Research
Informing schools; informing our programmes
At the National Institute of Teaching, our mission is to improve the quality of teacher and leader development at a system level. We do this by generating and interpreting research, applying the insights to the design and delivery of our teacher development programmes, and sharing it all with the sector.
In 2023, we conducted a sector-wide consultation to identify the education sector’s top research priorities, which shaped our inaugural Research Agenda. Our research projects are developed and delivered in close collaboration with teachers, leaders and teacher educators at every stage, ensuring our work remains relevant and impactful.
Explore NIoT's research projects
Browse NIoT’s ongoing research projects, designed to support teacher educators and CPD leads across the sector.
Our research is at the heart of the teacher education programmes we offer, including Initial Teacher Education (ITE), the Early Career Framework (ECF), National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), and the School Trust CEO Programme.
This creates a "teacher education laboratory" where evidence and practice seamlessly integrate, ensuring our insights are both rigorous and practical, directly benefiting teachers, leaders, and the schools they serve.
Beyond our programmes, we strive to enhance teacher education more broadly by making existing research more accessible, such as through our meta-review on teacher education, and by developing innovative resources like our teacher education dataset.
Through all our efforts, we are dedicated to widely sharing our learnings to support the continuous improvement of teacher and leader education, ensuring that every child receives the excellent education they deserve.
Learn more about our research
Discover the NIoT’s latest research projects shaping CPD and teacher training practices.
Key benefits of our research
- Empowering educators to identify the most effective strategies for teacher and leader development, ensuring impact-driven professional growth and better outcomes for pupils.
- Support for schools with transparent, sector-driven research to drive meaningful improvements.
- A robust evidence-base to refine our programmes and inform high-quality teaching and learning.
"We want teachers and leaders to design our learning agenda. Then we will design our research so that it answers precisely the questions they most care about."
Hear more from our Executive Director of Research and Best Practice, Calum Davey.
Our research agenda
The National Institute of Teaching's Research Agenda 2024–2027 outlines a school-led approach to identifying and prioritising the most pressing questions in professional development for teachers and leaders.
Closer to the classroom report
The closer to the classroom report highlights the education sector’s top professional development research priorities.
Our ethics procedure
The NIoT have developed an ethics review procedure to uphold research integrity and rigor.
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