- Schools with the highest levels of coaching-led professional development show GCSE Attainment 8 scores equivalent to a grade improvement in one subject above those with lower engagement
- 88% of teachers say structured, coaching-led PD has meaningfully changed how they develop their practice
- Impact deepens over time: schools three or more years in report more than double the improvement of those in year one
An independent evaluation by ImpactEd of more than 2,300 English schools has found that sustained, coaching-led professional development improves teaching practice, strengthens school culture and raises pupils’ GCSE results by one grade.
The research centres on schools using professional development platform Steplab. Its implications point to a clear chain: invest in how teachers develop, and better outcomes for pupils follow.
Analysing published DfE data across 333 secondary schools, ImpactEd found that schools with deeper engagement in coaching-led PD showed Attainment 8 scores moving upwards relative to national trends. The gap between the most and least engaged groups is just over one Attainment 8 point, broadly equivalent to a grade improvement in one subject. The relationship holds after accounting for levels of disadvantage.
In primary schools, schools that embed high quality professional development saw their pupils benefit from the equivalent of 2-3 additional months of reading progress relative to matched comparator schools.
One school Senior Leader summarises: “There’s been real, improved pupil focus and on-task behaviour through the clearer routines. And if we’ve got all children engaged, that has an impact on calmer and more purposeful classrooms.”
What the research found
On professional development quality:
- 82% of respondents say PD quality in their school has improved since using Steplab [ImpactEd staff survey, Section 3.1]
- 82% of staff now feel safe receiving feedback on their teaching [ImpactEd staff survey, n=56, Section 4.3]
- Net Promoter Score of +66 overall, rising to +78 among headteachers [Steplab customer survey, n=206, Section 3.1]
On teacher practice:
- 85% report improvements in the consistency of teaching practice across classrooms [ImpactEd staff survey, Section 4.2]
- 71% feel more motivated about their professional development; 74% more engaged [ImpactEd staff survey, Section 4.1]
- 88% say the focus on small, manageable steps has improved how they develop their practice [ImpactEd staff survey, Section 4.2]
On pupil outcomes:
- 81% of respondents report improvements in overall classroom climate [ImpactEd staff survey, Section 5.1]
- Secondary schools with the highest Steplab engagement show GCSE Attainment 8 scores equivalent to a grade improvement in one subject above those with lower engagement [DfE published data, secondary schools, Section 5.3]
- Among schools using Steplab for three or more years, 93% agree the approach has improved how they develop teaching practice, with 73% strongly agreeing — compared to 41% who strongly agreed in their first year [ImpactEd staff survey, Section 3.3]
Claire Hill, Managing Director of Steplab said: “Teachers are at the heart of any school, yet so often professional development has been something that happens to them rather than something built for them. The research is clear: when you invest in giving teachers the right kind of development — specific, coaching-led, sustained — it changes everything. Not just results, but how teachers feel about their work. That is what great professional development should look like, and it’s what teachers have always deserved.”
Danielle Jones, manager at ImpactEd who conducted the evaluation, said: “These findings are especially notable given that Steplab partner schools serve, on average, significantly more disadvantaged communities than the national average, suggesting that structured, coaching-led professional development has an important role to play in supporting the schools that need it most.”
