Our Research on Effective CPD

With support from globally leading partners, researchers and advisors, TDT curates and disseminates rigorous evidence to support school leaders with their staff development approaches.  We are fortunate to work with thousands of professionals whose lived experience informs the improvement and development of our work. Below, you can find a selection of research and reports we have led or played a central role in developing.

Teacher Development: The CPD Landscape in 2025

Around £1 billion is spent annually on teacher professional development in England, yet only one quarter of teachers believe their CPD adequately takes pupil needs into account.

Based on a survey of over 1,000 teachers and school leaders, Teacher Development: The CPD Landscape in 2025 is the first comprehensive study focused exclusively on continuing professional development in schools in England – and reveals a troubling gap between investment and impact.

It provides the first comprehensive picture of how more than a decade of CPD investment and reform is actually experienced by teachers and school leaders in their day-to-day practice.

Key findings include:

  • Nearly 40% of teachers and leaders say CPD has not clearly improved their ability to perform their role
  • Around one in five teachers (18%) spent less than a single day on formal CPD
  • Only 24% of teachers say CPD adequately considers the needs of students
teacher development: the cpd landscape in 2025
Teacher Development: The Landscape in 2025
TDT's first CPD Landscape survey captures the views of over 1000 teachers and school leaders across England, reflecting on their professional development experiences during 2024/25 academic year
didagogy - exploring the discipline of teaching teachers
What is Didagogy? Exploring the Discipline of Teaching Teachers
This report introduces didagogy as an emerging discipline - a way of naming and initiating discussion around the principles, practices and conditions needed to support meaningful, long-term teacher learning.
a teacher appraisal meeting
Transforming Teacher Appraisal: Moving away from Performance-Related Pay and towards meaningful professional growth
September 2024 marked a significant turning point in how UK schools approach teacher appraisal - our research considers what this means for teacher development
Creating a CPD entitlement that works – our findings
In response to the Labour Party’s mission document, we began to explore their proposal of an entitlement to continuous professional development. 
Findings from the ECF Review
TDT’s newly published exploratory study, gratefully enabled by funding from the Gatsby Foundation explores how England’s flagship Early Career Framework (ECF) programme for new teachers might be enhanced in terms of flexibility, subject focus, and sustainable capacity building. 
Teacher Autonomy: How does it relate to job satisfaction and retention?
Retention of teachers is important, never more so when recruitment and retention figures are falling and schools increasingly struggle to recruit the staff they need. 
Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development
This review - Developing Great Teaching   provides a foundational summary of the features of effective professional development in schools.
DfE Standards for Professional Development
Our founding CEO, David Weston, was asked to chair the CPD Expert Group who shaped the current Standards for Teachers’ Professional Development.
Culture of Improvement: Reviewing the research on teacher working conditions
The Culture of Improvement report demonstrates why a ‘cut-and-paste’ approach to professional development is so limited.
21st October, London, EC2Y 5JU

Join us to explore how leaders can tap into the power of great CPD and create cultures of professional growth that inspire joy and agency.

A one-day collaborative conference bringing together anyone interested in making staff development in education count.