The experience of outsourcing personal development planning (PDP) for first-year economics students to a central team is examined in the context of a research-led university. A pilot programme running PDP as a conference for 120 students was evaluated.The process suggests that there are differences between tutor and student perceptions which can be usefully addressed, especially the issue of developing conceptual understanding.The prevailing pedagogy of economics is reviewed to try to illuminate some of the barriers towards introducing PDP.