Learning agreement
This agreement is signed at Gate 0. It records the commitments that make the programme work. Read it with the individual learning plan and your track guide in materials/tracks/.
1. Participant
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Name | |
| Band | |
| UK GDaD PCF role and role level | |
| Track | |
| Programme dates | Start: End of Gate 4: Gate 5: |
| Programme length | 308 hours / 368 hours (Band 3 and Band 4 only), including the 40-hour Lean Six Sigma Green Belt |
2. What this programme is, and is not
- It builds automated testing capability and helps you fully meet the band and UK GDaD PCF role you already hold.
- You stay in your current band and role. Nothing in the programme changes band or role. Exceeding expectations is recorded as a strength.
- Gates are developmental only. A gate result never starts a capability, performance, or conduct procedure by itself. Any such procedure follows the organisation's HR policy, separately.
3. Protected time
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Protected time | 308 learning hours (368 with the Band 3 and Band 4 extension), the same for every track; by default 7.5 hours a week (20% of a 37.5-hour week). Agreed pace: ____ hours a week |
| When in the week | Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday, and times: ____ |
| Booked in calendars by |
Protected time is not reassigned to delivery work without the training lead's agreement. If more than 7.5 hours of protected time are lost in a gate period, the training lead escalates.
4. Gate dates
| Gate | Programme hour | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Gate 0 | 88 | |
| Gate 1 | 133 (148 with extension) | |
| Gate 2 | 178 (208) | |
| Gate 3 | 215.5 (260.5) | |
| Gate 4 | 268 (328) | |
| Green Belt certification exam | By 308 (368) | |
| Gate 5 | About six months after Gate 4, outside the learning hours |
5. Commitments
The participant will:
- complete the full self-assessment honestly, with evidence, before every gate
- follow the individual learning plan and produce the module evidence for the track
- keep a learning log entry for every 7.5 hours of learning
- from hour 155.5, spend part of every 7.5 hours of learning automating real work on the team's product
- use synthetic data only, and keep secrets and personal data out of code
- raise blockers early with the mentor or training lead.
The line manager will:
- protect the participant's learning time, and adjust delivery workload to match
- rate the participant independently at every gate, and calibrate with evidence
- own the individual learning plan with the participant
- meet the participant for 1 hour every 15 learning hours, plus about 2 hours at each gate.
The mentor will:
- pair, review code, and run Role foundations practice
- give 1.5 hours per 7.5 learning hours in hours 88–133, then 1 hour per 7.5 learning hours
- prepare the participant for each gate and supervise Part D practicals.
The training lead will:
- run the gates, moderate calibration, and sample 1 in 5 assessments
- keep the specification and materials current
- escalate if protected time is not protected.
6. Reasonable adjustments
Recorded in the individual learning plan, section 6, and reviewed at every gate.
7. Signatures
| Role | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participant | |||
| Line manager | |||
| Mentor | |||
| Training lead |
View this document on GitHub materials/gates/learning-agreement-template.md