Reimagining CPD for 2025 and Beyond - From Intent to Impact
The Teacher Development Trust’s (TDT) report, “The CPD Landscape in 2025,” provides a powerful snapshot of the current state of professional learning across England’s schools. It paints a picture of a sector brimming with commitment but struggling with coherence, a landscape where schools invest heavily in development, yet outcomes often fall short of potential. More than £1 billion is spent annually on professional development, but as the TDT warns, much of this investment risks being “fragmented and under-leveraged.” The problem is not intent or effort; it’s infrastructure, clarity, and alignment.
Read the Teacher Development Trust's Full Report
From SchooliP’s vantage point, this report signals a turning point: a call for schools to embed CPD not as an event, but as a continuous, data-informed, and strategically led process that links seamlessly to appraisal, performance, and improvement priorities.
TDT’s findings show that over half of teachers (53%) engage in three or more days of formal CPD each year, yet nearly one in five (18%) receive less than a day. Senior leaders are more engaged than classroom teachers, and primary schools report greater participation than secondaries.
This unevenness suggests that CPD remains more an act of individual will than a guaranteed professional right. Schools, especially those outside large trusts, often lack the infrastructure to make access equitable.
What this means for schools:
To realise the full impact of CPD, schools must systematise it, ensuring all staff have clear, structured opportunities for development that are tracked, reviewed, and evaluated. This is where digital platforms like SchooliP can help turn intent into implementation, offering visibility and accountability for every hour of learning undertaken.
Over one-third of respondents (39%) said CPD had not clearly improved their ability to perform their role. That’s a sobering statistic, given the sector’s investment.
The reasons are familiar: lack of relevance, insufficient follow-up, and time pressures. The most effective CPD, according to the report, is collaborative, contextual, and reflective, qualities often lost when training is delivered as isolated sessions or “one-size-fits-all” initiatives.
What this means for schools:
Leaders need to treat CPD as a learning cycle, not an isolated moment. Reflection, coaching, and ongoing dialogue must be built into the structure. When schools align CPD with school improvement priorities and evaluate it rigorously, teachers can connect their growth to tangible pupil outcomes.
Platforms like SchooliP enable this linkage by integrating professional development plans, performance objectives, and impact evaluations in one ecosystem, making professional learning an ongoing narrative rather than a checklist.
The TDT report confirms what most school leaders already know: time (62%) and cost (55%) remain the biggest barriers to professional learning. Nearly one in four respondents said there were no formal CPD structures in place at all, with primary schools disproportionately affected.
Even where structures exist, leadership and communication gaps undermine impact. Less than half (45%) of respondents felt CPD was actively promoted in their schools, and only 29% said the rationale and intended outcomes were clearly communicated.
What this means for schools:
The message is clear: CPD can’t succeed without leadership focus. The schools seeing the most impact are those where professional learning is led strategically, championed by senior teams, and aligned with the school’s vision for improvement.
By embedding CPD planning within wider appraisal and performance systems, schools can protect time, focus resources, and demonstrate value, all while building staff confidence and retention.
Leadership was identified as a decisive factor. Over 60% of respondents said CPD responsibility lies with senior leaders, but 9% reported no clear leader at all. That lack of ownership risks turning professional development into a series of disjointed initiatives rather than a coherent growth strategy.
Moreover, the most significant disparities between leaders and teachers lie in perceptions of CPD’s effectiveness. Senior leaders are nearly twice as likely as teachers to say staff needs are identified or time is protected. This perception gap is as much cultural as operational.
What this means for schools:
Effective CPD leadership is not just about managing training calendars; it’s about fostering trust, curiosity, and professional autonomy. Leaders must create psychologically safe environments where teachers feel empowered to learn, reflect, and experiment.
Digital tools like SchooliP can make this leadership role more strategic and evidence-driven, offering analytics on participation, progress, and outcomes that help leaders make informed, equitable decisions.
TDT’s call for a coherent national approach is urgent and timely. The current CPD landscape mirrors a system with intent but without a unifying structure, a web of hubs, trusts, and independent providers operating in parallel rather than in partnership.
Schools cannot wait for national reform to act. By aligning internal systems, appraisals, professional development, and school improvement, they can begin to build their own coherent frameworks.
What this means for schools:
The most resilient schools are those that see professional development as strategic capital. They collect data on participation, evaluate outcomes, and adapt practice continuously. When CPD is data-informed and impact-led, it ceases to be a compliance exercise and becomes a catalyst for transformation.
SchooliP is proud to partner with the Teacher Development Trust in supporting schools to embed evidence-based professional learning cultures. Together, we champion a shared vision: that every teacher deserves access to meaningful, sustained, and high-quality development that directly enhances pupil learning.
Through our partnership, we connect schools with TDT’s frameworks, research, and development programmes, while offering the digital infrastructure to manage, measure, and sustain that learning over time.
SchooliP is the flagship platform from Derventio Education, designed to bring together every element of school improvement in one intuitive, connected system. From performance management and professional development to self-evaluation and strategic planning, SchooliP empowers schools to work smarter, reflect deeper, and achieve more.
At its core, SchooliP is about people. It helps teachers grow in their practice, supports leaders in making informed decisions, and gives governors the clarity they need to measure impact. By simplifying processes and connecting goals, SchooliP frees up time for what matters most, improving outcomes for every learner.
Used by schools and trusts across the UK and beyond, SchooliP is trusted for its ease of use, flexibility, and proven impact. But what truly sets it apart is its purpose. Built in collaboration with educators, SchooliP isn’t just a piece of software, it’s a partner in your school’s journey of continuous improvement.
With SchooliP, every reflection, review, and conversation contributes to a bigger story, one of growth, collaboration, and success.
