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"The best CPD is not a scattergun of courses, but a laser beam of shared focus."
— Adapted from Dylan Wiliam
The Rule
Professional development only works when it's structured.
Not when it's self-managed.
One Thing Tuesday: CPD Should Be Led, Not Left
Staff shouldn't be responsible for stitching together their own development.
That's a leadership system, not an individual task.
The Staffroom Reality
You know CPD matters.
But in reality, it looks like this:
You're sent a list of courses.
Or asked to "find something relevant."
Or given time but no direction.
So you:
pick something quickly
attend a session that doesn't quite land
try to apply it… briefly
then move on
There's no thread. No follow-up. No connection to what the school is actually trying to improve.
It becomes another task. Not development.
The data backs this up. The Teacher Development Trust's CPD Landscape 2025 report the first comprehensive study of its kind surveyed over 1,000 teachers and school leaders across England. The findings are striking:
Nearly 40% of teachers say CPD has not clearly improved their ability to perform their role
Classroom teachers are even more likely to report limited impact: 46% vs 33% of senior leaders
Only 24% of teachers believe CPD adequately considers the needs of students despite this being the ultimate purpose
Only 16% of teachers feel their own needs are effectively identified (compared to 33% of leaders who believe they are)
One teacher told researchers:
"Lots of CPD is repetitive and does not take into account the individual's experience or skills. It seems to be 'one size fits all'."
Another described it as: "Felt like a box ticking activity."
The Heart
CPD fails when it's disconnected from:
school priorities
classroom reality
leadership direction
The issue isn't motivation. It's alignment.
When CPD is anchored to a single, shared priority, it becomes:
relevant
repeatable
measurable
That's when it sticks.
The report found that teachers who access high-impact formats like coaching, conferences, or peer observation are significantly more likely to report improvement in their practice . Yet only 22% of teachers accessed coaching despite evidence this is among the highest-impact forms of professional development .
The barriers are clear. 67% of teachers cite time as the critical barrier . And when CPD does work, teachers describe it very differently: as "relevant, practical, and giving time to collaborate with colleagues" .
Gareth Conyard, Chief Executive of the Teacher Development Trust, said:
"When only one in four say professional development adequately considers pupil needs, and only one in ten say it considers their needs, then something is going wrong. We can see a system full of good intent, but riven with competing structures and pressures that mean school leaders and teachers just don't have the time or support to make the best choices. That has to change if we don't want to see money being wasted."
Example
One school shifted their CPD approach by linking it directly to their One Big Change™:
Improving inclusive classroom practice.
Instead of individual choices:
all CPD aligned to that focus
sessions built on each other
staff shared what worked
leadership tracked impact
Within one term:
consistency improved
staff confidence increased
support for SEN pupils became more embedded
The deputy head told us:
"We used to have twelve different CPD priorities across the school. Now we have one. Staff actually remember what they're supposed to be working on."
Not more CPD. Better aligned CPD.
The Handoff
This is where clarity changes everything.
When schools define their One Big Change, CPD becomes:
targeted
easier to source
easier to evaluate
Through Match, schools are connecting with partners who support that exact priority.
Not random sessions. Aligned development.
Your One Thing This Tuesday
Ask your SLT:
"What is our CPD actually building towards this term?"
If the answer isn't clear, the impact won't be either.
Define your One Big Change with Clara
With you this term,
Yvonne
LocaeShift
Change, handled well.
Sources:
Teacher Development Trust, CPD Landscape 2025 (survey of 1,000+ teachers and leaders)
Teacher Development Trust, CPD Landscape 2025 (Gareth Conyard quote)
Education Endowment Foundation, Effective Professional Development (guidance report)