired that you would previously have avoided
- Your manager's comment on a change they noticed, as a witness testimony
Note the difference from unit 301: 301 asks you to create a leadership development plan; 302 asks you to run one and prove it worked. If you are taking both, plan them together — one feedback exercise and one plan can legitimately serve both units provided each criterion is met explicitly, and your assessor will tell you where they cannot.
Useful reading
