We’re proud to announce the launch of Great Teaching Centres, a community of schools committed to improving teaching through evidence, collaboration, and shared learning.

Great Teaching Centres sit at the heart of a growing practitioner-led movement to promote and support and culture of professional learning. This status isn’t awarded lightly, it’s earned, and it recognises schools that have embedded the principles of the Great Teaching Toolkit (GTT) in ways that make a measurable difference for teachers and students.

What is a Great Teaching Centre?

A Great Teaching Centre (GTC) earns its status by committing to and consistently applying the core principles of the Great Teaching Toolkit. These Centres focus on creating the conditions that enable every teacher to access the support, tools, and environment they need to make measurable improvements in their practice and to be demonstrably better. There is no fixed template for this: every GTC is unique in important ways.

Professor Rob Coe, Director, of Research and Development at Evidence Based Education

This initiative exists to spotlight the work that matters most: ensuring great teaching becomes the norm in every classroom.

What does this mean for you?

Great Teaching Centres are here to act as a trusted point of contact, giving you the opportunity to connect with schools who are using the GTT to create a culture of professional learning in ways that work in real contexts.

Hear directly what implementation looks like day-to-day, learn what’s worked (and what they’d do differently), and explore practical ideas you can adapt in your own.

Get in touch if you’d like to speak to a Great Teaching Centre by emailing us at enquiries@evidencebased.education

Insights from GTT Centres

Great Teaching Centres are not defined by a single model. Each school is unique but all have demonstrated sustained, effective implementation and a commitment to professional growth.

Durham Sixth Form Centre: shaping a culture of professional learning

As a Great Teaching Centre, Durham Sixth Form Centre has focused on building a professional development programme that strengthens staff expertise and keeps impact on learners front and centre. Matthew Anglesea, Assistant Principal highlights the importance of connecting professional learning to what matters most — student outcomes — and how the Great Teaching Toolkit has supported that work.

Our main metric is our student outcomes – and we’ve continued to make significant improvements! Our PD programme has helped to contribute to this success. I think the work we’re doing around developing staff expertise, and the role that the Great Teaching Toolkit has had in that development, has proven that it is having an impact.

St George’s Primary School: high challenge, low threat professional development

At St George’s Primary School, the Great Teaching Toolkit has supported a whole-school approach to developing teacher expertise, helping leaders and staff navigate the complexity of evidence-informed improvement and turn research into coherent, practical professional learning.

As a large primary school with 35 classes, the focus has been on sequencing knowledge and instructional practice in a way that builds shared understanding, reduces workload through effectiveness, and strengthens a culture of continuous improvement.

Working with Evidence Based Education has allowed us to coherently sequence teacher and teacher assistant knowledge, providing credible resources and scripts for facilitation. It is all delivered in a framework to nurture a culture of high challenge through low threat professional development.

Doha British School: building a consistent pedagogical language across all phases

Dr Luke Cheater, Principal at Doha British School, and the team set out to build a shared pedagogical understanding across every phase, ensuring that high-quality learning and teaching is defined consistently, whether staff teach early years or post-16.

We’ve now conducted 1,655 student surveys across the school (we’re a big school), which have been absolutely superb. Teachers are now coming to the Learning and Teaching team and sharing their results. And that’s been really, really powerful.

Bangkok Patana School: professional growth cycles driven by student voice

At Bangkok Patana School, Carly and Andrew have embedded the Great Teaching Toolkit as a framework for secondary professional growth cycles, using student surveys as the primary driver for identifying and prioritising improvement goals. Carly described the impact of the student surveys and how they help teachers see evidence of progress in a way that builds motivation and ownership.

A very experienced member of staff was so excited showing another colleague their survey data and how all the elements had improved. It was evidence that what they’d been doing made a difference and it’s when you see that ‘penny dropping’ moment and they just get it.

Hiba Academy Shanghai: building an evidence-informed culture

At Hiba Academy Shanghai, Daisy and David have used the GTT to help establish a shared, evidence-informed pedagogical language in a bilingual context, where staff bring diverse backgrounds and experiences and discussing pedagogical approaches can be a challenge.

I think the GTT serves as a one-stop place. Not only do we have research evidence, there’s also some instruction or pedagogy you can take as next steps.

Want to speak to a Great Teaching Centre? Let us know and we’ll make an introduction.